Button-down sun shirt – recommendation

[Haakon R]

Suggestion: Don’t even try to get a snug fit. Unlike Winter base layers, sun shirts are intended to be loose fit. The Echo’s sleeves are loose and long (on purpose) so that you can use them as gloves over the backs of your hands. I pull them up to my elbows like any other shirt when I don’t want them, or roll the cuffs when I just want regular length.

I get that. I’m not totally new to sun shirts, just the button-downs. I’m not looking for a tight fit, but if there is too much excess material it just gets in the way.

It’s a bit ironic, but a couple of years ago I was very much into cotton/natural fiber flannels, for everyday use and more laid back outdoor stuff. At the time it was really hard to find 100% natural fiber button down shirts (cotton, hemp, wool etc.), while polyester, nylon etc. was abundant. I don’t remember to what degree they were UV rated, but yesterdays experience was the polar opposite. Everything I could find was at least 40% cotton, with most being 100% natural fiber of some kind. I often go against the stream when it comes to outdoor trends, so I’m not surprised, just realizing this is again the case :D

[Bill Budney]

Yes, I’ve hiked a lot of (Summer) miles in a loose, white cotton dress shirt. It was very comfy most of the time and dried acceptably quickly when it wasn’t. UPF was probably in the single digits, but it was more than enough, even for my easily-burned skin.

Modern Echo is lighter, even more comfortable, and higher UPF. It’s progress, but only incremental.

EDIT: Oh, but the Echo isn’t button-down. Sorry!

[Link .]

the KETL Nofry Sun Hoodie is like the Echo but snaps part way down is lighter and cheaper.

[jscott]

https://www.cancer.org.au/cancer-information/causes-and-prevention/sun-safety/10-myths-about-sun-protection

the above doesn’t quite address the issue I meant to address, namely, that not getting a sunburn means that everything is fine. Somewhere in  the labyrinths of this site there’s good information on this topic. One can have excessive exposure to harmful levels of sunlight, especially at altitude, without burning.

Again, let me emphasize: hiking at altitude, or skiing, greatly increases the exposure levels to damaging rays from the sun. No, this isn’t like getting the flu, where if you’ve been exposed to germs but no symptoms show up over the next week, you’re fine. Start over from zero. No. Sun exposure is cumulative over many years. And you can’t take it back. There’s no mulligan with this. So protect yourself early on. Plus, you’ll be sexy and attractive into your seventies!

[Haakon R]

EDIT: Oh, but the Echo isn’t button-down. Sorry!

No worries, I’d buy the Echo too, if I could. It’s unobtanium around here unfortunately.

Also no luck with the the work wear lead, so far. The stores I visited had the brand, but none of their sun specific garments. I feel like I’m the only person in this whole country that has the tiniest bit of interest in this stuff. It’s very weird.

It’s rapidly approaching my summer vacation and I’d ideally have something worked out ahead, as that is hopefully this years peak with regards to sun exposure, but as I’m now more or less left with internet based purchases as my only option there’s a significant risk of unsuccessful purchases. If that happens there will be subsequent returns that has to be arranged and I simply have more important preparations to take care of.

I know I’ll be going to the capitol on a business trip after my vacation, and there may even be an opportunity to drop by Oslo as part of the vacation. They have a wider selection of stores that could potentially have this type of clothing, so even though it’s a less ideal time to buy, it could be a much more enjoyable result/effort calculation.
I’ve already found a travel store that carries Cragghoppers sun protection shirts, so there’s at least some hope of success :)
I don’t remember Cragghoppers being mentioned, so I don’t expect there’s a lot of experience with the brand on this forum, but if any, I’d certainly like to hear about it.

[William Chilton]

I don’t have experience with Craghoppers’ sun shirts, but more generally the quality of their clothing can be variable. But that’s not such a problem if you’re able to see them in store.

If the Echo is acceptable, have you considered the Rab Sonic Hoody? They don’t give a UV rating, though.

[Haakon R]

Thanks William. The Craghoppers seem to be one of very few brands I might actually be able to try in a store, so I’ll make sure to do that.

Didn’t know about the Rab Sonic, but the fit seems to be right up my alley, so I’ll put it on my radar and keep an eye out for it when I occasionally visit a Rab dealer. In my situation (latitude and climate) UV rating isn’t a big concern most of the time. I just need a couple of garments with proper UV rating to give me some peace of mind on those long summer days spent outside. Especially around snow and water.

