Backpacking Light’s New Thorofare Collection

Thanks, Allison. Of course I was hardly worthy of your thoughtful response.

I used to be concerned with branding, now I focus purely on functionality. I wonder how much backcountry I could see in the amount of time I might spend removing logos from all my gear…

>I wonder how much backcountry I could see in the amount of time I might spend removing logos from all my gear…

For me it doesn't detract at all from my backcountry experience as logo removal is strictly a night time at home activity. I enjoy it more than watching TV, but less than playing with the puppy
;)

I have a secret.

DO NOT TELL THE GUYS IN MARKETING PLEASE.

OK, ready, shhhh….listen.

To remove the heat transfer "BACKPACKING LIGHT" logo from the Thorofare shirt and pant:

Carefully scrape it off using your fingernail.

That's it. No harm done.

Dang, I hope this doesn't cause my BPL Rank to drop!!

Enjoy the apparel and don't tell 'em you heard this from me.

That's sold it Ryan. I've just ordered a set! Don't worry, your secret is safe with me…

Awesome. The logo wasn't a deal killer, I just don't find logo-ed clothing aesthetically appealing. I was more than likely going to dive in and buy the shirt anyway. Thanks for the detail of the fabrics too.

Thanks Ryan! Logo is successfully removed. I had expected that it could be removed but didn't try until you posting because I didn't want to damage the fabric by accident. In the back country I don't care if something has a logo or lots, I just care about function… but my clothing are something worn in other venues like during adventure travel where I care about how things look.

–Mark

I think your ranking just went up a few notches!

I might try the pants and give some feedback for us more hipply-shaped women.

No, that is not hippo-shaped in case anyone has a reading deficit.

: )

Yes, you have to give some street cred to the guy who tells you how to remove his own logo something. ; )

Hi All,

I just received my shirt and pants. I got the darker color for both pants and shirt.

Shirt – Large size, weight = 3.95 ounces.
Pants – Medium size, weight = 4.86 ounces.

Shirt size Large – Fit is very good and sleeve length is just right. I would rather have buttons not snaps. I could replace a button, the tug to open a snap might cause a problem. This is not a "show stopper" but I will need to be a bit careful using the snaps. The shirt pocket is more or less 6.5 inches square and has a zipper on the pocket that will only open about 4.5 inches wide. The shirt is made very nice.

Pants – Medium – Fit is OK. The cord lock is a bit hard to release but may get easier as it is used some. The "push" thing is wide and narrow. I will change this to a round one as they are easier to push to open. The cargo pocket is about 7 inches by 8 inches and has a on the pocket will open about 5.75 inches wide. The two side pockets are a bit short.

Comments commen to both the shirt and pants:

The material is nice and very soft to the touch. This is a picture of the inside of the fabric.

My first reaction to touching this fabric was that it was a Pertex Product.

The gird has a slight texture.

The construction of both the shirt and pants looks very good.

=

I will be wearing both the shirt and pants later this afternoon for a walk in the heat of the day and see how that works.

My shirt came today. Size small weighs 4.4 oz. Now it weighs 4 oz. One of the hazards of being 5'3" is that it hung well below my derriere, and if this were the '60s I could probably wear it as a minidress. I could have probably managed with a size XS, but I like the roominess.

So I cut it off right above the lowest snap and hemmed it. Now it's perfect. The fabric is a dream to sew on.

One of the features I don't think has been mentioned is the shirt has a strap inside the upper part of the sleeve to snap the sleeve into short-sleeved mode.

Since Washington seems to be skipping summer, I'm not sure I'll get to test it in hot weather very soon, but I'm looking forward to testing its breathability in cool weather this weekend. Hopefully Bill will post his hiking results in hot weather soon.

My pants came today! The material does feel similar to Pertex. I got the tan color and it is a light tan. The material is almost translucent. I will wet the fabric tomorrow and see how see-through it is. The legs close with plastic snaps to keep the bugs out. There is no fly. The two side pockets aren't really deep but they are made of mesh so they provide ventilation. There is one zippered pocket on the side of the thigh.

Kathleen,

My walk took place about 5 pm this afternoon and took about 45 minutes. The temperature was between 98 and 102 degrees and the sky was clear except when it rained a bit. The rain didn't last long enough to get me wet. In the shade it was between 88 and 92. Some of that change happened when there was a light shower. Also I believe some of the difference in temp was from the amount of cement and blacktop from side walks, streets and parking areas. The cool area was where there were a lot of trees along the streets. The low temp was where there was a lot of shade. I was carrying an IR thermometer.

