The war with Iran and ensuing blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane, has spiked oil prices and sent governments scrabbling for their reserves. How high will prices go, and how bad could it get?

On Friday night, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby published a memo to his employees showing that his very fuel-dependent business is prepping for a very long fallout. “Our plans assume oil goes to $175/barrel and doesn’t get back down to $100/barrel until the end of 2027,” he wrote.

Jet fuel accounts for between a quarter and a third of airlines’ operating costs. Prices have doubled from $70 a barrel since the war started four weeks ago, threatening to seriously cut into airlines’ profitability. Kirby said that his airline has a strategy: United will cut some 5 percent of its planned flight schedule during the second and third quarters of this year, with trims coming especially in off-peak periods like red-eyes and less popular travel days: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

“Honestly, I think there’s a good chance it won’t be that bad,” Kirby wrote in the memo, “but … there isn’t much downside for us to prepare for that outcome.”

United’s moves are significant for not only the travel industry but the wider global economy, analysts say. If it all plays out the way Kirby predicts, “this would be incredibly unwelcome news to everyone who is not in the oil refining business,” says Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business.

Airlines might be a particularly notable canary in the economic coal mine because their business leans even more heavily on oil prices, and especially refined oil prices, than most. Air transportation ranks just below asphalt paving as the US industry that spends the greatest share of its non-labor costs on refined petroleum products, Miller has calculated. Kirby’s predictions, while dire, are in line with what others in the commodity market are predicting, Miller says.

“Economically, this energy shock is hitting at the worst time possible,” Miller says. Add its effects to a sluggish job market and a global economy shaken by the US’s erratic tariff regime, and economists start to think about recession. The Iran war and the ensuing energy crisis “have played out longer than many expected it to,” Miller says. Kirby’s memo is an acknowledgment that “Hormuz may not be open for business very quickly.”

The effects of the fuel price spikes are already affecting the travel industry. Last week, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the company had spent an additional $400 million on fuel. Airlines have reported strong demand in the past weeks, with United’s Kirby noting in his memo that the past 10 weeks had seen the airline take in the most revenue on bookings ever. But it remains to be seen whether lots of people are actually enthusiastic about travel, or flyers spooked about geopolitics and fears of high ticket prices moved early to lock in their plans before oil costs got higher. Isom noted that, if oil prices remain high, “we’re certainly going to be nimble in terms of capacity, to make sure that supply and demand stay in balance.”

How bad it could get for airlines—and its passengers—depends not just on how long oil prices stay elevated, but how long the businesses’ questions about the crisis remain unanswered.

“If we stay in this uncertainty for a long time, this is adding to the complexity,” says Ahmed Abdelghany, who studies airline operations as a professor in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s College of Business. “The longer it goes, the more problematic to the airlines that remain.”

Merino wool is a super fiber. The best merino wool clothing somehow manages to be comfortable in 95-degree heat, and merino base layers keep you warm well below freezing. Unlike synthetic fibers derived from petroleum, merino wool is natural and renewable.

Merino wool’s versatility means there’s a bewildering array of blends and options to choose from. Here are our favorite merino wool products that we’ve tested by wearing and washing (usually in cold water, and hung to dry, although we do machine dry them just to see what happens) over the course of months and even years in some cases. Once you’re done here, don’t forget to check out the rest of our apparel guides, like the Best Merino Wool T-Shirts, Best Base Layers, Best Puffer Jackets, Best Hoodies, and Best Hiking Boots.

Updated April 2026: We’ve changed out top pick boxers to Wool & Prince, added more hoodies, and the Ibex women’s Goat short sleeve. We also updated prices and links throughout.

Base Layers

To really see how remarkable merino wool is, start at the bottom, with the clothes next to your skin. Merino really shines as a base layer. It’s warmer for the weight, wicks moisture well, and unlike synthetic fabrics, merino stays stink-free for days of wear. Be sure to read our layering guide for more on how to put it all together and stay comfortable in any weather. We also have a separate guide to the best base layers if you want know all your options, but here are our top merino picks from that guide.

The Ibex Woolies Pro Tech base layer crew is the best lightweight merino base layer we’ve tested. If you want a hard-wearing shirt, this it it. Woolies are Nuyarn (see above), which is 85 percent merino wool and 15 percent nylon—the merino wool is wrapped around a nylon core, which increases the warmth while being lighter (5 oz for the men’s large) and more durable. This is my top pick for all things technical. It’s what I bring hiking, backpacking, and it’s reviews editor Adrienne So’s pick for running, climbing and other high-aerobic activities when it’s cold. I also love the Woolies Pro Tech Bottoms ($115), which are what I bring backpacking in all but the warmest of weather. There’s also a quarter zip version of the shirt if you prefer.

Aside from comfort and warmth, a bit part of the reason we recommend Woolies is that they last. Ibex is what passes for a heritage company in this space; the company was founded in 1997 and has been cranking out merino garment for a long time. Adrienne’s parents bought her two sets of Ibex base layers in 2001 that she still wears today, in the year of our Lord 2025. Properly cared for, Woolies will keep you comfortable warm for years to come.

