SmartWool "Microweight Fitted Tee"
Long Term Report by André Corterier
Date: 2005-NOV-17
Personal Biographical Information:
Name: André Corterier
Gender: M
Age: 33
Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Chest: 100 cm (40 in)
Weight: 80 kg (175 lb)
Email: andreDOTcorterierATfreenetDOTde
Home: Bonn, Germany
Backpacking Background:
I began backpacking in my late teens using Europe’s "InterRail"-System – weight hardly mattered, as we were on
trains a lot. I recently rediscovered backpacking and have started out slowly – single-day 15 mile (24 km) jaunts
by myself or even shorter hikes in the company of my little daughter. I am getting started on longer
hikes, as a lightweight packer and hammock-camper. I’ve begun upgrading my old gear and am now shooting for a
dry FSO weight (everything carried From the Skin Out except food, fuel and water)
of about 10 kg (22 lb) for three-season camping. Not quite there yet.
Year of manufacture: 2005
Manufacturer: SmartWool Corporation
URL: http://www.smartwool.com/
MSRP: 49.95 USD
Colour: "Nickel microstripes"
Weight - scale accurate to 5 g (0.2 oz)
listed weight: none given
measured weight (size L): 155 g (5.5 oz)
Introduction:
The SmartWool Microweight Tee is, well, a T-shirt. In the case of the "nickel microstripes"-coloured one, a grey
T-shirt, which upon closer inspection reveals itself to have a kind of horizontal pinstripe pattern of different shades
of grey. It's quite fashionable, really. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing the manufacturer does not
provide a picture of the Tee in this colour on its website. You can find a (somewhat) more detailed description of
it in my
Initial Report.
Test Experience:
I have worn the T a lot more during the Long Term Testing phase. This included wearing it on many walks and day hikes,
a four-day summer campout of heavy exertion (hiking, running, climbing and self-defense practice) and an overnight hike
with my daughter. I have worn it at night in camp (tent and hammock) as well as to bed. My daughter has worn it as a
nightgown, also.
Temperatures were between 20 and 30 C (70 and 85 F) during the day in summer, around 15 C (60 F) at night. In fall, I have
been able to wear it as an only layer up until Halloween during the day in the sun with little wind (temps around 20 C/
70 F). When it got colder, I have been wearing my standard hiking outer layer over it, which is a polyester flannel shirt.
When even this got too cold (high winds and temps around 5 C/ 40 F) I wore my rain jacket over it as well.
Comfort (Heat/Sweat):
The comfort of this shirt has remained undiminished. During the Long Term testing phase, it has not seen the extremes it
was subjected to (temperature, humidity and wetness-wise) during the
Field Test.
What I have found remarkable is that a large amount of sweat seemed to be able to pass through the T without leaving
salt marks on it or making it feel abrasive to the skin. On our four day outing, I spent the first day organizing things
around the campsite, which included a good amount of wood splitting. That the T did not make me feel
either too warm when splitting wood or too cold when taking a break only occurred to me afterwards.
I spent the majority of the second day alternating between speed hiking with a light pack in warm weather and high
humidity in rough terrain near the Luxembourg border, and sitting still in a sheltered spot (trying to waylay groups of youngsters we
had sent on a treasure hunt). The ability of the SmartWool T not to let me overheat while active and not to let me cool
down too rapidly when not, again proved excellent. I know I wasn't as impressed with it as I had been initially, but that's
just because I'm now taking it for granted.
Another "Comfort" issue - the T still feels nice to the touch. So nice, in fact, that my daughter tells me (every time I
wear it) that it's her favourite T-shirt of mine and has used it as a night gown several times. It is just as comfortable below
an outer layer now in the fall as it was as an only layer until a few weeks ago.
