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Reviews > Clothing > Shirts > tasc Carrollton Performance Crew > Test Report by alex legg

tasc Carrollton Performance Crew
Test Series by Alex Legg
Initial report April 11th, 2012
Field Report June 30th 2012
Long Term Report August 28th, 2012

(Picture from
http://tascperformance.com)

Tester Information:

Name:  Alex Legg
Age:  30
Gender:  Male
Height:  6'4" (1.9 m)
Weight:  195 lb (88 kg)
Email address:  alexlegg2 AT yahoo DOT com
City, State, Country:  Tucson, Arizona, USA

I grew up backpacking in the Rockies.   I hike ranges throughout Arizona and Colorado year round.  I carry a light pack, mostly water.  I prefer a tarp shelter to my heavier 2-person tent.  I do many day hikes and I also spend as many as 5 days out at a time.  Temperatures range from below freezing to above 100 F (38 C), and elevations from 2,000 ft to 14,000 ft ( 610 m to 4, 300 m).  I bag a mountain almost every weekend, and I walk my dogs 4 miles daily through deep sand and overgrown mesquite trees in our local washes.
Initial Report:

Product Information and Specifications:

Manufacturer: thriv NP inc.
Year of Manufacture: 2012
URL: http://tascperformance.com
Listed Weight: Not listed
Measured Weight: 6.2 oz (176 g)
Sizes: Small, Medium, Large (size I am testing), X-Large, XX-Large
Colors: Orange, Yellow-Fin, thrive Green (color I am testing), Dark Red, Black, Heather Grey, White, Navy
MSRP: US $30.00

Product description and Initial Impressions:

The tasc Carrollton Performance Crew is touted by the manufacture as the perfect performance t-shirt.  When I first felt it the shirt seemed very stretchy and strong.  The color I am testing is called thrive Green and it is a dark green tint.  I like the color a lot and it is exactly what I had expected from looking at the manufacture's website.  The tasc name is printed on the front of the left shoulder.  Under the name I see a seam that runs from the neck line to the sleeve.  The seams all look to be double stitched and sturdy.  There are no noticeable loose threads that I can find.  The majority of the seam stitching is visible on both the inside and outside of this shirt with the exception being the seam that runs down the side of my body from my arm pit to my waist. The back of the shirt has the tasc name and their logo printed behind my neck.  The logo looks to me like a panda bear face inside of a water drop. 

The 160 GSM performance fabric is made from 55% organic Cotton, 40% Viscose from Bamboo, and 5% Elastane.  Its technology features are UPF 50+, moisture wicking, breathable, 4-way stretch and anti-odor.  I love that the shirt has sun protection because I spend almost all of my spare time outside under the hot Southern Arizona sun.  For that same reason, I like the moisture wicking feature and of course the anti-odor feature. 

Trying it out:

I washed the shirt after receiving it on a regular cycle with cold water and my all natural detergent that I also use to clean baby diapers.  When it came out it smelled so fresh and so clean.  I then hung it up on the line to dry. 

When it was dry I pulled the shirt on over my head to find that I was very comfortable.  Wow, I like the feel of this thing.  It is incredibly stretchy and seems to move with my body exceptionally well.  I immediately grabbed my truck keys and threw my dogs in the back.  I just had to see how this shirt felt in action.  I took a four-mile run through deep sand in one of our local dried out river beds which I generally refer to as washes.  Due to the deep sand and the 85 F (29 C) heat, I started to sweat a lot.  I was surprised that when I stopped I was not totally soaked.  The shirt had easily wicked my sweat away from my body to the outer side of the fabric where it quickly evaporated.  As I was waiting for it to evaporate I benefited from the moisture as the wind gusted.  It was almost like having an evaporative cooler on my body.  I went back to the truck very impressed.

Summary:

So far I think this shirt is awesome!  I love how well it wicks moisture, and how stretchy it is.  It feels really good against my skin and is also pretty breathable.  I look forward to seeing how much abuse it can handle and how well the anti-odor feature works.  I plan on wearing this shirt on numerous multi-day backpacking trips in the months to come, and I will get pretty dirty and stinky.

Things I like:

1.  Great wicking so far
2.  As the manufacture's website claims, it is unbelievably comfortable.
3.  Breathable


Things I don't like:
Nothing as of yet.

Field Report:


Field Conditions:

I wore the tasc Carrollton on many trips during the course of the last two months; a few of the trips are outlined below:

I wore the shirt during a 3-day 2-night trip in Coconino National Forest in northern Arizona.  The elevation ranged from 8,400 ft to 12,637 ft (2,560 m to 3,866 m) and temperatures ranged from 32 F to 65 F (0 C to 18 C).

I also wore the shirt for a 3-day 2-night trip in the Rincon Mountain district of Saguaro National Park.  The elevation ranged from 4,240 ft to 8,482 ft (1,292 m to 2,585 m) and the temperature ranged from 32 F to 80 F (0 C to 27 C)

The Carrollton came with me on a 2-day 1-night trip in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson, Arizona.  The elevation ranged from 5,400 ft to 9,453 ft (1,646 m to 2,909 m) and the temperatures ranged from the low 50s F to the mid 70s F (low 10s C to mid 20s C).

