Reviews > Clothing > Shirts > Ex Officio Micro Stretch Tops > Cora Shea > Long Term Report

Long Term Use I wore the MSF Skivvy for a total of about forty field days over the course of this test. Most of these days were in winter as I soon found that the MSF Skivvy does not wick well on its own at all, and needs the added advantage of layering to keep me dry. Temperatures ranged from -5 F (-20 C) up to 70 F (20 C) and the weather ranged all over the chart from dry snow, to rain, to clear. The majority of my testing occurred in the mountainous, snowy Sierra Nevada in California. However, I wore the MSF Skivvy on a wide variety of trips, from canoeing in the hot Black Canyon of Arizona, to backpacking in the warm scrub hills of Southern California. Above all, I appreciated the comfort of the MSF Skivvy. As long as I had layers over it to move the dew point outward and keep moisture moving outward, the soft inner of the MSF Skivvy rivals any long underwear top I've used in day-in-day-out comfort. However, the key phrase above was the part about layering. Overall, in warm weather, the wicking of the MSF Skivvy was terrible. In my Field Report, I had only one trip with the MSF Skivvy in warm weather, and was unable to draw any conclusions. However now, with three additional warmer trips with the MSF Skivvy, I can say that I will only use the MSF Skivvy on cold trips. And by cold I mean cool enough that I almost always have another layer over the skivvy, especially when I am aerobically working. My current theory is that, despite having poor wicking ability on its own, the MSF Skivvy transports vapor water reasonably well. And thus, as long as it is buried under layers (and thus only really transports vapor) it feels much more comfortable. In short, since I usually do very aerobic activity, I did not like the MSF Skivvy very much because of its poor wicking. However, I do like it for non-backcountry use because it is so comfortable. Also, in the cold and non-sweaty winter (and a long winter it is in California this year - the snowpack is more like mid-March than late-May) the MSF Skivvy kept my warmth in without too much wet discomfort.

Long Term Opinions Long Term Care and Maintenance: Unlike in the Field Report, I have only good things to report here. The two things that worried me the most were (a) the severe pilling that occurred on the outside face of the fabric, and (b) the high stink the fabric held after activity. I feared that these two things would lead to a high-maintenance shirt. But, this was not the case. As for the pilling, it seemed to reach maximum capacity at around field day twenty and hasn't gotten worse since. The face of the fabric has changed a lot since the day it arrived (fuzz and hair tends to stick to the fabric even through washings) but seems to be functionally intact. As for the stink, boy did it stink through the first three washings, but (for whatever reason) it then settled down. I even wore it for a week straight after wash four, and came out smelling relatively clean. This is not to say it smells great - I smell no better in it than any other long underwear top despite the antimicrobial treatment - but at least the additional horrible initial stink is gone. Other than that, the MSF Skivvy has been very easy to care for. I usually choose to wash it by hand for convenience, but it has survived three machine washings (by the label instructions) with no adverse effects. I used duct tape once to remove the excessive fuzz and hair which had collected on the fabric. And that is all the maintenance it has needed. Long Term Durability: As mentioned above, with normal care and use, the MSF Skivvy has really held up over time. The pilling hit an all-time maximum and stopped. The stink stopped being quite as bad, and let me wash it every other trip rather than every trip, thus reducing wear. I did notice a few small things. All the instructions, advertisements, and printing on the inside of the shirt (as shown in bright white silk screening in my Initial Report have now worn off entirely. Also, the brown-grey neck band has turned dark and unreadable from sweat stains. However, these are only cosmetic. The skivvy has no tears or even thin spots, the stitching on the well-used thumb holes is still intact, the zipper still has clean and grit-free operation, and the skivvy is overall in good order.

Summary Overall, the MSF Skivvy has been a great base layer in cold weather. It feels nice on my skin, and wicks well as long as it is cold outside. Compared with the many other long underwear shirts I've used, the MSF Skivvy is much more comfortable overall, but has less wicking ability and more nitpicks (pilling fabric, fuzz-collecting fabric) than I am used to. Likes Dislikes Comfortable against my skin Poor wicking ability Very stretchy Fabric pilled up and changed appearance Warm Not a warm-weather top

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Reviews > Clothing > Shirts > Ex Officio Micro Stretch Tops > Cora Shea > Long Term Report