Another Costco deal, Paradox brand Merino Dri Release baselayers 17.99-19,99

[Anonymous]

Just saw these (and got some) at my local Costco. Ok, so some folks might think that 11% Merino wool is a gimmick, and casually speaking, that makes sense.

But, they don't really add the Merino for odor control, but for feel and some absorbency. Dri Release stuff does some interesting micro yarn blending, wherein often times they use a predominant synthetic core of fibers, which are wrapped on the outside with some natural or semi natural, absorbent fibers like wool, silk, tencel, cotton, etc.

The feel of the fabric, because of those small amounts of natural absorbent fibers but on the outside (creating a bit of micro space between the skin and the synthetic fibers) does feel more natural and nicer than a lot of synthetic shirts.

The point is the feel, but more so how it handles moisture. The minority percentage of natural absorbing fiber on the outside, does some initial absorbing of moisture, but when that moisture gets to the synthetic core, it wicks it outwards speeding up evaporation. It's pretty darn good at this, though maybe not quite as good as say power dry stuff.

Fresh Guard is what helps to control odor. Fresh guard is apparently an oleo-phobic coating that goes on the inside synthetic core of fibers, and since it's more on the inside of the yarn, it will last a much longer time if it was say a more surface coating.

The wool contributes very minimally to the odor control, it's primarily the fresh guard stuff that does this. It would be interesting to see if there is any difference at all between a Dri Release Wool or say cotton blend as far as odor prevention goes. I suspect there wouldn't be any noticeable difference at such low ratios of natural fiber.

In actual experience and practice, i would say it works decently to good. Definitely a lot better than your typical 100% and non treated synthetic, however, not as good as a 100% Merino or 100% Linen fabric. I have not tested the uber expensive treated 100% synthetics that some have recommended here because, well i tend to have a lack of spending money.

Anyways, i plan on testing one of the shirts a bit differently. I rarely get to do extended backpacking trips, and usually my longest are 3 days. So to make up for it, i'm going to wear one of these continually day and night for a week, with jogging (and working up a good sweat) every other day, to see just how good or not the Merino Dri release works.

Oh, can't forget weights ;) The pants in medium weigh a respectable 5.6 oz, and the shirt in medium with a high collar and quarter neck zip, weighs 8 oz.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

Thanks for the heads up. I like Dri-release, own Terramar poly/cotton versions with similar ratios.

It appears the above can be found by search of "Paradox Base Layer". Searches for Merino or Dri-release don't return results.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, i also have one of the Terramar Dri Release T shirts with the 15% cotton. Really like it a lot.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

Could not find in store, here in So Calif. Appears to be online purchase only.

Had the staff check the computers to be sure.

[Anonymous]

Found it at my local store, was with the regular underwear.

[michael levi]

I'm going to check the bottoms out today at costco, this is truly a good deal even for synthetic. OP what size waist did you have since you got medium? I doubt theres a fitting room there so ill need to guess.

I usually wear lightweight running shorts with a built in liner, sometimes it gets cold. These will also come in handy when sleeping, I can take off my dirty shorts and wear these instead.

[michael levi]

They were hard to find, they were in a random spot by the dairy. All in all very impressed, they seem warm, probably more durable but not as comfy as Icebreaker 200g. My smalls are tight on my 32in waist and weigh 5oz.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

I was initially peeved that our local SoCal Costco didn't carry the item, but then I learned:
1) You can buy online for same price as in-store
2) shipping is free
3) you can return to local store and save the return postage, if necessary.
So not such a big barrier to buy online if your store doesn't carry.

[Anonymous]

Hi Michael,

My waist size is 32.

I've been wearing the shirt continuosly day and night since Friday, with exercising every other day, and showering once every other day. So far, there is some noticeable odor (in the pit area) but pretty minimal.

Going to up the ante on the testing. Originally was only going to wear it till Friday, but I've decided I wanted to do 3 day/2 night backpacking trip starting this coming Friday and figure it would be a further good testing opportunity.

