Martin 888
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Frances ‘19 and ‘22, Camino Portuguese ‘23
For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
IMO no. If you want to experiment with recycled plastic go for it. I’ll stick with what our fellow mammals suggestI’m beginning to wonder in this age of technology whether there isn’t a better alternative out there made from some kind of man made technical material
I think the key question is "do they have the odour resistant qualities of merino?". I tried merino shirts for the first time on this year's Camino and was quite frankly amazed by the difference in that area from any of the technical fabrics I had used on previous Caminos.I’m a devotee of merino base layers, but IMHO Icebreaker and Smartwool just aren’t as robust as they used to be. I still find them comfortable and can get two or three days camino out of one without smelling like a pole-cat. I don’t think they’re especially ‘quick dry’ though.
Latterly I’ve switched to the OMM range of technical running t-shirts and base layers. Comfortable, hard wearing and quick-dry. There is a slightly heavier weight also described as ‘insulated’.
They may only be easily available in the UK. OMM is ‘original mountain marathon’; which in the days when everything was right with the world, was the Karrimor Mountain Marathon - in which I competed without distinction when both my knees worked properly.
There appear to be four varieties of Capilene Cool Ts: Lightweight, Daily, Merino, and Trail. Which do you have? The Merino one is the only one that is advertised as "naturally cooling and odor resistant". But if one of the others is also odor resistant....I have a couple of Patagonia Capilene Cool t-shirts and have taken one on Camino. Comfortable, did not stink, dries quickly, perfect for a warm weather Camino. The two I have are both 4 years old and have gone through multiple machine washes with no damage. I probably would not take them for late autumn or winter Caminos as they provide no warmth.
Check out the current prices!I really like the Arc'teryx T-shirts.
I was aghast when my wife bought me my first one for $40 USD ten years ago, but then it went with me on four Caminos and it still looks like new.
Ok, now I have bought some really poorly made things from Amazon. I've also bought some nicely made and favorite things from Target or the military px non-name brand. It does not have to be name brand, but things that really work for the person who buys them. I find merino wool usually works better for me than synthetics and it usually the more expensive stuff (with some exceptions). If you find something really great, I think we should share the information. Just as you shared the long sleeved shirt packs from Amazon. In the end we can only really say what worked best for each of us individually.Alll I can say is if you can name the brand of your shirt... it's a waste of money.
As far as stink... the camino isn't exactly the wilderness... I mean just wash your clothes on occasion..
Those are good. For meOk, now I have bought some really poorly made things from Amazon. I've also bought some nicely made and favorite things from Target or the military px non-name brand. It does not have to be name brand, but things that really work for the person who buys them. I find merino wool usually works better for me than synthetics and it usually the more expensive stuff (with some exceptions). If you find something really great, I think we should share the information. Just as you shared the long sleeved shirt packs from Amazon. In the end we can only really say what worked best for each of us individually.
As far as stink... the camino isn't exactly the wilderness... I mean just wash your clothes on occasion..
McQueen, R. H., & Vaezafshar, S.
Odor in textiles: A review of evaluation methods, fabric characteristics, and odor control technologies.
Textile Research Journal, Volume: 90, Issue: 9-10, pp. 1157-1173.
Copyright © The Authors. 2019.
DOI: doi.org/10.1177/0040517519883952
I have some different weaves of merino. I have some pants and tights in a boucle weave which is much heavier, but stretchy. Some of my winter zip neck shirts are a heavier merino similar in weight to a fleece shirt and then I have the really lightweight t-shirt jersey type shirts and dresses for summer. Boucle tends to snag easily.Inspired partly by all the positive comments about merino in this forum, I started looking for another merino top as a replacement for an ageing one which I bought in a special offer ("when it's gone it's gone") in a discount supermarket chain. I found similar tops in outdoor stores running at £50+ per item. In a local ladieswear store I found a 100% merino jumper for about £30. I bought it and found it to be just very slightly bulkier and about 10 grammes heavier than my "outdoor" top.
The company Uniqlo also sells merino tops which are considerably cheaper than items sold as merino base-layers. Nicer colours too.
Are there significant differences between different types of merino wool, or is this a case of a premium price for a more specialist market?
Are there significant differences between different types of merino wool, or is this a case of a premium price for a more specialist market?
I'm a huge fan of Patagonia hiking shirts made with their Capilene fabric. It's pretty much the only hiking shirt I were. It is light weight and very comfortable to wear and the shirt dries extremely quickly after being washed. No scratching like wool can be sometimes.Thus far on over 2000 kms of Camino trails I have always used Icebreaker Merino tee’s as my ‘go-to’ shirt to walk in. Generally great performance, quick dry, warm in cold conditions and breathable in hot. Also smell and stain resistant and easy to hand wash in the evening. The things I don’t like about them being wool is they tend to rub up in areas where your backpack grinds away and they also cling somewhat (making me on occasion look like a sack of wrestling ferrets!).
