Field Report

Shak Jersey
Ibex Outdoor Clothing, LLC
Field Report
1/4/2005

Personal Information:

Leesa Joiner
leesaj@gmail.com
Southwestern Maine
42 years old
Female
5'7" (1.7 M)
150 lb (68 kg)

Background:

   My camping, hiking and backpacking experience has included trips varying in length from one day hikes to two-week trips. My experience hiking began with my father when I was about six years old. We hiked along the river pathways in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. While enjoying the outdoors with friends and family, I spend time hiking, geocaching, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and camping. Although I am not a lightweight backpacker, I am trying to 'lighten up' and primarily use an Ultra-lite Backpacker Asym hammock for sleeping.


Product Information:

IBEX Outdoor Clothing, LLC
2800 Westerdale Cut-Off Rd.
Woodstock, Vermont 05091
(800) 773-9647
http://www.ibexwear.com

Test Information:

   During the last two months, I have worn the Ibex Shak Jersey at least twice a week.   The jersey was worn as a base layer with either a fleece pull-over or with a fleece and my Integral Designs Dolomitti jacket.   When worn with just the fleece, I was able to maintain a comfortable body temperature while hiking.   When worn with the jacket, while attempting to snowshoe, I found that I became warm very quickly, even though the temperatures were below freezing.   I stuffed my jacket in my pack and continued to snowshoe.   I stayed comfortably warm. I also wore the jersey while doing some less strenuous activities such as walking the dog, cleaning up the yard and watching soccer games. It is comfortable - I especially like the fit. The sleeves are long enough and although close fitting, they do not bind around the elbow or wrist. The front zipper works smoothly and allows for ventilation when needed. The inside of the zipper does not rub uncomfortably against my skin (one of my pet peeves with some clothing).
    While camping in Vermont, I ended up not being able to take the jersey off for 2 days, it remained comfortable, without developing any noticable 'aromas'.
     The Shak Jersey has held up well to frequent use and washings. Although machine washable, I usually wash it by hand. My one concern about the jersey is that it seems to gather 'fuzzies'. Washing by hand seems to help but it still picks them up from other clothing.

Test Plan:

Some of my considerations when writing my test plan were:

~'Insulating, temperature-regulating mid-layer w/stretch' - I found this claim by Ibexwear to be true.

~'Dense knit breathable Merino sheds water, snow and wind' - In my use this claim is also true, I found light rain and snow did not penetrate the fabric, yet it seemed to provide good ventilation.

~'1/2 Zip, Durable stretch, Semi Fit construction should allow for easy
movement and adequate ventilation.' - The fit allows for easy movement, lays flat under layers without bunching up and the zipper provides extra ventilation.

Test Conditions:

     The majority of my testing will continue to be done in northern New England, where current day temperatures are in the 20 - 32 F ( -8 - 0 C ) range, with night temperatures falling to the low teens (4 C ). Over the next four months the temperatures will range from - 20 F (-29 C) to possibly 60 F (16 C). It is not unusual to have 30 in (76 cm) of snow on the ground by February.    Most of my hiking is done below 3000 ft (914 m), but some fall climbs were over 4000 ft (1219 m). There is a wide range of types of terrain on these hikes. Everything from well maintained trails to hiking through heavily wooded areas. Some trips involved backpacking into campsites and at other times I set up camp and hike out from there.

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