ThruDark Review: Is It Worth It? An Owner's Take

I bought my first ThruDark gear at the end of summer 2024, getting ready for the autumn and winter training months before I had a go at the JCC Ultra the following May. I treated myself to the Phalanx Fleece for my birthday and never really looked back. It is honestly one of my favourite items of clothing ever, and the same goes for the Black Ops Dyneema Jumper I picked up not long after.

I also live about half an hour from their front door. ThruDark is a Dorset brand, based in Poole, and the headlands they shoot their kit on are the ones I walk most weeks. And unless you have been walking around with your eyes shut, especially down here in Dorset, you will see more and more ThruDark logos appearing on clothing everywhere you go. I think the secret is out, and every time I see someone wearing the brand I smugly think to myself: I knew they were good before you.

I have four of their pieces now, worn hard over a couple of years, and with a hard winter of training ahead I am about to add a good deal more.

The verdict up front

Once you commit to your first purchase from a brand and spend a decent amount on the gear, if it lives up to your expectations you will always go back. That has never felt truer to me than with ThruDark.

The quality is the real thing. The fabrics are the same names the big technical brands use, Polartec, Pertex, eVent, PrimaLoft, everything I own is superbly made, and ThruDark is unusually straight about its own kit: it publishes a 2/10 wind rating on its best-known fleece rather than pretending everything does everything. That kind of honesty is rare, and it is a big part of why I trust the stuff. The Black Ops jumper is heavy and such decent quality that every other bit of clothing you pick up after it just feels like a waste of money.

Start with the Phalanx Fleece, or the Black Ops jumper if you want an easy way into the brand. Get the right pieces for what you actually do and it will not let you down.

Who are ThruDark?

I rated the kit before I knew the first thing about who makes it, but the back-story is real, and it is part of why the brand pulls the way it does. ThruDark was founded by Anthony "Staz" Stazicker and Louis Tinsley, both former UK Special Forces who served in the Special Boat Service, with a combined 27 years in the military and 18 in UK Special Forces between them. Stazicker holds the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. The company was founded in 2016 in Poole, where it is still based, and launched publicly in May 2018 at watchmaker Bremont's London HQ with a film narrated by Tom Hardy. The motto is "Endeavour Through Adversity".

A bespoke ThruDark summit suit went up Everest in 2019 as part of the record-breaking run at the world's 8,000-metre peaks: a chapter in the brand's history now rather than a current partnership, but real proof the kit works at serious altitude. That expedition heritage is front and centre in the store, where a summit suit stands in a glass case, flanked by roped mannequins beneath the motto.

The home of all this today is Sentinel House in Poole, their flagship store and HQ. For a brand that started with two ex-forces lads and a frustration about their own kit, it is a proper statement of a building, and being a Dorset local, I am glad it is on my doorstep.

The story is genuine, but the clothing is what earns its place, and the clothing has earned it with me.

What the kit's actually made of

Strip away the badge and the fabric list tells you whether this is a serious technical outfit or a merch operation. ThruDark's reads like the former.

There is no Gore-Tex in any of the shells, which is a deliberate call rather than a corner cut. The waterproofs run Pertex Shield instead: the Mountain Pro Waterproof is a Pertex Shield build with a 20,000mm hydrostatic head and Dyneema panels across the shoulders and back, and the Aigis steps up to Pertex Shield Pro at 30,000mm. eVent turns up on the Ronin snow kit. The only Gore-Tex anywhere on the site, oddly enough, is a New Era collaboration cap.

Polartec runs right through the mid layers: High Loft in the classic Phalanx, Alpha in the hooded version, plus PowerGrid, Thermal Pro and Power Stretch elsewhere. Synthetic insulation is PrimaLoft, and the Ithax pieces use the aerogel-infused Cross Core. The down jackets, the Bastion, the Melee and the End of Days expedition parka, use goose down, with the Bastion running 900 fill power in a Pertex Quantum shell.

The hard-wearing stuff is done properly too. Dyneema shows up as reinforcement: the elbow panels on the Black Ops, the shoulders on the Mountain Pro. The Veles softshell uses ThruDark's own graphene-enhanced DarkMatr fabric. And the details are the right ones: RECCO reflectors in the mountain shells, YKK zips throughout, British Millerain waxed cotton on the HeriTech heritage line, Polygiene on the Shroud. These are the choices of a company specifying its components properly, not hitting a price point.

The ThruDark range at a glance

There is a lot more here than the summit-suit imagery suggests. Roughly, it breaks down like this:

• Everyday: heavyweight cotton tees (the Insignia and the Black Mark), the Black Ops Dyneema jumper and hoodie, and the HeriTech heritage line.
• Mid layers and softshells: the Phalanx fleece, the graphene Veles, the insulated Engage and the Centurion.
• Down and insulation: the Bastion, the Melee, and the End of Days expedition parka at the top.
• Hardshells: the Mountain Pro and the Aigis.
• Training: the Force activewear range, DriRelease tees, joggers and bib shorts.
• Trousers: the Mountain Pro Technical and the Oryon.
• Packs: the Pinnacle 28L (now tested in full) and 42L hiking packs and the Phantom 25L day sack.

What I own and live in

These four I can speak to from genuine, hard-worn ownership.

ThruDark Phalanx Fleece (non-hooded, black, medium)

Body fabric

Polartec High Loft

Panels

Polartec Power Grid underarms

Details

YKK zips, thumb loops, hook-and-loop insignia patches

Fit

Regular

Made in

Portugal

The Phalanx has been a fixture of the range for years. The body is Polartec High Loft, the warmest of Polartec's fleece fabrics for its weight, and the Power Grid underarm panels dump heat when you are moving. ThruDark's own ratings give it 8/10 for warmth, 8/10 for breathability and 2/10 for wind resistance, and that last number is honest: this is a static-warmth and layering piece, not a windproof outer.