I’m beginning to wonder in this age of technology whether there isn’t a better alternative out there made from some kind of man made technical material which provides the functionality and lightness of merino but is perhaps nicer to wear? I’m thinking of brands like Mammut or Fjallraven or similar.
Does anybody have any recommendations? It‘s through this wonderful forum that I discovered Topo Athletic trail runners which I’d never heard of before and I’ve never looked back!
Muchas Gracias in advance.
I found the same thing regarding Icebreaker standing by their quality. I wrote to them about several fairly new underwear with holes in them and they refused any return as I didn't have the receipt. I would not have thought to keep it as I never thought I'd need to return them, but at that price and with the holes showing up so early on, I thought I would. Oh well. It's too bad their quality in general is getting worse.I thought Icebreaker was the bees knees a few years ago. The quality of their products have declined to the point that I am looking for a replacement brand. I had a pair of base layer tights that developed multiple holes ( and I mean multiple). I only wore these tights twice a year. Icebreaker did not stand behind the product because I couldn’t produce a receipt and I had bought them greater than a year prior to contacting them. We ae walking the Kumano Kodo next November. I am researching for a new short sleeved shirt. Not a long walk and laundry facilities are good. I do like the wearability of merino though.
ORVIS brand Drirelease t-shirts. These were designed to control odor, to dry very quickly and very durable. I have used the t-shirts on a daily basis, fly fishing and on three Caminos.Thus far on over 2000 kms of Camino trails I have always used Icebreaker Merino tee’s as my ‘go-to’ shirt to walk in. Generally great performance, quick dry, warm in cold conditions and breathable in hot. Also smell and stain resistant and easy to hand wash in the evening. The things I don’t like about them being wool is they tend to rub up in areas where your backpack grinds away and they also cling somewhat (making me on occasion look like a sack of wrestling ferrets!).
I’m beginning to wonder in this age of technology whether there isn’t a better alternative out there made from some kind of man made technical material which provides the functionality and lightness of merino but is perhaps nicer to wear? I’m thinking of brands like Mammut or Fjallraven or similar.
Does anybody have any recommendations? It‘s through this wonderful forum that I discovered Topo Athletic trail runners which I’d never heard of before and I’ve never looked back!
Muchas Gracias in advance.
I got curious about this. There are a number of fabric blends branded as Drirelease (Drirelease Cotton, Drirelease Wool, etc) and a number of clothing manufacturers that use these fabrics, ORVIS is just one. It's probably best to check out the properties of each blend before buying anything.ORVIS brand Drirelease t-shirts.
I look mainly to OR and Patagonia for technical base layers and tops. It seems to me that there has been a move away from 100% merino. Maybe cost…maybe durability…I don’t know. First it seems like you get most of the features of 100% merino with a 50/50 merino/polyester blend…but with lower cost and much improved durability. It also seems, however, like 100% polyester has really got its act together. Today‘s 100% poly is moisture wicking, dries quickly and now also has very effective odor control…along with lower cost and very good durability. Trekking…mostly at high elevation…so maybe sweating is not the issue that it can be in August closer to sea level…I get great performance from polyester. After a day trekking I change clothes. Hang my base layer top and socks on a line in my tent…change out of my trekking trousers or shorts…wash up a bit. My trek outfit is ready to go the next morning. I’ll now go 2 weeks doing minimal laundry. I think that getting out of your trekking clothes and letting them air dry greatly extends their wearability. i have Smartwool tops and bottoms that I wear for skiing but for hiking, trekking, cycling I now use more 100% poly than anything else.Thus far on over 2000 kms of Camino trails I have always used Icebreaker Merino tee’s as my ‘go-to’ shirt to walk in. Generally great performance, quick dry, warm in cold conditions and breathable in hot. Also smell and stain resistant and easy to hand wash in the evening. The things I don’t like about them being wool is they tend to rub up in areas where your backpack grinds away and they also cling somewhat (making me on occasion look like a sack of wrestling ferrets!).
I’m beginning to wonder in this age of technology whether there isn’t a better alternative out there made from some kind of man made technical material which provides the functionality and lightness of merino but is perhaps nicer to wear? I’m thinking of brands like Mammut or Fjallraven or similar.
Does anybody have any recommendations? It‘s through this wonderful forum that I discovered Topo Athletic trail runners which I’d never heard of before and I’ve never looked back!
Muchas Gracias in advance.
Sorry for not including that detail. Lightweight. Women's in size Medium is 60g. I sweated like a pig in the heat climbing up all the dang mountains that should have a tunnel through them by now, and my shirt was frequently soaked through and I did not smell like a gorilla that had strolled through a swamp at the end of the day.There appear to be four varieties of Capilene Cool Ts: Lightweight, Daily, Merino, and Trail. Which do you have? The Merino one is the only one that is advertised as "naturally cooling and odor resistant". But if one of the others is also odor resistant....