SmartWool

Merino Classic Long-Sleeve

When I want something a bit warmer than the lightweight Woolies above, I reach for Smartwool’s Classic long sleeve base layer. These may be the most popular merino shirts around, and for good reason: They’re very comfortable, tending to the looser side, feature heavy duty seams that don’t rub, and sit off the shoulder for more comfort when wearing a pack. At 87 percent merino wool (blended with nylon), these are also very durable while remaining lightweight (10.3 oz for a men’s large). This Smartwool shirt, along with the matching pants ($125), are great for chilly winter days.

Courtesy of Unbound Merino

Unbound Merino

Long-Sleeve Merino Crew

The picks above all have what my wife calls “that sporty look,” which the industry refers to as “technical.” This 100 percent merino shirt from Unbound is the opposite: it just looks like a long sleeve shirt. It’s incredibly soft and while it does pill a bit if you run it through the dryer (don’t), it’s proved itself plenty durable—I’ve been wearing it constantly for over a year now and it still looks like it did when I got it. It’s the long-sleeve, base layer twin to our favorite T-shirt (see below). It’s on the thin side for a base layer, which makes it perfect for those cool weather mornings in the shoulder seasons. It’s versatile too; it can be used as a base layer, but it also works as a T-shirt when it’s not too chilly. Fit runs true to size, and if the one you want is sold out, be patient; Unbound frequently updates its stock.

There are so many! Here’s a few more to consider, but really, go read the base layer guide.

Turtle Fur

Merino Pipe Dream Neck Gaiter

Don’t forget your neck. I live in this Turtle Fur gaiter during the winter and I also use the lighter, superfine version for hiking at elevation in the summer to keep the sun off my neck without resorting to sunscreen. It’s wonderfully soft, not overly tight, and never smells.

Merino Mid Layers

Fleece has its place, but I rarely wear it these days. I prefer merino for my mid layers. It’s better at helping your body regulate its temperature. The one place fleece still wins for me is backpacking. It’s almost always lighter for comparable warmth, at least in mid layers.

Like the Northern Lights or the McRib, the thickest Ibex wool hoodie appears irregularly and with some fanfare. The Mammoth Hoodie is indeed a big, furry beast of a garment—it’s basically the weight of the classic American Giant hoodie but made of 85 percent wool cut with 15 percent nylon for added warmth and stretch. Ibex says it’s the warmest hoodie they’ve ever made, and in my week of testing, I’ve used it in place of a jacket in mid-30s temps. It has an athletic cut with zippered pockets and thumb holes. I do wear a stocking hat with it in the cold because the scuba hood is meant to fit under a helmet which means it’s too small to provide enough warmth for my large shaved head on its own. —Martin Cizmar

When you have multiple keyboards installed, you can manage them on iOS by opening Settings, then choosing General > Keyboard > Keyboards. To swap between keyboards you’ve installed, tap and hold the globe icon that appears in the lower left corner of all your keyboards.

On Android, you can find your keyboards via System > Keyboard > On-screen keyboard from Settings. To switch between them, tap and hold on the globe icon that appears in the lower right corner whenever a keyboard is on the screen.

The Best Phone Keyboards to Try

Gboard (Android, iOS) is a good option to start with here. It’s preinstalled by default on Pixel phones, but it’s also an excellent keyboard pick for iPhones and Android phones not made by Google. It’s fast and clean, works really well for GIFs, emoji, and stickers, and supports glide typing (where you swipe over letters to form words rather than tapping on each individual letter).

Then there’s SwiftKey (Android, iOS), which is developed by Microsoft. As you might expect, there’s Copilot AI integration built right in, so if you’re stuck for something to say, you can use generative AI to do your writing for you. SwiftKey will also learn your writing style as you go, meaning autocorrections and suggestions get more accurate over time.

Typewise (Android, iOS) demonstrates how third-party keyboards can be a little out of the ordinary. It offers an unusual layout that makes use of hexagonal letter and character tiles, and which Typewise says can seriously speed up your typing speed. There’s also support for multiple languages, AI integrations, and custom gestures.

You may be familiar with Grammarly from the web and the desktop (and from the recent news about its missteps), but the grammar and spell checker service is also available as a keyboard on iOS and as a keyboard extension on Android. As well as checking on your writing, Grammarly puts AI front and center: You can get writing suggestions from a prompt, for example, or change the tone of an existing message with a couple of taps.

If you’re interested in customization options above everything else, then consider Mister Keyboard for iOS. It’s stacked with ways to tweak the look and layout of your iPhone’s keyboard, and to access features like emoji and the clipboard. Either pick one of the preset themes, or take pixel-by-pixel control over the keyboard.

Mister Keyboard isn’t available for Android, but there is theming support in Futo Keyboard for Android. It also includes smart autocorrect and text editing tools, and prides itself on its privacy. The keyboard app doesn’t ask for permission to connect to the internet, so you know that your keystrokes aren’t being sent anywhere.