There's more than one way to re-sling a cam!

That moment when you realize no one will be accidentally walking off with your custom climbing gear.

The thought process behind this setup:

Since I've gotten kind of promiscuous (in a non standard use of the term) with my selection of climbing partners. I am relying on my rack as the primary vs the box of chocolates that might show up. Therefore, I didn't want to be without my cams for 2 weeks while I send them off to Yates Gear for re-sling.

I considered the more popular, Blue Water Titan Cord, which is 5.5mm and rated to 3100lbs single strand. It's used to sling hexes and light weight cordelette, but it's slippery stuff, requiring a triple fisherman's with some tails to form a safe loop. 

The other option is Sterling Power Cord, which is also rated to 4800lbs, but with a standard nylon sheath it knots like standard perlon cord. The advantage of the nylon is once the double fisherman's sees a few anchor setups, it should be pretty permanently fixed and not require paranoia of constant knot rechecks. The downside, in double fisherman's configuration, the cord fails via sheath-core slippage. You can tie a triple fisherman's but it won't increase the failure strength by much, just change the mode of failure.

Looking at the single stem Black Diamond Camalot cams I own, it seemed like 6mm doubled over would fit in the stem, making Power Cord front runner.

Next I measured out the length I needed by doing a test run with some 5mm perlon I had lying around. It was more than 24 inches to make similar length loops as the original slings, so to make life simple for the guys at Rock and Snow (rockandsnow.com), I went with 36in. I didn't mind longer loops and this would give me more leeway to tie the double fisherman's, or even a triple fisherman's knot.

Strength wise, I'm not 100% sure on what I'll be getting. Single loop 6mm perlon on Rigid Stem Friends used in the common Gunks tie off is rated to about 8kn (per Wild Country). However, 6mm perlon is significantly less strong than Power Cord and my cord isn't single loop but double loop. Looking at various test of breaking points for the single loop double fisherman's, it seems like 50% is a fair conservative average. Using two loops should decrease force on the knot. As a very conservative guess, unless I'm completely disregarding a key variable, I expect this setup to exceed 12kN. It's very rare (though not impossible) for a top piece to see in excess of 10kN in real world use, but in excess of 12kN is pretty unlikely, and my cord failing might be the least of my concerns by 13kN.

Finally, as a finishing touch, I repurposed the old sling to maintain the color coding and also ensure I clip both strands. Finding my purple, green or yellow Camalot is as easy as the day I brought them home. 

Total cost to resling 4 cams was $15 (vs about $30), and I didn't need to part ways with them for two weeks. 

Please note, this will only work on this style Black Diamond Camalot. Do not try this on wired U stem cams. The reason is the cable can cut the cord or webbing. For those cams, such as my TCUs and Aliens, I will be having them re-slung professionally. 

Also, I do have some concerns with the long term use of Power Cord fatiguing over the edges of the stem hole, this wouldn't be an issue with Perlon. Eventually I'll mail them off, but probably not until the winter. For now I have a really unique and safe setup, that should get me through this rock season.

If you are a physics or materials science expert, feel free to send me a comment as to anything I might have missed about the safety of this setup.

Fenix HP10 (HP11) night blaster, the Sun on your head

For many years I used a Petzl Duo halogen/LED headlamp. It was in many ways the gold standard for cavers and rescue personnel, and it still the main headlamp you see permanently attached to rescuers helmets. The Duo Belt, same head unit but with a body mounted battery pack for extreme cold, was also used for winter explorers. The housing on the battery box of my Duo cracked after nearly a decade of use. It can be replaced, and I will probably do so at some point, but I took the demise of my Duo as a chance to look at more modern and compact options that were better suited for backpacking and climbing. The Duo wasn’t heavy, but it was a space hog. 2-3x the volume of more modern lamps.