Odour - or lack thereof:
I followed my
plan
of wearing the T at our summer camp until it would begin bothering people - almost to the letter. The usage was as
follows: There was good bit of physical work (gathering and splitting wood) and sitting around a campfire on day one. I engaged in many bouts of
speed hiking in hilly terrain, warmth and high humidity all day the second day and part of the
night. This was followed by several martial arts classes during the third and early on the fourth day. I was wearing the T sitting around a campfire
every night, as well as in my sleeping bag, in my hammock. While I washed myself in
between, I chose not to wash the T for testing purposes, except for the last day (my last shower before leaving for home). At this
point, the T had begun to adopt a slight smell of smoke and well, sweat. I would note here that the unwitting stink detectors around me still had no
complaints (I have it on good authority that I detect myself beginning to smell before others do). But in order to make a good impression upon my return,
I soaked the T under the shower, rubbed a bit of shampoo in it and rinsed it. I then wrung it out and put it back on and it smelled
just as clean as I did.
Durability:
I had indeed wondered for a little while why anyone would wear anything other than a SmartWool T when doing anything that required doing
something (adapting their slogan here) - except for the price. Well, two more reasons have come up:
The first is fire. While wool is supposed to handle fire better than, say, fleece, this has not been true for my Microweight SmartWool T. I
like playing with fire, and so was the chief campfire builder on our campout. For twenty people I build a different campfire than for
myself, so these tended to be largish affairs. I was evidently hit by two sparks, which left burn holes in the T. One was about a
cm across (less than 0.5 in), the other more like two cm (almost an inch). I wonder whether I was hit by particularly big sparks, but
do not consider this likely as I did not notice the event (I only found the holes later and identified them as burn holes by the
singed threads). I've worn cotton T-shirts around fires before and can tell that they suffer much less under the same circumstances. I'll
admit that sitting close to a fire seems an easy thing to avoid (though not for me).
The other is "jagged things" or "point-source mechanical stress". The T handled pack strap abrasion and similar issues without any problems, but
from my attempts to reconstruct exactly when the three (two tiny, one slightly larger) non-burn holes occurred, it appears that
rolling over gravel in it was a bit too much. This should also be easy to avoid, or at any rate is something most hikers I know try
very hard to avoid (for reasons of retaining the integrity of their skin more than for fear of their equipment).
I do not hold this finding against the T in any way - doing those kinds of stunts is rough on clothing, and I
knew (as I had indicated in my
Test Plan)
that this would be the rough end of the spectrum which backpacking clothing may encounter. I would not ordinarily wear this kind of shirt for that kind of
activity. Yet, this T had taken everything else I that had come up with so easily, that I was still somewhat surprised to find the little holes.
From a repair perspective, the holes in this material were addressed a little late (after wearing it for another day) - the fabric is prone to unraveling, which
had enlarged the existing holes slightly by then. I have taken pictures
of the holes and the repairs made to them, but am unable to scan them in a way which creates a meaningful image - somehow, the
"nickel microstripes" pattern of the T makes for very blocky scanning results. So all I can do is note that the repairs worked well, and that the T
is just as functional as it used to be (except for dressy occasions).
Drying:
The SmartWool T air dries on a line more quickly than a midweight cotton T-shirt. It seems to handle a dryer without problems
and also dried quickly when I hand washed it and put it back on (I could get most of the moisture out without excessive wringing).
It also did not wrinkle much.
Warmth:
These days it's getting a lot colder in a hurry and the T still does not provide warmth for my lower arms, must be the short sleeves.
I still wear it a lot under an insulation layer and am now also on the lookout for a long-sleeved version.
Summary:
The SmartWool Tee feels great on my skin whether I'm sweating or not, whether it's just been washed or not and whether it's dry or not.
It doesn't stink (ever), and actually looked stylish before I got holes into it. I continue to wear the T a lot and will continue to wear
it whenever I'm hiking. I have dropped a few hints about this and am hoping for
another one just like it and/or a long-sleeve version under the Christmas tree.
Thanks a lot to SmartWool and BackpackGearTest.org for letting me test this cool piece of gear.
Read more reviews of Smartwool gear
Read more gear reviews by Andre Corterier
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