very lightweight (<150) merino short sleeve shirt

Well, I've partially answered my own question. Montbell makes one and Rab does too.

del

I have both the Pat Merino 1 and the new MB ones, I like them both- the MB's are a little more reasonably priced, performance seems to be similar (breathability, dry time, etc)- the Merino 1 has more syn which may mean it's going to last longer

Rafi wrote re: Merino shirts, "However, it's a bit too hot for temperatures in the 80s or more. I'd like to find a lighter weight merino short sleeve shirt for those situations. Are there are (non super tight athletic fit type) merino shirts @ say 120 weight?"

The looser the better when it comes to hot weather clothing. So far, nothing works better for keeping me cool for hot weather backpacking than my oversized and airy, thin 100% Linen button down shirts. Linen dries quite fast for a natural, absorbent type material–this is mainly because it's usually made thin, and because it's fibers are hollow and tubular in nature–so it will feel drier and cooler faster than a lot of other natural, absorbent type fabrics.

I find Merino, and Merino-synthetic blends to be much better for cooler to cold weather. But if you like the odor controlling properties of Merino and high Merino blends, you would also really like Linen too–they both are some of the best out there. It would be nice if they made a Linen-Nylon blend shirt to reduce the weight some, but i have yet to see such blends, even in fabrics sold by yard–i would make my own shirts if i could find even that.

You can often find pure linen shirts in good shape at thrift stores. The other benefit of thin Linen over thin Merino is that the Linen will last much longer on average–very high tensile strength compared to Merino. Merino and wool in general CAN be tough, when thicker, not treated to reduce shrinking and felting, and especially if actually deliberately felted some. The fibers via the scales will lock together creating more strength and durability than it would have normally. But a lot of expensive, sport wear and thinner merino shirts, etc, are treated now to either remove the scales or to fill them in, reducing those effects (shrinking and felting).

These shirts have been traditionally used in the tropics of the Americas. They are loose and often made of linen. Seems like one of these would make a great summer back packing shirt. Pretty cool looking shirts too.

Hi Ben, i personally don't have any shirts in that style, but they do look cool. But for me, 4 pockets are overkill and extra, unnecessary weight.

Here below, is a comprehensive article about linen and it's properties, written by someone who lives in Thailand. I agree with a lot of it, but not all (like some of the comments about synthetics are a bit off or outdated).

http://www.fodors.com/community/travel-tips-trip-ideas/the-case-for-linen.cfm

Btw Rafi, i'm not trying to overtake your thread here, just wanted to offer an excellent alternative for thin merino for hotter weather backpacking. I will quickly add that merino would be better if you experience extreme temp changes though–from hot to cold, cold to hot, since it's more insulating than linen (linen is more insulating than cotton at least & dries significantly faster, but it's still not ideal for cold weather).

Hey Mike,

I tried the Merino 1 last year and found it to have a quite form-fitting athletic cut. Is the Montbell the same?

Thanks,

rhz

It's totally fine. This is an interesting discussion. I hadn't considered linen. Thanks everyone! The one thing I'm curious about is UV protection from a linen shirt. Probably pretty low–but it's all about trade-offs I suppose.

Justin/Ben,

Have either of you found that linen controls stink like merino?

Thanks,

rhz

You could always wash it in this:

Linen, provided it has a tight enough weave, has decent UV protecting properties. RE: stink, YES, it's extremely good for controlling odor. It has a long history of being used in hospitals and in the medical world because it is such a naturally hygienic material. I would say that it might be even slightly better than Merino for that, but at least it's on par.

the MB shirts are even more athletic cut than the Patagonia ones- if you want them slightly loose- definitely order a size up