I consider myself a night owl, if not somewhat nocturnal. If anything, the only time I really ever get up early is for hiking and paddling, though I often intentionally start out late in the day to time a sunset photo opportunity at a specific location. But because I’m pretty comfortable hiking, biking, running,  rock/ice climbing, skiing, (flatwater) paddling, and swimming at night -among other pursuits, I tend to not really concern myself with the time I start an adventure when I don’t have a particular reason to do so.

Because of my affinity to spend time in the dark, I really prefer to have a good headlamp that meets the following criteria.

1. Uses AA batteries which are still the most common for multiple devices. Two way radios, GPS, camera strobes, DSLR battery grips, and the few remaining non rechargeable point and shoot cameras all take AA batteries. This means I only need to carry AA batteries and not multiple sizes (usually AAA is second most common). A second factor for AA batteries is the availability of AA Lithiums. These are not cheap, but they are easily found at any big box store and they work in extreme cold. they also negate the weight advantage of AAA vs AA (based on 3 AAA alkalines vs 4 AA lithiums).


2. Has a seperate battery compartment and lamp housing for balance and comfort. True, while front mounted lamp/battery combos are usually smaller and lighter and you can lay down with them on, they aren’t as good for active pursuits. They tend to bounce and sway and usually lack a 3rd over the head top strap for security and stability. 


3. Rugged and waterproof. My Petzl Duo was fully submersible down to several dozen feet, and while I never went snorkeling or diving or underwater caving with it, having piece of mind that a little rain or snow or even the unintended flipping of a canoe wouldn’t be the death of my light source is very important.


4. DEDICATED POWER SWITCH AND MODE SWITCH. With all the good options for the first 3, this was and still is perhaps the hardest option to find and thus it’s in bold. One of the things I liked about my Petzl Duo was it’s simple two switch lever setup. Up/Down/Middle. Up and down were for either lamp (halogen or LED module), middle was for power off. In the middle setting the switch locked out so the headlamp couldn’t be accidentally turned on, and this was a feature that made the Duo a favorite of mine. The Duo lever switch worked extremely well with gloves and mittens. Unfortunately, most LED headlamp makers like to have just a single switch that controls all the various settings. So with many headlamps you have to cycle through 6 modes (or more) to get from power off back to power off. Ideally, in a dual switch setup, one switch controls power on/off and one controls output adjustment. 


5. Power output. At least 100 lumens on high with a lower setting of 10-20 lumens.


6. Battery life. Something that would last 3-4 days of intensive use at low to medium power.


7. Beam quality. Lumens are one factor in quality of light output, but the type of LED bulb and it’s color balance, the reflector (collimator in LED tech), and the throw of the beam all make for better and worse beams.


8. Cost. Under $100.

Once I ruled out all the headlamps that weren’t AA and didn’t have a dedicated power switch, I was left with really a very small sample. Among that sample was the Fenix HP10 (now replaced by the 277 Lumen HP11, which I also own) and it’s 225 lumens of night blasting, blindness inducing, pure white laser light. This lamp met all my criteria but was from a name I had not heard of before. After reading the reviews, and visiting the associated light enthusiast sites, where every feature is scrutined, tested, and the lamps are even disassembled, I placed an order for the Fenix HP10.

It turns out Fenix has a long history in handheld and tactical lighting. It also turns out that these aren’t over inflated specifications, but they are actually verified by enthusiast testing, complete with tear downs and inspection of the internal components. The burn times listed below were extremely accurate in testing, as was the Lumen output.

Specs for the Fenix HP10 are impressive: IPX-8 waterproof (certified for continuous submersion under operation), beam outputs of 7 lumens (210hrs), 50 lumen's (22hrs), 120 lumens (7.5hrs) 225 lumens (limited to 3 minute burst to prevent overheating but can run consecutively without problems, expect about 3 hours of continuous run time). Emergency warning flasher (44hrs), strobe (5hrs), and S.O.S (50hrs) settings. The bulb is a Cree XR-E (Q5) with a scratch/shatter resistant anti reflective optical grade glass lens, surrounded by an aluminum housing with cooling fins. The body and battery box is polycarbonate for a total weight of 117g without batteries. 177g with 4 AA L91 Lithium.

