Craghoppers CO2 Renu Fleece review: the value fleece with a conscience

If you have read a UK fleece group test in the last couple of years, you have probably seen the Craghoppers CO2 Renu win the value section. It keeps coming up. Live for the Outdoors made it a Gear of the Year pick and handed it full marks for value, and it lands on best-budget shortlists elsewhere for the same reason: it does the ordinary fleece job well and costs a fraction of what the technical brands charge.

I have gone through the Craghoppers spec, the published reviews and the fabric story to work out who it actually suits, and where the corners have been cut to hit the price. Both get a straight answer.

For where it sits against everything else, this review links up to the best hiking fleeces roundup and the wider fleeces hub. This piece stays on the CO2 Renu.

Who the CO2 Renu is for

This is a classic mid-weight half-zip fleece. No grid backing, no high-loft pile, no wind membrane. It is the fleece shape most people already own one of: soft, warm, cut for everyday wear, with a zip at the neck to dump heat.

It suits you if:

• You want a dependable everyday fleece for dog walks, the school run, lower-level rambles and layering under a coat, and you do not want to spend £120 to get one
• You care where your kit comes from and like the idea of recycled fibre without paying a green premium for it
• You are buying your first proper fleece, or kitting out the family, and value matters more than a Polartec badge

It is not the right buy if:

• You want a technical mid-layer for hard, fast, or arduous days. Live for the Outdoors said it plainly: this is "not a technical fleece for more arduous adventures", and that is the honest framing
• You want warmth-for-weight or packability above all. A high-loft or grid fleece will beat a standard mid-weight on both
• You need wind resistance built in. Like almost any fleece of this type, it needs a shell when the wind gets up

Specs

Price

Around £80 RRP, often discounted

Type

Mid-weight half-zip fleece

Fabric

100% recycled polyester fleece

Bio-carbon content

30% Bio3 CO2 Renu smart polyester (fibre from captured waste carbon)

Weight

Around 305g

Fastening

Half-zip, contrast zip tape

Pockets

Two zipped handwarmer pockets, recycled pocket bags

Cuffs, hem and collar

Elasticated bound trim

Trims

Labels and zip tape 100% recycled

Variants

Men's and women's; half-zip and full-zip options

Care

Cool machine wash, no fabric softener, low or air dry

The one number worth sitting with is the fabric make-up: 100% recycled polyester, of which roughly 30% is Craghoppers' Bio3 CO2 Renu fibre, spun from carbon captured out of industrial waste emissions rather than pulled from oil or old bottles. The other 70% is conventional recycled polyester. Nothing in the garment is virgin plastic. More on why that matters below.

The eco angle, explained plainly

Most "recycled" fleeces mean bottle-derived polyester, which is a good thing and by now fairly standard. The CO2 Renu goes a step further with the Bio3 portion. The award-winning CO2 Renu process captures waste carbon, converts it to ethanol, then turns that ethanol into the building blocks for polyester fibre. In plain terms, roughly a third of this fleece is made from emissions that would otherwise have gone up a chimney.

I am wary of green marketing, so here is the honest read: this is a genuinely clever bit of materials science, and it is being sold at a normal fleece price rather than a premium one. That is the part that impresses me. Plenty of brands charge extra for a sustainability story. Craghoppers has folded a more ambitious one into a fleece that undercuts most of the market. Whether the carbon-capture route is meaningfully better than good bottle-recycled polyester is a bigger argument than a fleece review can settle, but you are not paying more to find out, and nothing here is virgin plastic. For a value-and-conscience buyer, that combination is the whole appeal.

What it does well

By the specs and the reviews, this is a well-sorted everyday fleece. The pile is soft, the half-zip does its job of venting heat on the climbs and closing up at the top when you stop, and the two zipped handwarmer pockets keep your phone and keys secure, which is not a given at this price. The elasticated bound cuffs, hem and collar are the small touches that stop a cheap fleece feeling cheap: they keep draughts out and hold their shape after washing.

Reviewers consistently rate it well for fit, comfort and everyday performance, and universally for value. At around 305g it is a normal mid-weight, so it is cosy standing around and layers cleanly under a waterproof without much bulk. As a do-the-basics fleece for typical UK conditions, it covers the ground it sets out to cover.