In the open sun but with a light breeze the shirt seemed to let some of the breeze through the material and felt very good. Even in the area where the temp's were on the high end the new pants and shirt where on the cool side while there was a breeze. As cool as it can be when the temp was near 100 degrees. When the breeze died I got hot and sweat a bit. I weighed both the shirt and pants when I got back. The shirt gained 6 grams and the pants gained 3 grams.

My large size shirt could also be cut off a bit in the shirt tail area. I don't think I will do that however. The straps on the inside of the shirt sleeves is also a nice feature.

My son and I are heading to the Beartooth Plateau tomorrow, and snow is in the forecast. Reading Bill's report about using the Thorofare clothes in the heat, I had to chuckle because next week I may be giving you a report of wearing them over wool* in temperatures that were 70 degrees below what Bill was facing :)

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

(*The final pre-production sample of the Merino Hoody!)

Hi Ryan,

I hope you and your son have a good time. I will be waiting to read how the new pants and shirt work over your Merino wool things and what your low temperatures were.

I am trying to piece together enough Merino wool that was left over from making my Patagonia #2 Wool Hoody and make a pair of Merino #2 Wool Boxers. I have to cut the sleeves open and sew them together along with the back of the "Donor" shirt. I think that will give me enough material. Lucky I wear a size medium pants.

Ryan,
I noticed earlier that the sizing for the Thorofare clothes went up to XXL, but the clothes are not available in that size. Is that expected to change anytime soon?
FWIW, the link to the shirt is broken right now.
Thanks.
Chris

Christopher, the addition of the XXL sizing to the Thorofare Clothing chart was a mistake that has been alleviated. Our apologies for this, but the Thorofare Clothing will not be available in that size. In terms of the link being broken I can't repeat that issue.

Sam,

I can confirm the page for the shirt being broken in IE 7 on Vista SP1. The pant page is fine. IE is aborting the rendering process for the page. No further error detail is given.

I weighed and tried on my pants this morning. They weighed 4.1 oz on my postal scale in size large.

I noticed the texture of the material is different on the inside than the outside. Inside has tiny, fuzzy bumps that seem like they would enhance wicking. The out side is smooth which should help water sheet off. None of this is yet confirmed, but it makes logical sense.

I am pleased with the fit. I am 6'1" tall and weigh 190 lbs, waist 36" and inseam 33". They fit just a little loose in the waist untill I draw the string in a little, this is good. The legs just touch the tops of my shoes, this is also good. I noticed that the crotch is not gusseted but in spite of this, the pants allow for full unresticted movement, even when stepping up onto a big boulder. What's more amazing is that they accomplish this without looking baggy!

The only concern I have so far, is that the cord lock at the waist is rather large and may be uncomfortable under a pack waist belt buckle. Haven't had time to try this yet.

Both the pant page and the shirt page are fine on Mac OS X 10.5.4

Kathleen wrote: "Since Washington seems to be skipping summer, I'm not sure I'll get to test it in hot weather very soon…".

What Washington do you live in? Did we not just have an oppressive week long 80 to 90 degree heat wave in Western WA? Any rain we've had has been a welcome relief from sticky uncomfortable days like yesterday. Certainly you will get a chance to try the Thorofare in the heat and if it's just not hot enough for you, go over the mountains–Eastern WA is still scorching!

hey guys,
went out this weekend and hit a few peaks in light rain and super high humidity. The pants are super comfortable and breath really well. They are easily the fastest drying pants I have ever owned. If only the Khaki color was alittle darker as when they get wet you can almost see through them. Either way, that is only a minor downside.

Pants and shirts turned up today in the UK (eye-watering import charges).

Size is fine, fit is fine as is the weight yay!

Most of all I think you've done a great job on design – it's got the features that I use and nothing else and it looks like normal clothing – stuff I can wear to blend in off-trail.

Since I consider anything over 50F to be "hot" I think they'll be just fine for me at the moment.

Bill,

>The merino boxers/briefs sound like something to look forward to.

Icebreaker do some fairly minimal merino briefs which I've been hiking in recently – http://www.icebreaker.com/site/icebreaker_man_beast150_brief.html. Mine weigh 56g/1.98oz in medium, so heavier than the Capilene though. I think an overly luxurious waist band is partly to blame.

(and happy birthday!)

And how durable are they? And how warm compared with the capilen ones?