Pros: met all the above criteria plus a compact lamp housing, metal heat fins allow the 225 lumen burst mode to run continuously (even if it does revert to 120 after 3 minutes, simply press the button to reactivate 225), amazing light output at over 200 lumens, tight beam, accesories like an area lamp diffuser, and a hiking/close task diffuser. Flat back mounts well to a bike helmet or climbing helmet, headband can be removed. Housing doubles as a power lock. 

Cons: tight beam (just a little too tight), need for a snap fit accessory diffuser, no physical power lock but the housing doubles as passive lock when in upright position, small buttons are difficult to use with gloves, impossible to use with mittens. Straps are small and flat back (on lamp housing) isn't super comfy on a bare head when hiking for hours in the dark (worn with a hat I never notice the back). 

First, at the risk of ending the suspense, let me just say that this headlamp is so good, I will really just cover the minor cons and how to fix them to make for a near perfect headlamp.

As far as the cons, the only one that really can’t be fixed is the size of the buttons. Unfortunately, this is pretty common on the new compact LED headlamps and really can’t be fixed.

Another con is that the beam is very focused and thus has very little spill. It is almost a bit too hot (focused) at the center and can be distracting for close quarters task, and this includes hiking on rugged terrain where you are watching your step. However, with the snap on diffuser, the light is nice and even.

With the diffuser attached there are some pros and cons. First, it’s a press fit flip up diffuser. It is fairly secure but if you were thrashing through brush, or in the close quarters of a cave or swimming in the water, it could possibly pop off. Also because it flips, it can create downward glare onto the face/eyes of the user. The solution is fairly simple 1) make the edges of the diffuser opaque (paint, nail polish, etc) 2) push the lamp housing a little further up on the forehead. 3) attach some sort of blinder below the lens 4) simply wear a brimmed hat and problem solved. The snap on diffuser isn’t all bad. You can buy a few spares and paint them various colors. Red for night vision or sneaking around huts after quiet hours. Green for reading maps in the dark.

The second problem with the diffuser, is that while the undiffused beam on low (7 lumens) is actually bright enough to hike with, it really needs to be bumped up to the second setting (50 lumens) once you go diffused. I should note, most consumer headlamps high beam is about 40-60 lumens, this is level 2 on the HP10.

The tight throw and low spill of the beam can be easily fixed with a layer or two of screen protectors from a cell phone or even Scotch tape. Ideally, the old style resistive (stylus based) protectors that aren’t quite clear are best. I added two layers of Invisishield and the beam almost doubled in diameter, if I could find my old “Write Right” protectors from my PDA days, I could do even better. This simple fix makes the snap on diffuser virtually unecessary and enables the HP10 to be used on low beam most of the time while on the trail.

**Since I initially wrote this review, I lost my initial diffuser but I ordered 3 more to paint red and green. Yet, I haven’t replaced the clear one. I decided to solve the beam tightness with clear screen protectors alone and have it perfect for my needs.

A neat feature of many Fenix lamps, including the HP10, is a snap on area light diffuser. This wide area globe can be found for under $10. However, if you have a spare 35mm film canister in your house, it should snap right on the housing. On low beam this is great for reading in a tent, but on 50 lumen setting it can light up a campsite. It’s about as bright as a 60 watt bulb when hung from a overhead line.

Wondering what the strobe setting is good for? Well, if you and a few other hiking mates have HP10’s with globe diffusers, you can each color them and set up a disco in the backcountry. What better way to end a hard day of hiking than with a little clubbing to the beat of nature.

How does the HP10 compare to the competition:

The short answer is there really isn’t a headlamp that completely matches it. It’s brighter, burns longer, more rugged than anything else on the market. Here is the best the competition offers under $100.

