I love this hood and I am so glad I bought it.  I owned a generic balaclava before and then lost it. I was really upset but now I am glad.

I love this fabric.  It is thin but does the job and keeps the skin warm.  It fits nicely under my snowboarding helmet.

This thing is well designed.  You can wear it several different ways which I don't think anyone else listed when I bought this...

1) the full coverage like the photo shows over the head and nose
2) full coverage with the bottom part just over the mouth
3) top part over the head and bottom part under the chin
4) covering the nose to around the back of the head
5) just covering the neck

I don't have any problems breathing through the fabric.  I haven't been exercising with it but I would think it works pretty well.

I was hesitant to order this because I wanted options on how to wear this based upon the current weather conditions.  I'm so glad this thing has exceeded my expectations.