In 2008 I bought a Rail Riders eco-mesh shirt for my Pacific Crest Trail(PCT) thru-hike; by Lone Pine(mile 750) I ditched it.
Here are the problems I had with the shirt:
1. The sleeves are too short, so my forearms got burned. A good hiking shirt should offer full skin coverage for when the sun it blazing and the bugs are biting
2. It doesn’t close fully, so it leaves this gaping hole at the chest which leaves skin exposed to sun and bugs.
3. The elastic on the sleeves is too tight.
4. The mesh panels on the side rips easily. I met someone else on the trail with an eco mesh shirt and hers was ripped in the same place as mine.
5. The mesh fabric balls up really quickly. So it looks bad.
6. The shirt stains really easily.. And you just can’t get it clean.
7. Not one useful pocket. It came with one little pocket on the sleeve. I put my reading glasses in it but they fell out and I lost them.
8. They embroidered, “RailRider” on the back of the shirt; I hate logos.
And finally I would like to say something about back vents on shirts. They are of no use to someone who is wearing a backpack and actually just makes it hotter because you have more fabric back there plus back vents look stupid.
Related Post: How to make a good hiking shirt.
The best way to get a shirt with long enough sleeves is to buy the men’s version. That’s the only way I’ve found to get decent sleeves.
I wore a Rail Riders shirt this summer. Not the eco-mesh, but an ordinary shirt. I liked the pockets. They were big and I like to put a lot of stuff in the pockets so I was able to do that. I liked the special glasses pocket, but my glasses would fall out whenever I bent over. It got stained by my pack, but so did my pants.
I agree you don’t need back ventilation panels. At first while hiking in Oregon through their horrendous mosquitoes, I thought they were climbing inside the vent panels to bite me. So I sewed them shut with dental floss. But then I found out that they were biting me through all the layers of fabric. I would really like a shirt that mosquitoes are unable to penetrate.
Yeah, mosquito proof is so important. The mosquitoes in Oregon were crazy this year. I had a Mountain Hardwear shirt on… the mosquitoes couldn’t bite through it but it had a gap where the cuffs buttoned and I had got bitten a lot right there. That’s why I think the elastic cuffs would be better.. only the sleeves need to be long enough and the elastic not too tight.
I have the best hiking shirt ever! It:
1. Is mosquito proof
2. Offers full coverage from the sun
3. Is virtually stain proof
4. Does not wrinkle
5. Rejects odors
6. Drys super quickly when wet
7. Has two useful pockets that stay closed no matter what is in them
8. Offers full range of motion and is super comfortable to wear day in-day out
9. Gets tons of compliments from everyone I meet – very smart looking- and you don’t look like you just fell out of an REI catalog
10 No Logos!
It’s a “Button Snap” Cowboy shirt (Polyester) that I bought at a thrift store for $2
You can go to my website and see pictures of me wearing it on my 2006 PCT hike, I’ll never buy another hiking shirt again!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/48/139281311_d67596f8ca.jpg
Wow! You could borrow my rain chaps and really look like a cowboy.
I’m all for thrift store hiker wear. I bought a fleece sweater and cut off the sleeves. I sewed some elastic on the big end of the sleeves and used them as leg warmers, arm warmers, sleeping socks or a pillow. I also used them as a pot cozy. I made a balaclava out of the back of the sweater. All that for a couple of bucks.
You do have a fine and unique look going there ChaiG.
I kick around the idea of buying old technical clothing and then turning them into pirate looking clothes or other period style adventure clothes. I hate the REI yuppie look.