Petzl Myo RXP ($75-90): It’s maximum of 160 lumen boost mode isn’t quite the HP10’s 225 blinding lumens, but it’s more than enough based on the rare times I have even needed 120 lumens. With only 95 hours of burn time at low power (8 lumens) using the 3 AA battery pack, the RXP doesn’t quite offer the long term lighting of the HP10.

Although Petzl claims the RXP has much longer burn life than the Fenix, it is largely misleading. Petzl was able to boost the RXP battery life largely due to the regulated (voltage controlled) processor in the headlamp. That control merely means that the light eventually gets dimmer at any given setting until depleting the batteries. For example At 50 lumens (which both the HP10 and RXP have a setting for) the RXP claims 56 hours to the HP10s meager 22. This appears an impressive feat, however, the RXP produces 51 lumens for 3 hours while the HP10 produces 50 lumens for 22 hours. By 10 hours, when the HP10 is pumping out 50 lumens of pure white light, the RXP is down to 8 lumens. A positive for the RXP is that you can select the 3 power modes you wish to use. For example, the HP10 is preset to 7, 50, 120 and 225 and cannot be changed. The RXP allows the user to set 3 levels from the following Lumen outputs: 8, 13, 17, 25, 34, 51, 59, 71, 85, 140. I would probably opt for 8, 25, and 59 (160 Lumen boost is always available regardless of preset outputs). However, even at 25 Lumens, the RXP only has a 10 hour burn time before it drops to about 10 Lumens. So the HP10 burns longer at 50 Lumens than the RXP at 25 Lumens.

On the positive, the RXP has a proper built in diffuser that works the same as the HP10 without the press fit issues. I should note that the RXP diffuser has a different issue than the HP10 diffuser. Rather than glare from the diffuser, the RXP cast a shadow. The RXP is also not waterproof, it is only IPX-4 (protected against splashing water). IPX-4 is probably plenty for hikers, but a good thunderstorm and some tropical storm force wind could potentially test this level of sealing.

Like the Fenix HP10, the Petzl Myo RXP offers a power switch and a level switch.

Black Diamond: Sadly, BD Equipment, one of my favorite companies, offers nothing comparable in power or features.  I believe it's current brightest headlamp is now around 100 lumens. Also, BD refuses to seperate the power and level buttons, prefering to stick to a single button for all functions. Until they can clear up their UI/poor design nightmares, I'd steer clear of BD headlamps.

Princeton Tech Apex ($60): The Apex offers IPX-7 waterproofing, which means it can be submerged and operated at 1m for 30 minutes. With 200 Lumens maximum power it is very close to the blinding nightime faux Sun of the HP10. Like the Petzl RXP, the Princeton tech is electronically regulated. However, Princeton Tec is more upfront with it’s burn times. Unlike the Fenix or the Petzl the Princeton Tec Apex uses multiple LED bulbs to control light and power consumption. The lower power settings use 4 wide angle low powerLEDs for wide area lighting, eliminating the need for a diffuser lens. The power output from these LEDs is 12 lumens (14hrs), 40 Lumens (8hrs), 85 Lumens (8hrs), 200 Lumens (0.5hrs). From the numbers you can see that while the 4 low power LEDs eliminate the pesky diffuser, they don’t offer much benefit in terms of power savings. Like the other units, the Princeton Tec does burn for longer than it’s stated times but at lower power output. Maximum burn time for the Apex is 150 hours on low power.

Conclusion:

I’ve been a Petzl fan for many years, perhaps even to the level of being a fanboy, I would have probably not have hesitated to by the RXP had it been available when I bought the Fenix HP10. However, because the RXP uses 3 AA batteries, rather than 4, it sacrifices significant burn time and perhaps power output. Beyond that issue, the RXP suffers from diffuser issues itself and it lacks the waterproofness. So it comes down to Petzl’s name or Fenix specs. I have always liked Princeton Tec’s specs and price points, but I’ve heard negative things about their headlamps durability. I also am not convinced eliminating the diffuser hassle is worth the tradeoff of the extra power consumption of the 4 LEDs. Assuming you don’t care about burn times, the Apex is a worthy option.

