Coumbia Omni-Freeze Zero Shirt

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maverick
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Coumbia Omni-Freeze Zero Shirt

Post by maverick »

Has anyone tried this shirt, the UPF 50, antimicrobial, and cooling technology all sound
interesting if they work.
http://www.columbia.com/Men%27s-PFG-Fre ... lt,pd.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

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robow8
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Re: Coumbia Omni-Freeze Zero Shirt

Post by robow8 »

I have a short sleeve shirt and a pair of arm warmers that I use for running. The technology does work with a couple of caveats. It needs to fit tighter than you might like to make enough contact with your skin. My shirt is baggy and I don't really feel the cooling from it. The arm warmers are tight and you can feel the cooling. If you get hot, you can pour some water on it and instantly feel it. In a breeze, it's almost too cold. Granted, this was early morning, but summertime in SoCal. Secondly, the rings seem to be wearing off on my arm warmers at the top of the arm warmers, where there is more rubbing going on.

Mountain Hardwear is a sister company of Columbia and shares the technology with them. I have a MH visor that has it in the headband but there is extra fabric there which keeps it from performing optimally.

Hope this helps!
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Re: Coumbia Omni-Freeze Zero Shirt

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I have the buff, and really liked it for desert hikes this past summer so I went to get a shirt and none of our local stores had any. So I asked my favorite store and asked if they could order one. They said "sure we'll have it in a week". A week later I get a call that both companies offering this technology have sold out and won't be available until next spring. I stopped there, I'm sure I could have found a store online but rather give the small profit to my community.
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The Other Tom
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Re: Coumbia Omni-Freeze Zero Shirt

Post by The Other Tom »

Interesting concept. It looks, well, ummmm, cool :nod: One question...what happens after you wash it a couple of times ? Does the cooling technology wear off ?
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Rockchucker
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Re: Coumbia Omni-Freeze Zero Shirt

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The Other Tom wrote:Interesting concept. It looks, well, ummmm, cool :nod: One question...what happens after you wash it a couple of times ? Does the cooling technology wear off ?
It's woven into the fabric. Not suppose to wash out at all.
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The Other Tom
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Re: Coumbia Omni-Freeze Zero Shirt

Post by The Other Tom »

Rockchucker wrote:
The Other Tom wrote:Interesting concept. It looks, well, ummmm, cool :nod: One question...what happens after you wash it a couple of times ? Does the cooling technology wear off ?
It's woven into the fabric. Not suppose to wash out at all.
I would guess it has a limited number of activation cycles. Washing counts as at least one cycle...So I guess my question would be how many cycles are there ?
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maverick
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Re: Coumbia Omni-Freeze Zero Shirt

Post by maverick »

Hi Robow8,

Welcome to HST! Seems it is similar to other fabrics that require it to be flush against
one skin. Thanks for the info.
Thanks Rockchucker for the info too.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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longri
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Re: Coumbia Omni-Freeze Zero Shirt

Post by longri »

The Other Tom wrote:
Rockchucker wrote:
The Other Tom wrote:Interesting concept. It looks, well, ummmm, cool :nod: One question...what happens after you wash it a couple of times ? Does the cooling technology wear off ?
It's woven into the fabric. Not suppose to wash out at all.
I would guess it has a limited number of activation cycles. Washing counts as at least one cycle...So I guess my question would be how many cycles are there ?
I read a short description that seemed to suggest that the active material doesn't wash out. It swells with moisture to provide greater surface area for evaporative cooling. This makes it qualitatively different than standard "wicking" fabrics.

Of course with enough passes through a washing machine (100,000?) you could theoretically wash away an entire shirt.
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Rockchucker
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Re: Coumbia Omni-Freeze Zero Shirt

Post by Rockchucker »

I think it's a micro polymer that soaks and absorbs fluids, and cools via evaporation. No reason for it to wash away over time. My biggest question is it any better than cotton?
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Re: Coumbia Omni-Freeze Zero Shirt

Post by rlown »

i actually prefer a long sleeved cotton shirt over a smelly poly T. and the poly T doesn't smell that bad, if washed on the trail regularly.
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