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Field Report The Field Report should be read
in-conjunction with my
Initial Report which provides more details on the Zyflex Thermal Shirt
and Pants.
I have worn the shirt and pants on four winter nights during the testing
period. The first outing was on an overnight backpack on June 5, 2006 into
37 Mile Break in the Avon Valley National Park. The overnight minimum
at the nearest weather station, Pearce Air Force base was 6 C (43 F) at
midnight. I suspect it was colder at the campsite as I was camping in valley
on the bank of the Avon River.
The second outing was overnight walk on June 30, 2006 into Shapcotts
Campsite on the Coastal Plains Walk Trail. This was a relatively mild night
with low cloud cover and some hint of rain. I estimate the overnight minimum
was approximately 9 C (48 F).
The other two nights where on a geocaching road trip through to
Kalgoorlie. The first night was spent camping at Jilakin Rock and the
second night at the Breakaways out of Norseman. The first night on
this trip was reasonably mild, but the second night had us arising to find
water left outside frozen cold.
Overall I have
found the Zyflex Thermal Shirt and Pants very comfortable and quite
effective at keeping me warm.
My only cold nights sleep was at the Breakaways and I put that down more
to the fact the inner door of the four-person car-camping tent that I was
using was left open, therefore not allowing for the warm air generated
whilst sleeping to be captured in the sleeping compartment resulting
in a colder night that would have been experienced had the door being shut.
Referring to my Initial Report, I noted seven aspects I wished to focus
on in this test. The summary of my findings in respect of those test aspects
are reported below.
My normal practice when camping is to put on my thermals as the evening
temperature drops, putting on pants and shirt and say my fleece or more
recently
Big Sky Products Convertible Jacket and Sweater combination if
necessary. Once I go to bed, I sleep inside my sleeping bag (Sierra Deigns Osage)
wearing my thermals. During the Field testing I have slept two nights
in my
Big Sky Products Evolution 1P tent and two nights in a four person
car-camping tent which I shared with my youngest son. I have continued this
practice with Zyflex Thermal Shirt and Pants.
My experience has been that putting on the thermals with my walking pants
and shirt and as it get colder in the evenings the convertible sweater would
ensure I remained warm and comfortable. Once I went to bed, sleeping in just
the thermals in my bag was sufficient to keep me comfortable and warm. My
only cold night as alluded to above was at the Breakaways and I suspect this
was more a problem of leaving the sleeping compartment door open. Once I
realised my mistake and I closed the door I quickly got back to a warm sleep.
Overall in terms of keeping me warm, I have found the shirt and pants as
effective as other thermals I have worn. I find I am sleeping no hotter than
I have with other thermals and the Osage bag nor am I sleeping colder.
Similarly my around camp wear is pretty much the same as previous layering
combinations.
So in summary the Zyflex thermals are no warmer or colder than thermals I
have worn in the past. They work for me.
In respect of comfort, I have no complaints. The material does not irritate
me and it is not scratchy. The pants in particular fit well and are
comfortable. The shirt is a touch tight but this is more my problem than the
shirt.
After every trip I have washed the thermals in my front loading washing
machine as per the instructions and hung them out to dry on the clothes
line. There does not appear to be any adverse effect from the washing
nor for that matter does it feel like the material has softened. The
white pants, which I thought my quickly discolour, seem to be handling the
dirt of camp okay with the dirt easily washing out. In other words the
thermals recover from use quite well indeed. One thing I have noticed is
that the pants appear to take longer to dry than the shirt. Not a big issue
but something I have noted.
I had also planned to report on the breathability of the thermals. I can
only comment in the context of usage so far which has been on cold nights by
our terms here in Western Australia, so getting hot and sweaty just has not
happened. Given the usage breathability or rather a lack of it has not been
an issue so far. I will revisit this in the Long-term Report.
Summarising my experience to date: Things I like:
- Both the pants and the shirt work effectively at keeping me warm;
- Both the pants and the shirt are comfortable to wear, i.e., no
scratching or irritation;
- The pants and the shirt have handle washing well with camp dirt coming
out of the white pants in particular very well;
- No signs of wear;
- The fly. Great on early morning zipper runs.
Things I dislike:
- Shirt is a touch tight. Would like a looser cut.
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