Shirt for chilly mornings

Personally, Im good in short sleeve UL shirt down into 40s. If its windy, driducks jacket goes on top. If Im still cold, I put a light fleece on. Sometimes use the fleece, and not the driducks too.

Some like to start with the long sleeve UL baselayer, and build on top of that.
But it depends on how hot its going to get. Stopping to take a long sleeve baselayer off after you warm up and the day warms up is a drag. Id rather take off something on top of a SS shirt, than have to basically change shirts.

Stop worrying about getting dirty! If you want the weight low, something has to give and getting rid of "city notions" will lighten your load and save your wallet.

If you want to throw money at it, the only way I can see out of this is to wear a long sleeve base layer with your windshirt. I guess you could use bike rider's arm warmers. No idea what they weigh.

lol +1 Dale.. he should meet a thru hiker sometime.. or walk behind one for a little while ;) Even on the Long Trail I only took 3 showers in 18 days. if you are worrying about being that clean in the woods perhaps this isn't the right sport? the only "camp" clothes i had were a pair of sleeping socks.

my arm warmers weigh 2oz FYI

Yeah, you're right Jake. I'm probably in the wrong sport. Or, perhaps you didn't read the post. This is not about being dirty, and I live on the PCT, so yeah, I've interacted with a thru-hiker or two. We host them regularly.

The Cap 3 LS shirt is for post-hike and in case I need to wear it for extra warmth in the bag, and I'd rather not do that with a shirt I've hiked in. I know that Columbia used to sell a 100 wt fleece shirt, but haven't seen anything like that lately. That was more what I was looking for.

Just walk faster and you'll warm up

At least you shouldn't be sweating

Sometimes I take a Patagonia Sun Hoody.

I'll change into it in camp and wash the shirt I hiked in and hang it out to dry. Sleep in the sun hoody. Then put the clean shirt back on in the morning with the sun hoody over it for the first hour or so.

Works great, nice and clean and comfortable.

If I understand your question, this is for something a bit extra to wear while hiking. I really like my RAB Boreas for such things. I wear a RAB long sleeve base layer, and when it's a bit chilly (for me probably less than 50, but whatever) and/or chilly/windy, I put the Boreas on. It deflects the wind well enough (not as much as a full-on wind shirt), and breathes well. I wore it while hiking the Sierra last year and it was perfect. And it should feel fine against bare skin.

You had such SUL gear listed, I thought you wouldn't want the weight.

The Mountain Hardwear MicroChill zip tee is good:
http://www.mountainhardwear.com/Men%27s-MicroChill-Zip-T/OM4050,default,pd.html

I have a Sahalie Butter Fleece shirt that I like:
http://www.sahalie.com/jump.jsp?itemID=3149&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1%2C2%2C8%2C2008&iProductID=3149

And the Eddie Bauer/First Ascent Cloud Layer Fleece is on sale in a few sizes:
http://www.eddiebauer.com/catalog/product.jsp?ensembleId=37609&prodsearch=6&oessoa=6056261&cm_mmc=GooglePLA-_-Men|Outerwear|Fleece-_-1067931-_-NA

Other than fleece, check out the REI Power Dry shirts. They come in two weights and zip or crew neck. I got one this winter and I live in it. http://www.rei.com/product/819172/rei-heavyweight-polartec-power-dry-crew-shirt-mens

"I have a long sleeve Cap 3 baselayer, but I'd like to keep that as a "post hike, doing chores around camp before bed"

you can sleep in something you've hiked in. it doesn't need to be dryer fresh. If you are going to carry it, use it for anything that it can be used for.

LT had similar conditions.. cool mornings and nights. I wore Icebreaker 200 LS until it warmed up and i switched to short sleeves. sleeping i wore Icebreaker and then smartwool sweater over that in my quilt.

If the windshirt works otherwise (just not with short sleeves), you could get some arm warmers. Any bike shop, including chain stores and REI, will carry synthetic ones and most will carry wool.

The Ibex Indie arm warmers are a little thinner than others and are on sale at REI:

http://www.rei.com/product/837723/ibex-indie-arm-warmers

If you arent wearing your windshirt in this situation whats the point of bringing a windshirt? Slightly cold but not cold enough for a real layer and too warm for a rain shell. Personally I would go with the rainshell or windshell. Everything else just adds weight for what is probably just an hour a day of hiking.

I second the arm warmers. They work very well, especially under a Houdini-type jacket. Online running stores carry them as well, in a variety of colors and patterns.

