Wearing a windshirt as a single layer in hot weather?

Good questions.

In hot weather I'd rather wear something that breathes better.

Justin,

Windshirt is a term without definition or resolution. You can ask about a specific windshirt manufactured in a certain year and it will have meaning. Otherwise, it is like asking are cars fast?; or asking, do cars have good gas mileage?

I have tested garments sold as windshirts with breathability ranging from .44 CFM to 100.59 CFM. I have tested garments sold as windshirts with hydrostatic head measurement vary from 49 mm H2O to 1,125 mm H2O. Further adding to the complexity is that some windshirts have lots of pores with small pore sizes yielding the same air permeability (your DIY blow or suck air test) as windshirts with fewer pores but larger sizes. A windshirt with many small pores give the same air permeability as one with fewer large pores but, the HH of the fewer large pore windshirts are always much less.

DWR durability based on the Nextec EPIC process, fluorocarbons, silicone sprays, or Niwax (wax) also vary dramatically in durability.

Fit and features are additional variables.

Dave Chenault is a bright and experienced guy who best summarized this garment segment by saying, " I can only think of one more than day trip in the last 12 months were I didn't bring a windshirt of some kind, and that memory is prominent for deeply regretting not having one. Because they get worn so much, my attention to detail with windshirts is pretty obsessive. Because I use rain jackets relatively infrequently, I'm content with the two I have in the closest and don't pay the market much mind. With windshirts my attention is always on the move.”

Dave uses windshirts with very different functionality for different environments. I don’t use the same windshirt for the same functionality as Dave, but I am likewise obsessive. The right windshirt for the right situation is to Dave and me, almost like magic.

See http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=69908&skip_to_post=652871#652871

I have an old Marmot Driclime Windshirt (do the make them anymore), and that is kind of like a pertex highly breathable shell with a very thing fleece liner, total about 9 oz I think. That I have worn against skin as well as with a silkweight base. It was kind of designed to be used that way, and it is fantastic. I would guess with it totally zipped up against bare skin it would be fine down to freezing if you were moving. I can remember times when it was blowing 40 mph at about 38 degrees and I felt just fine if I was moving.

However, too warm for warm weather.

I never tried wearing something without a liner, like a houdini, against skin. I always guessed it would be a bit clammy.

I'd much, much rather have something that breathes. There are all manner of shirts designed for sun protection that are much more suitable for hot weather. I really like fishing shirts. Most of them have high UPF ratings, have loads of venting, and mine even has a tall collar that stands up to protect your neck.
Tops designed for running work pretty great too.

Adam

I just did a trip with sun, bugs, 85 F temps (when I was in the shade).

All the time, I wore a tight weave nylon shirt, so it provided bug and sun protection.

The shirt gets sweaty so it cools down some. If it's baggy there's some internal air flow. I wouldn't call it comfortable, but better than not wearing it.

If you've seen documentaries of people in the Sahara or Death Valley or Africa they all wear long sleeves. Arabs wear long, one piece clothing, like a burka. I bet that would work pretty good, but it would look sort of weird in the West.

I grew up thinking cotton for hot. As open weave as it can be and still do what you want (bugs or sun or whatever).

Some say they like thin wool for hot.

I have only worn wool when warm a couple times. It seemed okay. It is that thin Smartwool weight. I didn't get any sun through it. Out for days and shoulders still lily white with brown forearms. Attractive.

No clue what the temp was. In a relative way, it was: too hot to quite stand still; moving slowly was better. Medium weight 60/40 pants were quite warm. Hat and shade appreciated.

"If you've seen documentaries of people in the Sahara or Death Valley or Africa they all wear long sleeves."

yes they wear long sleeves but not wind shirts… A wind shirt is designed to keep wind out and not nearly as breathable as the cloths that desert dwellers wear.

Fishing shirts as mentioned above are great options and so are hiking button ups found at rei. but to hike in something, when its hot, that is designed to keep you warm does not make that much sense.

I've worn a wind shirt as well as a Propore rain jacket for bug protection. In both cases, it was really hot, but it was much better than letting the mosquitoes attack me. I also wore a headnet and bug gloves.

There are more breathable options, but they tend to be heavier. I'm always curious about these types of garments and the possible combinations. For example, I would love to get a really breathable windshirt (which means it wouldn't provide much wind protection) purely for bug protection. Hopefully it would be really light (2 or 3 ounces) and it could be combined with a rain jacket (which would provide both wind and rain protection). Unfortunately, wind shirts always seem to change year to year, so it is hard to keep up. Since most are sold for wind protection (and now brag about rain protection) they tend to be less breathable. If the "sun shirts" (which are often good for bug protection) could be made lighter, than I would certainly buy one. As it is, I'll probably invest in one someday, just for day hikes that I know will be buggy.

I find a windshirt to be like a sauna suit in hot weather, and that's very uncomfortable to me. I'd much rather wear a quick drying, tropical weight, long sleeved shirt. My choice is the Ex-Officio DryFlyLite which meets my needs for sun protection, light wind protection, and bug protection (after I sprayed it with permethrin) plus it dries very quickly.

it works great for sun protection, it works great for insect protection (Houdini)- for hot weather?- no, it wouldn't "work"

I wear a short sleeve bicycling jersey (has a front zipper for ventilation, and a short collar for sun protection). I add bicycling sun sleeves for sun protection, and have sprayed everything with permethrin. Breathable and sun protection all in one, has worked great in alpine conditions so far.

That's what I thought. I know that one poster claimed to wear his windshirt all day long while hiking in the Sierras. That just seems miserable to me.

I don’t want to spray anything with anything. By that I mean, if you are willing to use chemicals (DEET, Permethrin, or any other substance) than the shirt isn’t bug proof. It is just a shirt. On the other hand, a bugshirt or many a windshirt, as well as several sunshirts, provide plenty of bug protection without spraying anything. Those are the clothing items I am interested in. I’m not sure what the best shirt is. The Original Bugshirt is very breathable, but heavy. Most windshirts are light and provide full bug protection, but don’t breathe very well. Propore breathes better than most rain jackets, and doubles as a rain jacket, but is still pretty hot. Finding a good balance would be really nice. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that most companies aren’t interested, and would rather soak their garments in chemicals rather than make a nice, very light, very breathable, bug proof shirt. As I mentioned, windshirt makers are more focused on protecting you from wind and rain, so they often neglect breathability, which is a shame, but quite understandable.

I was looking at this Columbia jacket, the Insect Blocker Mesh Jacket. It weighs 8oz, is made completely of mesh, and is pretreated with permethrin. Seemed pretty tempting to me and the price is not bad either.

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/columbia-sportswear-insect-blocker-mesh-jacket-for-men~p~5551m/

Obviously it is not ideal for blocking sun, but good for those whom insects crave.