Merino wool T-shirts are practically indistinguishable from cotton T-shirts (except for price!), as far as weight, but merino doesn't hold onto moisture like cotton does. And it doesn't feel sticky when I'm sweaty like some synthetics do.I have fully embraced wool socks but the thought of wool clothing in warm weather makes my skin crawl.
I swear by my Aldi wool T shirt bought for about 30 AUD. It saw 4 caminos and a quite a few shower stomp washes and was still going strong until it fell off my pack somewhere between Puenta del Reina and Los Arcos 16 October. Hopefully someone is using it.Inspired partly by all the positive comments about merino in this forum, I started looking for another merino top as a replacement for an ageing one which I bought in a special offer ("when it's gone it's gone") in a discount supermarket chain. I found similar tops in outdoor stores running at £50+ per item. In a local ladieswear store I found a 100% merino jumper for about £30. I bought it and found it to be just very slightly bulkier and about 10 grammes heavier than my "outdoor" top.
The company Uniqlo also sells merino tops which are considerably cheaper than items sold as merino base-layers. Nicer colours too.
Are there significant differences between different types of merino wool, or is this a case of a premium price for a more specialist market?
Inspired partly by all the positive comments about merino in this forum, I started looking for another merino top as a replacement for an ageing one which I bought in a special offer ("when it's gone it's gone") in a discount supermarket chain. I found similar tops in outdoor stores running at £50+ per item. In a local ladieswear store I found a 100% merino jumper for about £30. I bought it and found it to be just very slightly bulkier and about 10 grammes heavier than my "outdoor" top.
The company Uniqlo also sells merino tops which are considerably cheaper than items sold as merino base-layers. Nicer colours too.
Are there significant differences between different types of merino wool, or is this a case of a premium price for a more specialist market?
The things I don’t like about them being wool is they tend to rub up in areas where your backpack grinds away
and they also cling somewhat
I have 3 Capilene cool daily T shirts and one long sleeve hoody. Took 2 of the T’s on the Camino and 1 Woolx merino T. If I could only own one, it would be tough to decide. I still wear both styles all the time. The Capilene hold odor a bit more but hand washing removes it. They’re almost indestructible except my grey heather one has become quite faded, probably from the sun more than anything.They dry very quickly.There appear to be four varieties of Capilene Cool Ts: Lightweight, Daily, Merino, and Trail. Which do you have? The Merino one is the only one that is advertised as "naturally cooling and odor resistant". But if one of the others is also odor resistant....
Oh I know! The one we bought in April was $80 USD, which is astounding to me! However, this shirt wears great, looks great, performs great... I often wear it simply because it's so darn comfortable.Check out the current prices!
You shoud look at Eddie Bauer. They have many styles of tops with Polygiene, a silver treatment that prevents odor. Don't pay full price; they always have sales that make the prices reasonable. I recently got polyester/polygiene t-shirts for my wife for $15 with all of the discounts, full price is $40. Here's an example of a men's long sleeve quarter zip shirt: https://www.eddiebauer.com/p/129507...3D675A4612EA0A495D83%40AdobeOrg|TS=1704124187Thus far on over 2000 kms of Camino trails I have always used Icebreaker Merino tee’s as my ‘go-to’ shirt to walk in. Generally great performance, quick dry, warm in cold conditions and breathable in hot. Also smell and stain resistant and easy to hand wash in the evening. The things I don’t like about them being wool is they tend to rub up in areas where your backpack grinds away and they also cling somewhat (making me on occasion look like a sack of wrestling ferrets!).
I’m beginning to wonder in this age of technology whether there isn’t a better alternative out there made from some kind of man made technical material which provides the functionality and lightness of merino but is perhaps nicer to wear? I’m thinking of brands like Mammut or Fjallraven or similar.
Does anybody have any recommendations? It‘s through this wonderful forum that I discovered Topo Athletic trail runners which I’d never heard of before and I’ve never looked back!
Muchas Gracias in advance.
Hello…..wow, they look really interesting but the price is gobsmacking! I’d be willing to give them a try but as they are in London and I’m in Canada, it would be tricky to return something that wasn’t right. They have a huge range of short sleeve tees…..do you have one particular shirt of their‘s that you have had a great experience with ? Thanks !Greetings Martin,
I have a brand that I love and trust, but they are quite dear when it comes to price. I trekked my Camino Frances last year kitted out primarily in their clothing, and everything performed tremendously well.
