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Reviews > Clothing > Underwear > Duofold Varitherm Silkweight > Roger Caffin > Field Report
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Reviewer Details
| Reviewer: | Roger Caffin |
| Age: | 60 |
| Gender: | M |
| Weight: | 63 kg (139 lb) |
| Height: | 167 cm (66") |
| Email address: | r dot [surname] at acm dot org |
| Home: | Sydney, Australia |
I started bushwalking at 14 and took up rock climbing at University with the girl who became my wife and my permanent walking partner. Ski touring and canyoning followed. Winter and summer, we prefer long hard trips by ourselves: about a week in Australia, up to two months in Europe/UK. We prefer fast and light in unfrequented trackless country. We would be out walking and skiing for at least three months a year. We have now moved to lightweight gear, much to our backs' relief. I designed and made much of our lightweight gear myself.
I am also the maintainer of the Australian aus.bushwalking FAQ web site www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/.
Product Information
| Manufacturer: | Duofold | |
| Manufacturer URL: | www.duofold.com/ | |
| Year of manufacture: | assumed 2005 | |
| Country of manufacture: | Honduras | |
| Style: | Silk Weight | |
| Model: | Men's Long Sleeve Crew Neck Top | |
| Model: | Men's Bottom w Fly HC4736 | |
| Size: | Medium | |
| Material: | Polyester knit | |
| Colour: | Black | |
| Listed weight: | not stated | |
| Actual weight (top): | 131 g (4.62 oz) | |
| Actual weight (bottom): | 126 g (4.45 oz) | |
| MSRP: | not stated | |
| Review Date: | 1-Mar-2006 |
Product Claims
More details are given in the Initial Report, but basically these are lightweight synthetic 'thermals', and incorporate 'silver-based anti-microbial yarns'. The company does not give a lot of factual product claims.
Current Testing Conditions
The clothing arrived around Xmas, several months after I applied for this Test. Xmas is the start of the Australian summer, so the delay was not really great for immediate testing. In addition, parts of this summer have been the hottest on record. I have worn the clothing around the house a few times in the evenings when it was cool enough, and I have taken it on some overnight trips, but so far I have had only limited opportunity to really need the warmth they are supposed to offer. The warm weather has however allowed me to test how the clothing handles sweat and body odor, and how they survive being washed. The limited wearing has therefore allowed only some evaluation, so this Field Report is a bit short, but the following Long Term Report period will allow lots more testing.
Garment Fit and Warmth
In my Initial Report I mentioned that they did a good impersonation of a Superman outfit: skin-tight, but not excessively so. This is actually a good thing for warmth, and so far the garments don't seem to have lost any of their shape or 'spring', despite several washings. They have retained their size (length) too.
I have worn them around the house when it was cool enough. Apart from being rather warm for the conditions, they did remain very comfortable: they 'felt' comfortable every time. In a way, this has been one of the more noticeable things about these thermals: they do feel very comfortable.
I have worn them in the evening on a couple of trips, but really they weren't needed for warmth. That said, they were very comfortable, albeit a shade too warm for most summer evenings. Of course, putting on warmish thermals after a hot day without a good shower means that the fabric has to cope with all the sweat already on my body. Despite this and despite their being rather warm, the fabric did not feel prickly or uncomfortable at all.
In addition, despite the sweaty conditions, they didn't seem to acquire much smell over a couple of days. This is highly relevant as the popular image of thermal underwear is that it develops a serious case of body odour. However, that association does seem to be with the cheaper polypropylene fibre, so maybe the polyester fibres used here have absorbed less smell. Or maybe the included silver ions have had some beneficial effect in suppressing the bacteria? I don't know which was responsible.
Things I said I would be monitoring in the Varitherm Top and Longs include:
