For me the best hiking shirt is the easiest one

[Brett Peugh]

I have tried many hiking shirts over the years and found nothing as good as just a regular 55/45 really thin dress shirt in a light color. A good balance of sun protection, bug protection and it breathes, dries pretty quickly, doesn't stink as bad as 100% poly or nylon, is cheap and will get you into about any restaurant. Is there anything out there that in camping gear that compares? Maybe the RR Bone Flats?

[Nick Gatel]

They are a good choice and I have hiked a lot in them over the years. I have a closet full of them since I have to wear a suit often. Most common is 60% cotton / 40% poly. Thin ones weigh just under 8 ounces.

My Rail Riders Eco-Mesh weighs 7.5 ounces and is 100% nylon. The mesh panels allow it to breath better. It dries faster. It stinks more. But I like it better. Cost? Hands down to the dress shirt. You can purchase slightly used dress shirts at thrift stores for a few bucks. Hard to find used Rail Riders and they are now almost $80 a copy new.

The lightest shirt long sleeve hiking shirt I have is a BPL Thorofare shirt, but I never wear it because it doesn't breath that well for me. It weighs 4.8 ounces.

I have several Rail Riders shirts; Eco-Mesh Shirt, Adventure Top, and Madison River Shirt. I like all of them for hiking.

[Brett Peugh]

My RR Eco-mesh dries faster but does not breather better than the cheap dress shirts by far.

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