Performance in the Field:

The tasc Carrollton Performance Crew has been used and abused a lot over the past two months.  It still fits just the same as it did when it was brand new, but it is showing some obvious signs of wear.

To start, this shirt is made from a lightweight, breathable fabric that is comfortable to wear, even for days at a time.  I have worn it on a number of day hikes and dog walks/runs as well as on the backpacking trips I outlined above.  I think that the shirt is much more breathable than my basic cotton shirts, and has the benefit of drying quickly and not holding on to much odor.

For the most part I wore the shirt as a single layer, but a few times I wore it over a long sleeved base layer in the chilly mornings.  I found that the Carrollton holds onto my core body heat about as well as I had expected, which is about as much as its cotton shirt counterparts.  I was not expecting the shirt to provide much heat due to this being a summer test, so I did not mind its warmth providing abilities.  The green fabric does seem to generate a bit more heat under the sun than a lighter color would, but that also did not affect my test negatively. 

I recently completed a test of another shirt from the same manufacture, the tasc Performance Tee, which I love.  The other shirt still looks practically new to this day other than some light wear and tear along some inner seams.  I feel it's fair to say that I was shocked to see discoloration appearing on the back of the Carrollton shirt after only my first tough day in the backcountry.  At first I thought that the discoloration was nothing but sweat stains that would wash out.  I rinsed my shirt off in some streams a few times over the course of my trip, and the discoloration remained.  Even now, after washing the shirt in my machine at home several times, the stains remain.  I use an all natural detergent, and I have not tried a conventional name brand detergent on the shirt, but maybe that would get the stains out.  The shirt remains very functional and I still wear it just as often as I would if it was not stained.  Of course I only wear it as long as I am on the trail or working out.  The discoloration has made me think twice about wearing the shirt out for any social gatherings or work functions.  It basically looks like a dirty shirt all the time.  It looks as if I just ran a bunch of distance sweating like crazy and leaving salt stains in my shirt. 

I do not feel that the cosmetic appearance of the shirt has caused it to function poorly while in use, and I still find it to be a very comfortable shirt to wear while hiking and backpacking.  My only complaint is that it looks old and dirty far before its time.

Summary:

The Carrollton is a great workout shirt regardless of what I am doing to break a sweat.  It breathes well and dries fast making it one of my main choices when activities are strenuous.  The shirt discolored almost immediately, so I can't say that it looks very pretty.

Things I Like:

1.  Breathable
2.  Fast drying
3.  Soft and comfortable

Things I don't like:

1.  Shirt discolored and looks like it is stained with sweat.






Long Term Report:

Field Conditions:

I didn't get to use the Carrollton while backpacking as much as I had hoped during the long term testing period.  An injury to my left foot forced me to cancel my Grand Canyon trip, and forest closures in Colorado contributed to the limited use I was able to get while out there.  Luckily I had the chance to do some hiking in the northern part of Colorado before coming back to Arizona. 

I did manage to get in an overnight trip in Roosevelt National Forest in northern Colorado.  The temperature ranged from 45 F  (7 C) in the early morning to about 80 F (27 C) mid day.  The elevation ranged from 7,000 ft (2,134 m) to around 9,500 ft (2,896 m).

I also wore the shirt on few day hikes and an overnight trip in the Mount Baldy Wilderness in northern Arizona.  The temperatures ranged from the mid 40's F (4's C) to the mid 70's F (20's C) and the elevation ranged from 9,394 ft (2,862 m) to 11,414 ft (3,479 m).

I took the shirt on 2 overnight trips to the Mt Bigelow area of Coronado National Forest in southern Arizona.  The temperatures ranged from 60 F (16 C) to 85 F (29 C) and the elevation ranged from about 7,500 ft (2,286 m) to 8,000 ft (2,438 m).  I did not get the chance to summit the peak due to my foot injury, but I did get to enjoy the cool mountain air and even got a little bit wet!

Performance in the Field:

The Carrollton Crew has not changed much over this testing period.  I have worn it extensively and it is still a comfortable and breathable shirt.  It has been in hot climates, cool climates, been rained on and been soaked in streams.  The fabric has not worn through nor torn anywhere.  I have never been able to get the discoloration that occurred early in the testing period to go away, but no other fading or discoloration has happened.  The fabric is very soft and lightweight and dries quickly.  I'm happy with the shirt and I plan on continuing to wear it on many backpacking trips in the future.  Over time I will see if I can manage to wear it out.

Summary:

This shirt has performed well throughout the testing period.  My only complaint with the shirt was the discoloration pictured in my field report that occurred on the first extensive test of the product.  It caused the shirt to look kind of old and worn, but I still wear it regardless.  The overall function has been great!  The shirt is comfortable in the warm weather and breathes well.

Things I like:

1.  Fast drying.
2.  Breathable.
3.  Soft and comfortable.

What I don't like:

1.  Discoloration in shoulder area.



I would like to thank thrive NP inc. and BackpackGearTest.org for the chance to test this product.










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Reviews > Clothing > Shirts > tasc Carrollton Performance Crew > Test Report by alex legg



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