linen vs linen/cotton as a cool, low stink, extreme temperature shirt material

i have had better luck in warm weather with cotton/poly vs poly cotton as far as percentages goes.

but still, i think it wants a light wt merino liner to keept he fabric from being abrasive when sweat soaked.

v.

I am a new member on this site but a longtime (40 years) backpacker. I currently live in extreme heat most of the summer (Mexican border) and wear linen exclusively at home, specifically the FLAX brand. It's great for low or no humidity weather as you can wet it and the effect of the evaporation is very cooling. But remember I am talking about temperatures between ninty and over a hundred degrees. And there a no benefits as far as odor, if you stink, you just stink till the next wash and shower.

Since you had not said what places you are dressing for I have to just suggest that if you are backpacking and hiking the best fabric for heat and smell and durability is probably going to be an 80-65 percent poly and 20 – 35 percent cotton combination such as ExOfficio uses in its shirts that also have mesh vents. These are what I use for hiking and backpacking in extreme heat for days on end because these shirts keep you cool by sweat evaporation and wash well in limited water resources and last for years despite heavy deposits of sweat and grime.

Sorry, I didn't see this earlier. But 100% linen! It won't be UL, but contrary to the poster above me, 100% linen does have excellent odor managing properties akin to Merino wool. I don't worry about UL for clothes if i'm wearing the same shirt pretty much everyday (i do bring along a ligther and more synthetic back up).

Justin is right. Linen is pretty amazing stuff, does have some antimicrobial properties (less stink than synth for sure), and is quite resistant to rot and mildew compared to cotton. And it has a cooling effect on the skin. There are some fairly lightweight garments out there; keep an eye on the women's section of thrift stores and you can often find some good stuff that's gauzier than men's shirts. Lightweight hemp or hemp-blend weaves might be worth a look too.

How does linen do in the durability department under pack straps?

For a natural fiber, it's quite strong and tough stuff (similar in a lot of ways to Hemp fiber). It's tensile strength is 2 to 3 times higher than cotton, which in turn is higher than Merino wool. It does have one weakness though, it's slightly brittle for a fiber fabric, but this only comes into play with folding and creasing as in ironing the collar for example. If you keep creasing and applying pressure to the same spot, the fibers can eventually break because they are not elastic. In that sense, it's the opposite of Merino, which is very elastic but has low tensile strength. Tensile strength is often more related to "abrasion resistance", which is something you want more of while wearing a pack on top.

I haven't had any major issues so far. The only issue i've had so far, is that i have bought a couple of shirts new, which were lower quality, and they were a bit scratchy and rough under a pack. However, all linen softens with age, use, and washing, and higher quality linen stuff is usually softer from the get go. Personally for really hot and especially humid weather, i would love to try a linen-nylon blend to speed up the drying time a bit and lessen the weight.

(I also don't use it in winter as a baselayer, but switch over to Merino and Merino-synthetic blends).