What is the lightest synthetic or wool T-shirt

[chris smead]

Hi everyone,
Does anyone happen to know what the lightest synthetic or wool T-shirt is?
I'm hoping for 3 oz or less.
Thanks!

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

The lightest shirts used to be GoLite's 'Drimove Silk' shirts which weren't silk, they were just superlight polyester. Unfortunately Golite doesn't make them anymore. I have one that is a t-shirt and it weighs 1.9oz (54g). It's amazing. I can wash it in a stream, wring it out and it'll be bone dry in 20-30 minutes when I just wear it around camp.

GoLite does still make their 'Drimove Lite' shirts which weigh about 2.8oz (80g) for a tee shirt. I have one too and it's pretty good, but not as amazing as Drimove Silk. Look under 'trail running' on their site for these.

[Warren Greer]

I knew Dan would be on this one. I've never seen a lighter shirt than he mentions. My lightest ones are in the 4.8 oz. range and are made by Alpine Designs.

[Steven Paris]

The Mountain Hardwear WickedLite Tees are listed at 4 oz, my medium weighs 4.2 oz.

My Icebreaker 150 t-shirt weighs 4.9 oz, also a medium.

[kevperro .]

My cotton one is 5.1oz. I also have a synthetic one that is about the same weight.

Getting to 3oz. is going to be pretty tough unless you are small and you use some very light weight material.

[Chris Benson]

Dan likely has the winner here. He also nailed the weight of the new stuff. Weighed my men's large golite trail running tshirt and it's right on 80 grams.

I'd love to get my hands on the earlier version. Can't imagine how it could be 1/3 lighter!

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

'Drimove silk' is very light but I've had no durability troubles with it. It's been my go-to hiking shirt for over a year now. The fit is a tad short, but it's an amazing garment. Normally if you are hiking and it's raining or very humid then washing your shirts doesn't work because they take too long to dry. You need to just continue to wear a dirty shirt until you get a nice sunny day. With the drimove silk shirt I can wash it no matter what and it will be dry in a very reasonably amount of wearing time. I usually wash it in a creek at the end of a hiking day, put it back on and then let it dry while I walk around camp or relax in the tent. I could wash it and cook dinner and it will be nice and dry by the time dinner is eaten. It's amazing stuff.

Trying to never get wet in the outdoors is a losing battle. The key is to find a system that will allow you to get back to being dry, warm and comfortable after you get inevitably wet (sweat, rain, humidity, washing). Drimove silk is amazing in this regard.

Three days into the bush, clean and dry:

[John S.]

http://mensunderwear.net

The nylon T-shirt in size medium weighs 84 g.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/22655

[chris smead]

Wow this is now my favorite forum. Thanks so much everyone for the input. Nice to see I'm not the only ultralight geek out there. I'm going to get a Golite shirt now :)

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

I just wanted to mention that GoLite's Drimove Silk and Drimove Lite are polyester (good) not nylon like my first post incorrectly said (edited now).

[Adrian Griffin]

I dug up this and other old threads because I like to wear a T-shirt as pajamas to keep my sleeping bag clean. Many of the shirts mentioned in the threads are no longer available and the Rohan Silver T is now $50.

I dug around on the internet and found the TRun ultra lightweight running shirt for $13 on Amazon. Unlike many others, the vendor responded to my question on weight–he said 2.5 oz for a men’s large. It came today–actually 2.4 oz without tags. Can’t beat that with a stick.

BTW, information on weights of T-shirt weights is hard to come by. I guess most buyers aren’t gram counters. FYI, cotton t-shirts are typically 6 to 9 oz. An Athletic Works T-shirt from Costco is 5.2 oz in Medium. Last year, I got a Joe’s USA shirt in 3.8oz fabric that was 5.1 oz in a Large. Then GaiaGPS sent me a tri-blend shirt that was 4.8 oz.

So my new T-shirt cost me $5.42 per ounce saved, much less than most ultralight substitutions.

I’m also interested in something to replace my Haines tartan boxers (2.7 oz). Any ideas? The Jockey tapered boxers on Amazon and other sites look promising, but there’s no information on weight.

[Greg Mihalik]

2.75 ounces for a long-sleeved GoLite T ….

… which is what I use for “jammies” in the woods.

[Adrian Griffin]

Pretty light for a long-sleeve. For comparison, my Polartec Silkweight ECWS Gen III base layer (long-sleeve top) is 5.5oz.

[John W T]

We use Norrona bithorn (wife’s medium are 3.4oz and my large are 3.9oz) T-shirt. These are wool/polyester which provides a the best balance between cooling/warmth/BO.  Some of the shirt is mesh so there is little protection from the sun.

https://www.norrona.com/en-GB/products/bitihorn/bitihorn-wool-t-shirt-men/?color=7718

When hiking/paddling in the sun I’ll use a SPF50 long sleeve hoodie. Currently using the NF Dome Pullover Hoodie which is 8.5oz.  The trade off is I never carry/apply/remove sunscreen.  When the bugs are out I spray the hoodie with Icardigan insect repellent which lasts 7-8 hours.

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