The company is Vollebak.They make adventure clothing out of revolutionary fabrics, such as ceramic, microorganism-imbued cotton, wood, graphene, etc. Sadly for you and my potential testimonial, I wore Vollebak Merino shirts on my Camino, haha. Here is a link to potential products of interest:
T Shirts
Our t shirts are designed for the hottest and coldest places on the planet. We also make the world’s two toughest t shirts. One is engineered with 100,000 ceramic particles. The other is woven with 120 metres of carbon fibre normally found in jet engines.vollebak.com
The price point is generally far and above premium brands such as Arc’teryx and Norrona, but the quality and ingenuity are par none.
Cheers!
Nope. There is no real alternative to Merino. Merino blend (65-85%) is common, maybe cotton or tech-fiber. They will last longer (especially if handwashed), but do have the advantages of Merino.Thus far on over 2000 kms of Camino trails I have always used Icebreaker Merino tee’s as my ‘go-to’ shirt to walk in.
Hi Martin, Indeed, pricey, but intriguing!Hello…..wow, they look really interesting but the price is gobsmacking! I’d be willing to give them a try but as they are in London and I’m in Canada, it would be tricky to return something that wasn’t right. They have a huge range of short sleeve tees…..do you have one particular shirt of their‘s that you have had a great experience with ? Thanks !
If you are walking in the heat of summer then an ASICS Australian cricket shirt takes some beating. Designed for players who stay out in the sun for 6 hours in 40C heat.
I’m going to buy a couple of their Equator tees and see what they’re like……I’ll close my eyes when I fill out the payment section. Here’s hoping……thanks for the reco !!Hi Martin, Indeed, pricey, but intriguing!
I own the ceramic t-shirt. Apart from looking and fitting great, I haven’t truly field tested the ceramic t-shirt just yet. I know the ceramic fabric is slightly thicker than merino and has a tad-bit less give, but boasts many similar properties, and is more durable.
Here is a link to a seemingly objective long-term review of one of their ceramic t-shirts that I found for you:
700 Days With The Condition Black Ceramic T-Shirt | Vinjatek
I once said this was the best t-shirt ever made. After 700 days of wearing it continuously among just 3 other t-shirts around the world, it still is. Nimbly armored with ceramic particles to an advanced textile with active stitching, this is the most technical and tactical t-shirt ever made...vinjatek.com
Good luck!
I dont wear cotton t-shirts. They take too long to dry. I don’t find synthetic t-shirts “sticky”. My Old Navy $20 quick dry synthetic t-shirt worked great for me.Merino wool T-shirts are practically indistinguishable from cotton T-shirts (except for price!), as far as weight, but merino doesn't hold onto moisture like cotton does. And it doesn't feel sticky when I'm sweaty like some synthetics do.
Hello……just wanted to let you know that my two Vollebak Equator tee shirts arrived here in eastern Canada today from their warehouse in Holland. Free shipping through DHL was smooth and quick, so great customer service. They look and feel fantastic and if they perform on the trail like they promise, they are going to be well worth the lofty price point. I got one dark green and one dark grey and the former was in their discount ’vault’ (as they call it) at 50% off. The fit is perfect with a great neckline and plenty of room in the upper arms……can’t wait to try them. I’m re-walking the Portuguese from Porto in March and then heading on up to Gijon on the north coast in Asturias to walk back to SdC on the Norte, all in all about 650 kms so they’ll be put through their paces. Thank you soooo much for the reco as I had not previously heard of this company!Greetings Martin,
I have a brand that I love and trust, but they are quite dear when it comes to price. I trekked my Camino Frances last year kitted out primarily in their clothing, and everything performed tremendously well.
The company is Vollebak.They make adventure clothing out of revolutionary fabrics, such as ceramic, microorganism-imbued cotton, wood, graphene, etc. Sadly for you and my potential testimonial, I wore Vollebak Merino shirts on my Camino, haha. Here is a link to potential products of interest:
T Shirts
Our t shirts are designed for the hottest and coldest places on the planet. We also make the world’s two toughest t shirts. One is engineered with 100,000 ceramic particles. The other is woven with 120 metres of carbon fibre normally found in jet engines.vollebak.com
The price point is generally far and above premium brands such as Arc’teryx and Norrona, but the quality and ingenuity are par none.
Cheers!
I still have and use my OMM ruck! I didn't know they made clothing As my walking days are over what I have will probably see me outI’m a devotee of merino base layers, but IMHO Icebreaker and Smartwool just aren’t as robust as they used to be. I still find them comfortable and can get two or three days camino out of one without smelling like a pole-cat. I don’t think they’re especially ‘quick dry’ though.
Latterly I’ve switched to the OMM range of technical running t-shirts and base layers. Comfortable, hard wearing and quick-dry. There is a slightly heavier weight also described as ‘insulated’.
They may only be easily available in the UK. OMM is ‘original mountain marathon’; which in the days when everything was right with the world, was the Karrimor Mountain Marathon - in which I competed without distinction when both my knees worked properly.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?