Competition is what drives innovation and Petzl and Princeton Tec now have another competitor in the marketplace. All the above headlamps are excellent, but for the $45 I paid and the versatility of the HP10, I do not think there is a better lamp on the market. 

Follow-up:

Look for my review of the HP11, while I haven’t spent a lot of time with it, I can say it’s nearly as good as the HP10, improved in many ways, not as good in others. But it gives you 277 lumens for about the same price ($50-70) and equally good battery life.

Off for a trail run with the night Sun.

The Timex E-Altimeter, a Subaru for your wrist

(editors note: the above video is pretty much an exact representation of my life, with or without this watch).

For some time I'd been looking for a more elegant altimeter option, preferably one that was analog. Although digital watches have their purpose, I've always been fond of pure analog or analog/digital hybrid watches for casual wear. The problem with analog altimeters is they are far less functional than their digital brethren. My Suunto Vector keeps dead accurate altitude, logs total ascent and descent in the mountains down to one meter increments, has multiple alarms including altitude alarms, timers, a thermometer, a barometer, and many other features. Quite simply, no pure analog watch can do all that.

However, some (if not all) people would argue the Vector is about as stylish as a big yellow blob with giant numbers cannot possibly be. While I'm not exactly on GQs best dressed list with my Kevin Arnold eqsue styling, even I can't help but feel a little strange sporting the giant yellow blob to work, and it definitely isn't an after hours watch. So I was looking for something a little more versatile, I guess you could say I was looking for a lifestyle watch with some functionality. You know, kinda like a Subaru complete with with some climbing and environmental activism stickers and a roof rack, but for your wrist!

Analog altimeter watches are hard to find and the only option on the market was the $400 St Moritz Topo, a nice looking watch and one that on a good sale day could be had for closer to a reasonable $200. Still, I wasn't in love with the St Moritz. Suunto also made a few more elegant looking digital watches with stainless or titanium cases that functioned similar to my Vector, but they were still digital watches and they were almost 2X the cost of my $200 Vector, though they offered the exact same functionality. Then Timex came out with it's stylish E-Instrumets analog series, and I couldn't help but notice the E-Altimeter (along with the other models, which would make for an awesome single watch if all the features could be combined).

The Timex E-Altimeter is a very basic but very good looking analog altimeter. As matter of fact, though Timex makes excellent functional watches, you wouldn't know it was a Timex if the name wasn't on it. It's substantially built with heft and size you'd expect from a quality time piece. The face is wonderful looking with great depth and separation. Often, finely designed watches on the Internet lose the 3 dimensional separation that makes them beautiful and easy to read in person, and this watch is no different. The E-Altimeter is designed in Germany, so it's definitely a step up from your typical mass produced Asian wrist pieces.

Of course, it being a Timex has it's advantage...PRICE! Any of the E-Instruments series can be found for under $150 via a little shopping. The E-Altimeter usually sells for around $130-200 retail, depending on color and band material. As a watch affectionado without the deep pockets of a watch affectionado, I have no reservations in saying that if a much more affluent name brand put it's label on this watch it could justify selling it for 3-5X Timex MSRP!

The E-Altimeter isn't laden with functionality, it will tell you your current altitude, your max altitude and your minimum altitude, and of course the time. It has no alarms, chronographs or any other useful features beyond a backlit Indiglo display. I guess if I could add one or two features to it I'd probably ask for a way to calculate total ascent. Perhaps a 4th button that would show total ascent as a reading on the altimeter. Beyond that a chronograph would be nice.