[Drowned Lemming]

This an idea?

[Paul Hatfield]

I have extensive experience with button-down hiking shirts with two chest pockets. I wear them 365 days a year.

I own several Columbia Silver Ridge Lite’s & Silver Ridge Utility Lite’s, REI Sahara’s, LL Bean, Eddie Bauer, Prana, Mountain Hardwear Canyon, and others. Obviously I don’t own every brand / model on the market.

I think the Columbia’s are the coolest, but the REI is the most resistant to odors.

I wear a medium in pretty much everything, except for Columbia, where I wear a small.

The Mountain Hardwear Canyon get stinky extremely quickly, so I would avoid them.

I think the REI Sahara is my favorite shirt, but I wish it was cooler / lighter.

[David D]

Paul, do you notice much difference between between the silver ridge light and the silver ridge utility Light, as far as breathability, heat, wind and bugs?

[Paul Hatfield]

Hi David,

The fabrics of the two models seem the same to me. They are very similar shirts. The following are the differences that I notice:

The Silver Ridge Lite has:
all buttons down the front
2 top-opening pockets with 1 velcro closure each
cord loops on the arms for when you want to roll up the sleeve
164 g

The Silver Ridge Utility Lite has:
2 plastic snaps in place of the upper 2 buttons
1 top-opening pocket with a snap closure
1 side-opening pocket w/ 2 pieces of velcro
a snap on each arm for when you roll up the sleeve
178 g

It looks like REI has updated their Sahara shirt too. (I see 2 variations on the REI website.) By the way, I just weighed a Sahara at 182 g. I’m surprised that it is so close to the Silver Ridge Lites.

[David D]

Thanks Paul.  It looks like they kept a lot of its best qualities

[Haakon R]

I just noticed KUIU has a rather extensive range of UPF rated clothes. The Mesa snap shirt as well as the Tiburon pants and hoodie looks nice. They also have a lightweight nuyarn hoodie they claim to be UPF 50+
While definitely interesting options, I’ll have to put them on my plan B list, as they will be impossible to try in a store and international returns isn’t my favorite pasttime. There wasn’t an abundance of reviews of the shirts, but I found some reviewers complaining about the pants being sized for long and slender people, so my hope is that this is a trait that carries over to their tops as well.

I’m two thirds into my summer vacation and with the best weather outlooks pulling us north and towards sparsely populated areas we elegantly avoided the big city and any shopping opportunities. But there’s always next summer (and hopefully some nice weekends still to come this season). I’ll be passing through the capitol for business travel first thing after my vacation, so hopefully I can pick up a button-down shirt on my way and have it ready for the next round of sunny adventures.

The saga continues, thanks for following along :)

[Brad W]

Looks like Echo is now UPF 15 for all colors now. For shorter days may be ok, but I am getting too tan on longer exposed days in my Echo’s in the PNW.  I have started using MH Crater Lake sun hoodie. UPF 50 and breathes pretty darn good-not as good as Echo-nothing really does as well. I will trade the better coverage for slight loss in breathability if the Crater Lake pans out.

[Haakon R]

The Paramo shirt looks fine. At first glance I  didn’t notice the UPF rating, but revisiting it again now I had more time to navigate the menus.
The only negative, which it shares with so many other options, is the lack of domestic availability.
If it turns out my only option is to import something, I currently lean more toward KUIU. Found some good reviews as well as several sources making a note of a tighter fit compared to the alternatives.

[Haakon R]

I just noticed Rab has a Force hoodie, or actually a line of tops similar to the Sonic, but in a slightly heavier version of the fabric. On the Norwegian version of their site it only says UPF protection, without specifying a number, but some retailer sites list it as UPF 30. Seems to have the same slim fit as the Sonic.

[Paul Hatfield]

I am not at the equator, but the UV index is often 11+ where I am, and I have never noticed sun exposure through any shirt. YMMV.

As I mentioned, I have a number of brands of button-down shirts, all with two pockets. Most days I end up wearing a REI Sahara or Columbia Silver Ridge (Utility) Lite. I feel like they could made out of significantly lighter fabric and still be durable enough.

Sometimes when hiking, I open some of the buttons for more ventilation. Also I pull the forearms of sleeves up. I do not like shirts without buttons or long front zips, as exposing the chest area is a very effective way to dump heat.

