High Sierra Topix

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;

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!

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.

Interesting concept. It looks, well, ummmm, cool One question...what happens after you wash it a couple of times ? Does the cooling technology wear off ?

The Other Tom wrote:Interesting concept. It looks, well, ummmm, cool 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.

Rockchucker wrote:

The Other Tom wrote:Interesting concept. It looks, well, ummmm, cool 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 ?

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.

The Other Tom wrote:

Rockchucker wrote:

The Other Tom wrote:Interesting concept. It looks, well, ummmm, cool 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.

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?

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.