While it's certainly not going to replace my Suunto for keeping detailed track of vertical feet in the mountains, it's the type of watch you can transition from a hike to a nice dinner with without going, "oh man I forgot to take this thing off." Sure the Titanium Suunto could do equally well, but I've always looked at digital watches as childish in a formal setting. If you view digital differently, go with the metal Suunto (X-Lander or Observer) as an all around watch since it cost about the same as a plastic Suunto and a E-Altimeter combined. Suunto makes a few more elegant but less featured digital options (the Elementum series) that cost about 3X what the E-Altimeter cost, which in my opinion is a little too much for too little!

As far as tool versus toy, I consider my altimeter my most useful navigation tool in the mountains and on the water. While on trails I can pinpoint my position based on contour intervals intersecting with the trail, off trail it's even more essential for navigation and positioning. Because altimeters work by adjusting to barometric pressure it is also a tool for monitoring storms in the mountains or on the water. Suffice to say, I always feel uneasy when I don't have my altimeter with me.

Even an analog altimeter can be used to monitor the weather. If you are camped and the altitude continues to rise, the pressure is dropping. If the altitude falls, the pressure is rising. This alone or coupled with cloud formations, wind patterns and other factors can give you a really precise look at the weather forecast without any outside data.

Which leads to the next reason the E-Altimeter is so nice, since I can wear it to work on a Thursday or Friday (without looking ridiculous) I will assure myself of having an altimeter over the weekend. All too often I arrive at the trail head wearing my Seiko chronograph, which I then debate taking off and leaving in the car where it could be stolen, or leaving on even though I really don't need it and could damage it. Of course, while some argue you don’t really need to keep time in the wilderness, I disagree whole heartedly. Even a basic watch is useful for many things, including orienting yourself and assuring yourself time to find and set up camp.

Hands on I really like the Timex E-Altimeter, it is dead accurate in elevation due to the digital altimeter with analog readout, it looks stylish, it is extremely well built and detailed, and it's equally functional at a formal gathering as it is in the mountains!

My only gripe with the black version I got, is that the brushed metal does show scratches quite easily. As a matter of fact, I scratched the metal pulling on plastic at the climbing gym, something I never would have expected. The glass face, however, seems as scratch resistant as my Seiko, which has taken quite a few direct hits over the years. If you are concerned about scratching it up, I’d recommend the silver versions, which should hide minor scratches a lot better than the black version.

Although the Timex E-Altimeter it is primarily a lifestyle type watch, I really like the versatility of it, especially when taking multifaceted vacations where part of the trip is going to be outdoors and the other part is going to be more mainstream or urban activities. And I'm sure every hiker or climber has had to take a trip to some location for a wedding, funeral, bachelor party, or job function that also happened to be a prime outdoors location, with this watch no more juggling two watches or forgetting to take off the ugly yellow blob when going from the mountains to something more formal!

(all images and video of Timex products via Timex)

Wool, Natures Perfect Fabric for Outdoors Lifestyles

On a 4 day backcountry winter trip this February, my polypro (DuoDry) base layer smelled so bad I couldn’t even stand my own body odor. The problem with advanced synthetic base layers isn’t breathability, it’s bacterial growth. I’ve tried almost every big name brand wicking fabric over the years. Polartec Powerdry, Patagonia Capiline, Wickers, Coolmax, DuoDry and many others. I actually find that Champion branded DuoDry or Coolmax available at your local Target store is about as good as any of them, all at a fraction of the price of the big name brands. I know the brand snobs out there are snickering, but the truth is the name on the label adds nothing to the key component of a wicking layer -it’s ability to move moisture from skin to the air, and Coolmax is by far the best at doing this.

Over the years quite a few companies have come out with fabrics that are anti-microbial, however, few actually are stink resistant. There is one fabric that can be worn pretty much indefinitely without stinking, wool!

Wool is naturally hydrophobic, which makes it a good mid and outer layer for outdoor activities. But with nanotechnology applied to the fibers that same wool can become hydrophilic and wick moisture from the skin towards the atmosphere. Bearing this in mind, it’s not surprising that my recent gear upgrade to wool base layer wicking t-shirts has proved to be a smart choice.