Honest limits

The limits are the flip side of the price and the fabric type, and they are easy to state.

It is not technical. There is no grid construction to move sweat fast on hard efforts, and no high-loft fibre to deliver standout warmth-for-weight. On a steep, fast, cold day a dedicated active fleece will breathe and regulate better. Live for the Outdoors said as much, and it is the correct caveat.

The cut is standard rather than athletic. That is a plus if you want an everyday fleece with room to move, and a slight minus if you want a trim layer that disappears under a slim shell. It is a generalist shape, not a mountain-fit one.

And like any fleece of this type, it is not windproof. That is not a mark against it, it is a category fact: fleece insulates, a shell blocks wind, and you pair the two. Just do not expect the CO2 Renu to be an outer layer on an exposed day.

Fit and sizing

Craghoppers cuts this as a regular, everyday fit, neither slim nor boxy, with the elasticated hem and cuffs giving it a tidy finish. Reviewers score the fit well and I would take your usual size. It comes in men's and women's versions, and in both half-zip and full-zip styles, so if you prefer a jacket-style front to a pullover the full-zip is the one to look for. [SHANE: if you ever handle one in a Blacks/Cotswold, a line on true-to-size vs the technical brands would strengthen this]

The value case

Here is the simple version. Around £80 RRP, and frequently less once the discounts land, buys you a full recycled fleece with a genuine bio-carbon story, secure zipped pockets, proper elasticated trims and an everyday fit that reviewers keep scoring well. It has won value awards for a reason. Nothing about it is exciting, and that is the point: it is the fleece you buy when you want the job done properly without paying for a badge.

Set it next to the ThruDark Phalanx at three times the price and the gap is real but so is the honesty of it. The Phalanx buys you the warmest fabric Polartec makes and a premium build. The CO2 Renu buys you a dependable everyday fleece and change left over for boots. Most people, most of the time, want the second one.

CO2 Renu vs Columbia Steens Mountain

The CO2 Renu's main rival for the budget slot is the Columbia Steens Mountain, and they split the job neatly.

The Steens Mountain is the cheaper of the two, usually around £40 to £65, and it is a full-zip MTR filament fleece: cosy, plush and a genuine bargain, but with no particular eco story and a more basic feature set. The CO2 Renu costs a little more and gives you the recycled bio-carbon fabric, the zipped security pockets and the sustainability angle. So the choice is straightforward: pick the Steens Mountain if the lowest possible price and a full zip are what you want, and pick the CO2 Renu if you will pay a bit more for the conscience and the better-finished detailing. Neither is a technical fleece, and neither pretends to be.

Pros and what to know

• The recurring UK best-value winner: everyday fleece performance at a price the technical brands cannot match
• 100% recycled fabric with a genuine bio-carbon story, at no green premium
• Two zipped handwarmer pockets and proper elasticated trims, better finished than most budget fleeces
• Regular everyday fit, offered in men's and women's plus half-zip and full-zip styles
• Reviewers consistently score it well for fit, comfort and value

• Not a technical fleece: no grid or high-loft fabric for hard, fast or arduous days
• Standard mid-weight, so it trails grid and high-loft fleeces on warmth-for-weight and packability
• Not windproof: needs a shell in typical UK hill weather, as any fleece of this type does
• The cut is everyday rather than athletic, so it is not the trimmest layer under a slim shell

Verdict

The CO2 Renu keeps winning value awards because it deserves them. It is an honest, well-made, mid-weight half-zip fleece that does the everyday job properly, adds a genuinely clever recycled and bio-carbon fabric, and charges a normal price rather than a green premium for it. Judged as what it is, an everyday fleece with a conscience, it is very good, and for a huge number of people it is exactly the right amount of fleece.

Judged as what it is not, a technical mid-layer for hard mountain days, it falls short, and Craghoppers does not really pretend otherwise. If your days are more dog walk and low fell than winter alpine, and you like the idea of buying better without paying more, this is the easy recommendation of the budget bracket.

For the full field, see the best hiking fleeces roundup, and for the cheaper alternative, the Columbia Steens Mountain review.

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