Long Term Report

Ibex Outback L/S Jersey
Long-term Report
September 25, 2006

Biographical Information

Product Information

Field Conditions

Field Test

Summary

Ibex Outback

Biographical Information
Name	Jennifer Pope
Age	25
Gender	Female
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)
Weight	140 lb (64 kg)
Regular Shirt Size	medium
Email Address	Jennifer dot Pope at gmail dot com
Location	Los Angeles, CA
Backpacking Background Intermediate. I've been a car-camper as long as I can remember and started backpacking in Northern California when I was 16. I've been backpacking for a little over a year after a hiatus during college. I backpack in the Sierras as well as National Forests and Parks in the Los Angeles vicinity. I also spend time in the California deserts and the mountains and coast of Northern California. I'm a tent camper leaning towards lightweight; but I'm also a fan of gadgets and I like being comfortable. I also frequently day hike close to home and while car camping.

Product Information (back to top)
Manufacturer	Ibex Outdoor Clothing
Manufacturer URL	http://www.ibexwear.com/
Year of Manufacture	2006
sleeve length (from top of shoulder to wrist)	25" (64 cm)
Claimed Weight	5.0 oz (142 g)
Actual Weight	5.1 oz (145 g)
MSRP	$79.00 US
Material	18.5 Micron New Zealand Merino Wool
Guarantee	Lifetime warranty for manufacturing and material defects
Purpose	"Year-round, lightweight, temperature regulating performance for: Running, Nordic skiing, Hiking/Backpacking, Travel, Everyday."

For a complete product description as well as my initial impressions, please see my Initial Report. For a description of my experiences on the first two months of field use, please see my Field Report.

Field Conditions (back to top)

I wore this shirt on several day hikes in the Santa Monica mountains. Elevations range from sea level up to 3,000 ft (900 m). Lately temperatures have ranged from the mid-60s to 80 F (15 to 25 C). There was never any precipitation and humidity is usually low.

I also wore this shirt several times to the gym. I wore the shirt while doing moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise.

Field Test (back to top)

This shirt continues to perform much as I reported in my Field Report.

Performance
The shirt does provide enough ventilation for me to wear it in the summer months (see above for my conditions during the summer). When I get warm I still feel the need to push up the sleeves out of habit but even on warmer days I was able to wear the shirt without overheating. The shirt also dries very quickly. The only places that stay wet while I'm wearing the shirt are the places where the shirt is constantly in contact with sweat. I also had some issues with sweat around my wrists where the sleeves bunched up a little due to extra arm-length. This was a pretty minor annoyance overall.

Product Care
I pretty much wash the shirt as I would any other shirt. It has held up fine when washed under less than ideal conditions (being put in the dryer for example). The shirt dries quickly when hung or laid flat to dry. It's usually always dry by the next day.

Durability
The shirt is thin. Over the four month test period this has not been a problem at all. There are no detectable holes or thinning of fabric anywhere on the shirt. As far as I can tell the shirt looks the same as it did after I first washed it. I have also not had problem with any unraveling seams. The shirt is as good as new.

Itchiness
The shirt is still itchy. Ibex claims the fabric is "super soft". For me, this just isn't the case. The good news is that after putting the shirt on, I quickly forget about the itchy factor and it doesn't really bother me at all. The itchiness has never crossed my mind while I was doing athletic activity unless I purposefully thought about it.

Style
Ibex claims this shirt is good for around town wear so I'm going to briefly mention the styling. The color and fit of the shirt are great. I would wear a long-sleeved shirt in this color without any issues. The only problem is the contrasting color of the stitching. The seams run in unusual places (they criss-cross on the fore arm for example) and the contrasting stitching draws attention to this. For me, this limits the places I would wear the shirt. It's definitely still suitable for casual weekend wear but if the stitching matched the shirt color I could wear the shirt in even more situations.

Summary (back to top)

The shirt's a little scratchy but I can get over it. It performs well under warm conditions. I have no major complaints. I'll continue to wear this shirt after the test period ends.

I want to thank BackpackGearTest.org and Ibex Outdoor Clothing for giving me the opportunity to test this item.

Read more reviews of Ibex gear
Read more gear reviews by Jennifer Pope

Reviews > Clothing > Shirts > Ibex Outback Long Sleeve Jersey > Jennifer Pope > Long Term Report

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