[Jerry Adams]

“I am not at the equator, but the UV index is often 11+ where I am, and I have never noticed sun exposure through any shirt. YMMV.”

same here, never noticed anything under my shirt

if a shirt was UPF 15, and assuming that means that the UV exposure is 1/15th of what it would be without protection – if you spent 8 hours in the sun with your shirt on, that would be like spending 32 minutes in the sun without shirt.  “They” say that spending 30 minutes in the sun without protection is safe for average skin.  So, a UPF 15 shirt is sufficient.

If you have light skin and are easily burned then 10 minutes without protection is safe.  Then, you should be more careful about getting a higher UPF shirt like UPF>50.  Or spend less time in the sun with UPF 15.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK321117/

 

[David D]

Just spent a week fishing from shore backpacking lake to lake or directly on the water, 5-6 hours a sunny day on or facing open water (my happy place).

I only received a light tan under the OR Echo (UPF 15).  I’m not in an alpine area and have olive skin so YMMV.

In midwest summer humidity, the Silver Ridge Light makes me drenched in sweat so its UPF drops and its not providing it’s rated sun protection.

The SRL is well suited for dry alpine climates or colder weather but in high humidity, I find the Echo more comfortable and faster drying, while better retaining its UPF rating.  It may not be that much less sun protection than the SRL depending on how much you sweat.

[Jerry Adams]

If a shirt is wet does it provide more or less UV protection?

That may be a rhetorical question

I assume water molecules absorb some UV

[jscott]

“if a shirt was UPF 15, and assuming that means that the UV exposure is 1/15th of what it would be without protection – if you spent 8 hours in the sun with your shirt on, that would be like spending 32 minutes in the sun without shirt.  “They” say that spending 30 minutes in the sun without protection is safe for average skin.  So, a UPF 15 shirt is sufficient.”

Hmm. the numbers above seem to assume that all things are equal; that is, altitude, for example, doesn’t come into consideration. we all know that spending 8 hours in the the sun at sea level  is definitely NOT equivalent to spending 8 hours in the sun at 9,000 feet elevation. Moreover, 8 hours in the sun while out on the water in a boat is not the same as spending 8 hours in the forest, or in the desert. Or on snow. there’s a ton of variables that are eliminated in those numbers. In the end, they don’t  really measure real world circumstances at all. and yet they propose to do so. And then of course, one never only spends “15 safe minutes in the sun.” sun exposure is cumulative. You don’t begin again the next  day as if the  sun exposure that you had while out on a glacier for six hours the day before had never happened. No. It all add up and there’s no going back. Jerry’s numbers assume the opposite.

I’m just sayin’.

[Jerry Adams]

good point, UV higher at elevation

“they” say that spending 30 minutes a day in the sun is healthy – you produce vitamin D and other things.  Little risk.  Assuming you are medium toned skin.  If you have pale skin and burn easily, don’t tan, then it’s 10 minutes.  If you have a history of skin cancer or whatever then you better talk to your doctor.

“they” is doctors, like what I read from mayo clinic, webmd,…

Don’t listen to anonymous people on the web, talk to your doctor and look at reliable sources of info

 

[jscott]

nm

[Tom Peterson]

My two favorite suppliers are Columbia and LLBean; everything I wear is SPF50, even my hats. You should also search surf wear manufacturers or simply look for sunblock clothing.

[Paul Hatfield]

Wet cotton provides much less UV protection than dry cotton. I’m not sure how wetness affects the UV protection of other fabrics.

Has Ex Officio exited the shirt market? I don’t see any shirts on their website.

None of Rail Riders’ shirts particular appeal to me.

I would like to try the NRS Guide long-sleeve shirt, but it’s quite expensive:
https://www.nrs.com/nrs-mens-long-sleeve-guide-shirt/pj9h

I noticed today that Under Amour has a button-down shirt:
https://www.underarmour.com/en-us/p/shirts_and_tops/mens_ua_fish_pro_hybrid_woven_long_sleeve/1383570.html

Features that I would like to see in my dream shirt:

• Lightweight, breathable nylon

• Weight 175 g or less

• Button or snaps down the front

• Venting under the arms

• Two chest pockets about 6.5 inches deep with NO closures

• A way to hold the sleeves up to the bicep area to expose the forearms (I don’t want to actually roll the sleeves up, as that is too much hassle.)

• NO vented back yoke

• Odor control treatment

[Author]

Posts