I purchased some Wickers wool t-shirts, which are 50% wool, 50% synthetic. The combination works sort of like a modern wool sock with it’s mix of synthetic and wool blend. It wicks moisture away from the skin rapidly while also reducing odor.

I’m very very warm natured. It gets over 60F and I am ready for winter. Even in the winter I rarely need more than a very thin base layer or two, and I’ve been seen sweating profusely in below zero ambient temps when the winds were calm. The only time I like it to be warmer is when I’m paddling, swimming or at the beach, and even then I’m content with 75-80F maximum depending on the wind.

The problem with synthetics is they act like a Petri dish for bacterial growth, and that bacteria is on both sides of the shirt. When you take the shirt off you still smell like a rotten 4 day old sausage.

At this point I’ve had the shirts for almost 6 months, and I’ve put them through the ringer. Wearing them to the gym, playing with the dog at the park (which involves me running around since he’s a herding dog), outdoor sprint intervals, short hikes, all day hikes and multi-day trips where I wore the same shirt every day. On one trip I alternated between the two shirts over 8 days, including sleeping in them. On another stretch I went 5 days of intense activity in a single shirt, including 3 over a weekend where I didn’t shower or use deodorant (typical of a 3 day backpacking trip), as well wearing the same shirt around the house, it barely smelled offensive at all. A full synthetic shirt will stink in about 1-2 hours of intense activity. After 3 days you will consider burning it!

How did it breathe? Well, my gym workout usually involves doing hill intervals on the treadmill (5-8 minutes at maximum intensity, average 10% incline, at 6.0mph average x 4-5 reps). Usually my heart rate is at or above it’s maximum (based on age) during most of the session, lots of sweat dripping! I can only compare it to my cotton t-shirts I typically wear to the gym, but I was reasonably dry by the time I left the gym, and felt much less clammy during the workouts. With the “SynWool” combination appearing to move moisture away from my skin, I was also cooler than I typically am when wearing cotton.

On the trail the shirts breathe very well. They seem to breathe as well as typical synthetics under similar conditions, but not quite as well as Coolmax. Another neat feature of Coolmax is how fast it dries out, the syn-wool t-shirts don’t dry out Coolmax fast, but dry out almost as quickly as most performance synthetics I have used. The downside is they seem to be a little more stretchy when wet, such as hiking in the rain or taking an unexpected swim.

My biggest complaint of the wool t-shirts is their shape holding. It says on the washing instructions to machine wash and hang dry, but I found drying them at the lowest setting is useful for returning shape to the shirt. The neck, especially, seems to stretch under the pack straps.

As far as the feel of the shirts, they feel a lot like a thin cotton t-shirt. They are very thin and from the start I was a little weary of them holding up over the long haul. I definitely don’t think they’d hold up to bushwhacking or rock climbing. I’ve already ripped one when I took a decent slide down some roots. My skin looked far worse than the shirt, 3 months later there is still a healing scar, but I feel like pure synthetic wouldn’t have ripped. I’ve also put holes in the belly area from the pack belt catching. Overall, while they do seem durable enough to last a single summer season, it’s just too easy to get a pull in the material, only time will tell.

In comparison, initial impressions of some of my full synthetic base layers isn’t much more confidence inspiring, yet I’ve had many thin wicking shirts for 5+ years of hard use. Some are mildly pilled but none are ripped.

At full price, wool t-shirts range from $40-60+, or about $30-50 more than a typical synthetic wicking t-shirt, and still a bit more than your overpriced synthetic luxury brands mentioned above. Of course, unlike most textiles, these mostly seem to be made in the USA -for now. Perhaps that is worth a little premium. Having payed $36 for two t-shirts, I’m pretty happy with the investment provided they hold up. But before I go buying anymore of this wonder hybrid material, I’m going to figure out just how much durability comes with this perfect combination of natural and man made fibers.