Synthetic T Shirt Suggestions?

Imo the ex officio sun hoody is better designed, at least for glacier travel, than the Patagonia one.  And I am a total Patagonia fanboy.

Matt Himmelstein wrote:

Old Navy active wear.  And yeah, unless you spend a ton for the coppor impregnated stuff, it will end up smelling, but at about $5 - $7 each (on sale), they are durable and comfortable.

I second this. Their synthetic tees are really great and cheap enough you can thrash them and dispose without crying over the loss of a $40 Patagonia shirt.

Capilene Lightweight T is the best I've ever worn.

MEC has synthetic layers made with the same Polartec materials as Patagonia, and they also use Polygiene. They are sometimes/often less $ than Patagonia. 

Prana Hardesty T’s are great. I’ve just worn one for eight days of skiing and driving (4 of each). Finally had to change it!

Have you considered merino wool?  100x better than synth when it comes to re-wear-ability and breath-ability.  

I loooove capilene lightweight, the stuff that hit the market maybe 2 years ago.  Not to be confused with capilene daily, which seems like the same thing as the old capilene 1.

The lightweight cap still gets a little stinky after a couple days, but it's amazing.  If it's breezy, I feel cooler wearing one as a t-shirt than shirtless.  Even the long-sleeve ones are cool enough to wear on an 80 degree day for sun protection.  I've yet to find any other synthetic t-shirts that are anywhere near as breathable on a hot day.

Durability is decent given how light they are.  I bought one when they hit the market.  Then went out and splurged on another 6 when they were on sale.  Worn 'em every day since, and all but one are still hole free.  Prior to that I had seven wool t-shirts and they all were some flavor of hole-y after a year or so, and definitely not as comfortable on a super hot day.  

Tim Lutz wrote:

wool is good for a lot, but does not breathe better than synth

Have you tried the Icebreaker stuff? Those things are fantastic. I believe they may actually be a blend though. 

Bob . wrote:

ppl seem to love the patagonia capilene stuff but mine got all stretched out around the neck within a yr.  The material does feel pretty amazing though.

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/41522a19-6ceb-472a-b9a0-0e204946f593

Chris C. wrote:

Have you tried the Icebreaker stuff? Those things are fantastic. I believe they may actually be a blend though. 

I have Icebreaker mid layers and nothing has served me better. I would purchase their merino shirts if I could afford it. There are some that are 100% merino, perhaps some a blend. I'm curious if the OP has tried these as the itch factor is nill and nothing breathes better. 

My favorite shirt is the Pat Daily Hoody. Even in hot weather, keeps the sun off my neck with the hood and wicks very quickly. Worth the coin, in my opinion. 

My favorites are merino with some sort of synthetic blended (usually polyester) to offer some increased durability. You're right, wool is fragile, but it really is my personal favorite in terms of comfort, temperature regulation and smell. I don't\have any shirts that feel itchy to me, though there are a few sweaters that are a bit itchy against my skin.

I am also a believer in the Capilene Lightweight. Unfortunately, I can't find them on their website. It looks like Patagonia just refreshed their Cap Midweight, Thermal, and Air, but now there's no lightweight.

I'm definitely in the wool is itchy camp. Icebreaker, smartwool, even the Arc'Teryx Satoro which is a blend is still unwearable for me. The only things I've worn that have wool that don't itch are much lower wool percentage, like the old OR ones.

I really hope the Cap Lightweight comes back. Even though the OR Echo, Rab Pulse, and Arc'Teryx Phase SL are all sort of similar, the Capilene was just awesome. I have the short sleev t and two of the zip neck long sleeves and use them all year round.

I'm a big fan of the Eddie Bauer Resolution shirts, and their Trail Cool shirts. Both are very similar to the capilene fit and feel, but at about $15-$25. They also come in TALL sizes, so they stay tucked in to your harness.

My favourite t-shirts/baselayers are the Mountain Equipment Groundup (short sleeve) and Redline (long sleeve). They have a very good, non-restrictive cut, are stretchy, durable, and don't seem to smell like other synthetic shirts (although I've never worn one climbing for more than three days in a row).

They seem to stick to you a bit when you sweat, but oddly enough, they remain comfy (I hate 'clingy' shirts, yet these ones don't bother me).

They're quite pricy at full RRP, but you can usually pick up 'last season's colours' at 40-50% off (might be different in the US though)

+1 on the Old Navy suggestions, I like this one in particular

https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=3475330120002&cid=1137019&locale=en_US#pdp-page-content

The material is very comfortable and cool feeling against the skin, and its super stretchy. Check their size chart, their shirts run rather large.

They have a pretty much constant 40% off sale, bringing this shirt to 12$, however they also occasionally give you 'super cash' which can bring the overall price below 10$ a shirt. 

Pretty much all synthetics do the same job and they're drying time is somewhat proportional to their weight. I would get whatever cheap, feels nice next to skin, has a decent length and has minimal seams this being said I have yet to find that flatlock seams actually make a difference on the sides. Avoid anything super lightweight as they get trashed just through washing let alone thrutchy off widths and the knit structure has far more of an impact on the breathability than the yarn it's self (which are all pretty much the same these days).

Wool is a bit of a weird one, it's great until it can't absorb any water but after that point it's worse than having nothing on, this could be seen as either good or bad as if your wearing lightweight wool in the summer it will quickly become cooler than wearing nothing at all (wet wool is a better insulator than water but still worse than no wet wool) while thick wool in the cold will take allot of moisture to get to that point so will stay warm provided it doesn't get really really wet, this is of course dictated by the activity, weather and how much you sweat. Fun fact, swim suits in cold water were once made out of a wool flannel.

knawledge pls wrote: just uhhh wear a regular ol shirt and not give a shit

I assume this post is referring to a Big Johnson T-shirt, size large. This works great for cragging, but will certainly cause some discomfort during bigger, longer objectives with turbulent weather conditions. We stand on the shoulders of giants that did more with less, but even Norman Clyde probably had a nice wool flannel. 

knawledge pls wrote: just uhhh wear a regular ol shirt and not give a shit

Ever hear of heat rash or prickly heat? Hopefully you never will, but cotton shirts are a big no-no if you are prone to it. 

Doug Chism wrote: 

They have a pretty much constant 40% off sale, bringing this shirt to 12$, however they also occasionally give you 'super cash' which can bring the overall price below 10$ a shirt. 

Currently running one until midnight 8-28

Goodwill, Savers, Salvation Army.
Literally dozens upon dozens of golf synthetic polo shirts; stylish and cheap.
For added convenience, just add some arm warmers that you can pull off or on according to weather.
Reuse, Recycle, Reduce