Third on arm warmers. I use Smartwool ones. merino wool doesn't stink, so it satisfies the smell reservations. Contrary to Jake, I think it's totally alright to not want to smell terrible in the woods. Female hikers exist, and I plan to meet some! There's "I smell a little funky" and "I may be a dead body." I prefer the former.

Maybe Jake D uses the woods to cover a hygiene hatred… but staying reasonably clean is easy enough.

"Female hikers exist, and I plan to meet some!"

HA, contrary to popular young male beliefs.. most women don't want guys hitting on them on the trail.

if you only do short hikes, it won't be a problem.. if you do long hikes it will be inevitable so don't worry about it.

and wearing a long sleeve baselayer once in a while while it is cooler is not going to make a shirt gross. adding extra weight so you can have a single purpose shirt is silly.

I also like sleeves instead of carrying an full LS shirt. My Moeben sleeves weigh 2.5oz. It's nice to start out hiking with them on a cool morning & then be able to pull them off w/o removing the pack. Ditto putting them on when it cools off suddenly. I wear a SS Smartwool shirt (stink resistant), the sleeves, then have a puffy for really cold mornings in camp. Plus rain jacket. That seems to cover it.

Seems to me the problem is an uncomfortable windshirt. Find one that you can wear over short sleeves and the problem is solved without adding anything to your kit.

+1 with Spelt. Windy and 50 degrees is perfect wind shirt territory & you're already carrying one. See if you can find one that feels better on your skin. I have (3) different wind shirts and they all feel dramatically different on my skin.

I agree with you on trying to "save" your other shirt to sleep in after a long days hiking. I've had several nights where I went to bed in the same sweat-soaked polyester shirt I hiked in all day. It sucks. A nice dry baselayer or s/s shirt sleeps much better to me.

Ryan

why would you have a sweat soaked long sleeve? presumably you would take off the long sleeve once you warmed up. you could even hang it off your pack for a bit to let it dry out if you pushed it too long and let it get sweaty. temperature control is pretty easy to manage if you try.

I don't have a sweat soaked long sleeve, I have a sweat soaked short sleeve. I don't usually hike in long sleeves, just short sleeve + wind shirt until into the 20's. I'm speaking from a three season perspective. Obviously sweat isn't a huge factor in colder temps if you dress properly. But, the rest of the year, 25mi days + backpack + a lot of elevation gain means I sweat quite a bit. Maybe I'm the only one.

Either way, I usually take an extra short sleeve shirt and alternate days with them. Sleep in the dry one & hike in it the next day while the other dries out. The days of taking (1) shirt for a 4-5 day trip are over for me.

Ryan

Well the OP is talking about bringing 2 long sleeves and a windshirt. one to wear for a bit while it is cool in the morning and another to sleep in. presumably there would be a short sleeve in there too for the main part of the day.

for 3 season i bring 4 "tops" SS, LS, wool sweater(or down puffy), windshirt/light rain jacket. I use the sweater or puffy as my non moving insulation. The only shirt that should get sweaty is the short sleeve.

Yeah, I was mostly agreeing with his idea of sleeping in a dry shirt. Not necessarily his implementation(see the wind shirt advice). On another note, wow, you take a lot of tops for 3 season. Probably some room for weight savings there. :)

Ryan

how many do you take? That is what i took for the Long Trail in VT and over 16 hiking days i used each one pretty much daily. long sleeve in the morning and night, short sleeve during the day, add sweater to LS for sleep at night with my apex 2.5 quilt.

My usual area, the White mtns NH weather is pretty fickle.. on my Presi traverse in a day last summer it was 80 in the valley and 50F + 50mph wind on Washington

Ha…I don't even know! I was just giving you crap. I hike in the East also, so probably that many or more.

Ryan

I gotta agree with dale W., don't worry about "clean" and dirty clothes. Just wear what the weather calls for.

In the situation you described I'd throw on my eVent parka.

My 3 season warm clothes are:
1.Polartec ECWCS poly zip neck T long john top (W/ gridded fleece inside) from Cabela's
2. Eddie Bauer Down Sweater (in my avatar)
3. REI Kimtah eVent parka
4. PacLite GTX rain pants

I can sleep in the long john top AND the down sweater if temps drop below 25 F.
Generally daytime travel doesn't require the use of the down sweater.
You can add a light synthetic fiber filled vest for "shoulder season" use while travelling.