HOT weather - Long Sleeve Shirts

[Sotol Vista]

What is  a good moisture wicking long sleeve shirt to use in the bend during hot temps.

I prefer something that is a pull over and not a button down

James

[sandersmr]

Are you talking about something like an Under Armour long sleeve shirt?

[jim2]

all the sun shirts i buy are button up. i want the collar. often thought of as fishing shirts they are ufp 30.  i also wear pants made of the same material. add a hat and i'm wearing my shade.  this my normal hot weather garb, i work outside. also have hiked some in big bend in the same clothes.highly functional.

[elhombre]

What I have found to work for me is to buy a long sleeve light weight silk undershirt from Academy ($20) and wear it under a T-shirt.   The silk will keep the sun off of your arms, and let air move around.   For the two layers where your t-shirt covers your skin, the moister moves to the cotton and evaporates cooling you off, while the silk keeps you dry feeling.  Granted, after a few trips of bushwacking,  the shirt eventually gets torn up enough that it needs to  be thrown away.

 Another bonus is that the silk doesn't stink until 3 or 4 days of wearing it.   Also it can be easily washed out and dried if your campmate says "you stink".  (Yea, and I'm sure they smell like fresh cut Lilac.)

[Sotol Vista]

yes, something like the under armor. I have 2 of the Magellan button down shirts and 2 pairs of the pants with the zip off legs, but was looking for different shirt ideas that will do good for a few days in the desert heat/sun in BIBE.

James

[stingrey]

While I also swear by Under Armour products, I'm also one of possibly only a handful who would swear that even a long white cotton t-shirt is the way to go... Long LONG ago Metallica's online club (don't laugh, it has its perks... I met the band through it on my first time around after all!) had a sale on a specific shirt that you've probably seen me wear out there... The white Metallica t-shirt that has a black stripe across the chest. Sorta low key... The shirt is still awesome, and it was only $3+ shipping. Wish I bought more...

Anyway, I got to the point where I added that to the rotation of shirts for summertime out there, and it has easily become one of my favorite daytime hiking shirts for super hot temps. Why? I almost always wear a CamelBak during the day when hiking out there. Under Armour doesn't do the job of cushioning your shoulders that the cotton t does. The white cotton t is loose fitting... The MAIN place sweat pools is right on my back where the backpack presses against me. The rest of the shirt gets a little sweaty, but radiates heat quicker on oven hot walks because the overall shirt temp is diminished when the breeze from JUST walking causes the sweat to evaporate and cool the skin.

Under Armour has a better effect, so elhombre's solution is actually probably the PERFECT combo, and it IS one I've tried on occasion, though mostly during cooler temps for a layering effect. I have noticed like he says that the sun keeps off of your arms, and I've noticed that the extra cotton layer makes it more comfy for me with a pack, and air moves through pretty easily. Silk is even more magical than Under Armour though in that it does in fact take longer to reek than unwashed UA. Dollar for dollar though, plain ol' white (or light color in general) cotton t's during the summer in the desert seem to be MY favorite because of the following:

1) don't wear as fast from pack straps/movement (think shoulder/chest straps, my main UA hiking shirts show fluffy wear lines in each place)
2) obviously if they don't wear from straps, they cushion your body from packs that you are probably wearing
3) white in the desert while STILL obvious to wildlife is less obvious than most of my UA shirts (even the white UA shirts which are SUPER white) and helps me stay cool while blending a bit more
4) where you do make contact with the cotton shirt, sweat wicks away quickly in oven hot temps and acts as a radiator while you are moving
5) the cotton is WAY stronger than UA-type shirts when it comes into random or purposeful contact with cattail or any other brush/spines from vegetation.

All in all I have enjoyed long cotton t's so much that if you search back, you may even find pics of me in that long white Metallica t-shirt even starting with the Bender in the Bend pics you took way back when we did Fresno. I wouldn't have typed so much about this at 2+ a.m. in the morning on a work day if I didn't feel this confident that it was worth a shot based on the way that you intend to use the gear (i.e. hiking w/a 100oz CamelBak with occasional chance of contact with cattail/etc).

IF you know you won't be cutting through brush and IF you don't mind your pack straps (or the brush itself) wearing down a UA-type shirt, by all means that is THE way to go... But for the price of those vs. some plain ol' long sleeve hefty (slightly thicker) t's, I truly can't complain about having walked in the blazing hot temps out there in my long sleeve white t's. I can recommend against long sleeve black t's, however... Those are noticeably hot when out in the sun... Long sleeve black UA shirts do not heat up the same as cotton, but they also heat up a little, though not enough to make me avoid it. The marginal heat gain on a UA black shirt is tolerable due to the wicking and sun protection factor, and that's why you'll also see me wear that black "hydrate or die" UA shirt on occasion during the summer.

Rey :)

[trtlrock]

These Armed Forces shirts (made by Sekri Inc.) might be just what you are looking for. Long-sleeve with or without half-zip, or short-sleeve. Incredibly light, airy, wick better than anything I've ever tried. Dry almost instantly. Don't stink or reek. They are amazing! They are butt-ugly, but they are exactly what you are looking for. I usually wear a L, but found that I needed an XL, so size up one step if you want anything other than a skin-tight fit. DO NOT leave in the dryer for more than a couple of minutes on 'no-heat,' or you will lose a size pretty instantly.

And cheap too!

http://www.defenseoutfitter.com/halyspcu/level1/lsshirt.html

Wore 1 shirt (every day) for a 15-day circumnav of the Chisos, and only had to wash it once, about 1/2 way through the trek. Just used Tornillo Creek water and a few drops of Dr. Bronner's soap. Wrung it out & wore it dry within about 15 minutes. My wife accompanied me, and vouched for it's surreal lack of stink, although she won't wear one as they score SOOOO low on the aesthetic scale.

edit - the SS version doesn't have the half-zip, which I really like, and the sleeves are too short for me. But the LS sleeves push up over the elbows easily and stay there. Tail is longer than the front, which is very useful for tucking in. Great as sleepwear too!