The fleece is something I take on every hike I go on, the top of my well-rehearsed packing list. It is one of my favourite items of clothing ever, and the one I keep reaching for. Full detail in the ThruDark Phalanx Fleece review.

ThruDark Black Ops Dyneema Jumper (Generation 2, black, medium)

Fabric

500gsm brushed-back premium cotton

Reinforcement

Dyneema and Cordura hexagonal-weave elbow panels

Details

Rib cuffs and hem

Fit

Regular

A very heavy cotton sweatshirt with Dyneema in the elbows. Mine is the second generation; the current G3 keeps the Dyneema-reinforced elbows in a revised build and is made in Turkey. At 500gsm it is far heavier than a standard high-street sweatshirt, and you feel it the moment you pick it up.

The jumper is not something I take hiking normally, but that does not mean it gets worn any less. I wear it all the time, just normal life when the weather is cold. I have worn it so much that I want to get another, just in case ThruDark ever stop making it. They now do a hoodie version too. I do not normally buy hooded clothing that might go under a jacket, it feels uncomfortable, but this one might be the exception, because let us face it, there are days when a hoodie and a baseball cap feel like the only option. Whether the Dyneema elbows are engineering or storytelling gets a full answer in the Black Ops Dyneema Jumper review.

The Insignia and Black Mark tees

My other two are ThruDark's everyday tees: an Insignia long-sleeve and a Black Mark, both medium. Heavyweight cotton, the insignia on the chest and arm, and a detail you do not expect on a casual tee, small vent holes under the arms. They are well-made heavyweight tees that have held up to constant wear, the same quality story as the bigger pieces in a simpler form.

ThruDark Pinnacle 28 hiking backpack (Olive Green)

The newest addition, and the first ThruDark piece I did not pay for: the Pinnacle 28 was kindly gifted when ThruDark invited me to their Sentinel House HQ in Poole, along with the Bastion jacket and the new generation Centurion to test. Its first outing was a 10km day on the Old Harry Rocks and Ballard Down circular, and the short version is that it impressed me: really comfortable straight from new, well ventilated on a long climb, and secure on my back with the straps done up or hanging loose. And in the Olive Green it is a great looking pack.

The full first-day verdict, the specs, and the honest watch-points are in the ThruDark Pinnacle 28 review.

What I'm after this winter

Here is the honest bit. I am heading off to Finland this winter, and one of the most exciting parts is the shopping beforehand.

Top of that list is the Bastion down jacket, which I have already covered in my best down jacket for extreme cold guide. I am very much looking forward to getting hold of it, not just for Finland but for the winter ahead: I am training for two ultras next year and hoping to do some exploration further afield in Norway in the new year. I am trusting ThruDark to keep me warm through all of it.

Being on the ThruDark mailing list is dangerous. Just last week an email landed with a new drop of the Centurion Jacket, and I am a sucker for a fleece midlayer, purely because I can justify wearing it for everything from dog walking and watching my son on the touchline through to an exposed coastal path at night or half way up a freezing mountain in January. I am looking forward to seeing it in person next time I am in the store, and it will be a tough choice between that and the Mountain Pro Technical Mid Layer.

I have been eyeing the Mountain Pro Waterproof jacket too. It looks superb, but with two very good waterproofs already in the cupboard I cannot quite justify it right now. Where I can justify the spend is on some decent trousers, and the Mountain Pro Technical Trousers are very much on my radar. Then again, so are the Oryon Trousers, though I will probably hold off on those until next spring.

A few other bits have caught my eye. My daughter decided she liked my Fjallraven beanie too much to actually give it back, so I am definitely looking at the Guard Beanie: being 100% merino wool, it might even be a nice upgrade and soften the blow of losing my old favourite. And there are not many times in the UK I would reach for a balaclava, I am not really into e-bikes and vapes, but for Finland the merino Stealth Balaclava might just end up in my pack.

ThruDark discounts worth knowing

Search for ThruDark discount codes and you will drown in coupon sites promising 30% off. Nearly all of it is junk. Here is what actually exists.

There is 10% off your first order for joining the newsletter, straight from the brand. And there is a 15% industry discount for the blue-light and services crowd, military and veterans, NHS, police, fire, teachers, social and charity workers and prison staff, verified through VerifyPass and applied to full-price items.

That is the lot. Sign up for the 10%, claim the 15% if you are entitled to it, and ignore every coupon-site result entirely.

Sizing: how ThruDark fits

The official line is true to size, and the product pages state a regular fit on most pieces. For me the jackets and mid layers come up as a medium, though I have found the sizing varies enough by cut that I have gone both ways on it across their kit, so the garment measurements on each product page are worth the two minutes before you order.

Two things hold regardless. The heavyweight cotton pieces do not have the stretch of a technical fabric, so if you sit between sizes the fabric will not rescue a tight choice. And if you plan to wear the Phalanx as a mid layer under a shell, the regular fit is cut for exactly that, so resist the urge to size up.

ThruDark FAQ

This is the pillar of our Brand Spotlight series, alongside the full Phalanx Fleece review, Black Ops Dyneema Jumper review and Pinnacle 28 backpack review. For how ThruDark's insulation compares with the wider field, our best down jackets for extreme cold guide covers the Bastion against the rest.