The next test is to see how well any odor washes out Sunday night. Will just use a little of the Atsko soap and wash short cycle on cold.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

Mine arrived today. 7.8 oz. The medium fits me well (39" chest) but the sleeves are quite long. I realize this only has 11% wool but you can definitely tell it has wool in it. Not itchy (yet), sewing is excellent, thorough, and the seams are very flat. Collar lays down nicely when the zipper is down. Very interesting cut and stitching; can't say I understand all the seams or what they're supposed to do, but it "looks technical." So far this seems like an excellent bang-for-buck deal. Thanks to the OP (Justin) for alerting us.

Will wear it awhile and see if I can stink it up.

[Anonymous]

Testing concluded; Got back from the trip today. Due to wife coming, and having to make "compromises", the trip was shorter, and less intense than originally planned, but i enjoyed the company for the most part.

Anyways, i wore the Paradox Merino Dri Release for a week of normal day and night use, with about every other day of exercising and sweating in it some, and every other day of showering, plus a two day trip of backpacking. Then, just washed on short cycle (15 minutes total) with Atsko soap, and cool water.

Conclusion: Handled my stink very well. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the stink control of Merino or Linen, and 1 being the infamous (non treated) Polypro reek (and cheap, non treated polyester being a 2 or 3), i would say the shirt (for me at least) rated about a 7. Pit area definitely picked up some noticeable smell, but all in all not that bad. Also, washed out pretty easily and completely, which is also important. With that in consideration, i would rate it an 8. It handled moisture very well, dried fast, and felt comfortable the whole time. No itching for me btw.

However, i also realized that this test is kind of pointless as body chemistry is a very individual and relative thing. My wife wore a Dri Release long sleeve shirt with cotton as the minority absorbing fiber primarily on the outside of the yarn (15%). She stunk it up just as much, if not a little more than the Merino shirt that i had worn day and night since last Friday and just in the two day trip.

Same with the Paradox Merino Dri-Release baselayer pants she wore. So, body chemistry, is definitely a very important factor in these kinds of tests. I tend on average eat a more alkaline reacting and vegetable rich diet than her, and exercise more often, so those seem to be factors to consider, and maybe genetics to some extent. I rate both closer to a 6 for her.

Maybe not completely pointless, as odor washing out is an important factor as one of the problems with polypro and even some polyester stuff is that the stink not just builds up fast, but can be hard to easily wash out. With the stuff she wore, it washed out just as well and easily as the stuff i wore (in same wash cycle).

The quicker drying time, and the much greater durability, combined with decent odor prevention, i would say make it worthwhile especially at the prices that are being considered.

An interesting aside. For a good part of the trip, i wore the polypro fishnet baselayer on top of the Paradox shirt to test it out in general, and did find it picking up some of the odor even over the short amount of time. Contrasted with wearing it over much higher, and somewhat thicker Merino, wherein it picked up less odor. Interesting, almost like the higher Merino percentage and thicker fabric "filtered" (or absorbed) oils, acids, etc. better than the thin and mostly synthetic Paradox shirt.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

^ Good report.

Late update. I recently got a chance to test the Paradox baselayers with hikes into and around the Grand Canyon. The amount of work I was putting into the hikes was enough to turn my all-synthetic baselayers into serious stink, as I've experienced in the past. However, wearing the Costco Paradox base, I could catch virtually no odor from the pits at the end of each day. After much prodding, I got the wife to sniff and verify: virtually no smell.

While moving in the 40 degree weather, I found that Paradox Base, a light nylon shirt, and a windbreaker jacket was comfortable. When stopped, I needed to add a puffy vest.

Now that I'm home, I'm ordering another top, and am going to give the bottoms a try. I see they are sans-fly. Excellent!

[Anonymous]

"After much prodding, I got the wife to sniff and verify:"

Haha, oh boy can i relate…

[Author]

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