Quoted:
Couple Questions
1. How bulky is it?
2. Honestly how well does it keep your head/ears warm?
3. Does it interfere were ear protection at all?
View Quote
It’s not bulky at all, it’s generally about the same as any thin microfleece beanie, however the “proper” method of installation is to install the pads inside the CWL—the CWL is generally intended to be installed “for the season,” and is not really easy to install or remove quickly.
It does a good job of keeping you warm—again, it really is just an adapted microfleece beanie that interfaces directly with your helmet, so it’s about that level of warmth as well.
The CWL is designed to accommodate ear protection, and has slits to allow you to use it with helmet mounted hearing protection/comms and thread them through the CWL, otherwise, if you are using standard OTH comms, the ear flaps are made from stretchable material, and are specifically designed to have enough coverage to both accommodate ear cups or be worn without them.
Disclaimer: I live in coastal South Carolina—I have operated in extreme cold environments, but much much less now than in my past lives, and therefore tend to feel that the CWL is more trouble than it’s worth to install and remove based on weather conditions and activity level and prefer still just using a stand-alone microfleece beanie.
Chip Lasky, my predecessor at TNVC and the designer of the CWL now lives in Wisconsin, making the CWL a product very near and dear to his heart, and obviously swears by it as I probably would too if I lived in that frozen wasteland.
~Augee