More and more companies now are making summer active wear and are making lighter, more breathable, stink resistant and just down right ‘cool’ to wear. This is where Columbia fits in.
Columbia Silver Ridge SS Crew
Columbia (www.columbia.com) has gone past the boundries of ‘cool’ shirts. This shirts actually makes you cool on hot summer days. You may ask…”Does it have an Air Conditioner in it?” or “Are there ice packs stored in some pockets or something?”. The answer is no….but you sure would think it when wearing this shirt.
The shirt is made with something they call OmniFreeze, here is what they say about it. “…advanced cooling, this high-tech basic features special flat yarns that transmit heat faster and therefore actually feel cooler to the touch against your skin. The fabric also wicks sweat and shields your skin from UV rays with UPF 30 sun protection.” That sure makes it seem as if there is some AC going on in this shirt. I’m anxious to see just how cool it makes me.
The Silver Ridge also boast Antimicrobial properties, sounds like something you would find in a petri dish in a science lab. Nope, these properties keep the stink at bay so you don’t get laughed at after you just came off the trail and you’re standing in line a the local burger joint.
What makes this shirt really awesome is there are two vents that run from the top of the shoulder in the back, down to almost under the arm pit. These vents open when the arms move forward….there’s your built in air conditioner.
I look forward to many runs and hikes with this shirt here in a few weeks now that the weather is warming up. Stay tuned for the updates.
UPDATE: May 12, 2010
I have really come to love this shirt. At first I was a little scepticle of it and the way it felt while I was wearing it. As I mentioned at the beginning, the shirt feels somewhat heavy due to the vent area in the back near the shoulder blades but once the shirt is on, you really can’t tell.
The shirt does give a wonderful sensation of ‘cool’ when I put it on. I’ve put it on in my house several times and I thought “Well maybe it’s because I’m in an air conditioned house is the reason it feels cool”. So I tried leaving it in the car for a few hours as the sun heated up the car, and then put it on. Still, it feels cool as if it has sat in an air conditioned area. This material just amazes me with the technology for it to feel that way, very nice job.
I am not one to sweat a lot even in the hot blistering sun so I knew that I would not be soaking this shirt with sweat when I was out side. But I do get hot and this shirt really works wonders when I need the coolness of not having a shirt on but being somewhere that requires a shirt to be worn. I’ve been biking and hiking in this shirt and it has truly performed well. I have even worn it to bed while camping on warm nights and it has kept me cool.
So far the fabric has stayed durable and seams have not frayed or come unraveled. I have not ‘picked’ the shirt yet which is very unlike me because usually this is the first thing that I do when I get a new shirt. I will continue to wear the Columbia Silver Ridge on my upcoming trips and update again soon. It will be even hotter in the months coming up. Stay tuned….
UPDATE: July 15, 2010
I have waited a little longer to do the final update to the Columbia Silver Ridge Crew. I wanted to get some time in on the really, really hot and humid days here in the south while hiking and biking. We have been reaching temperatures of upper 90′s F to as high as 110 F. With humidity at 80% to 90%….can you say ‘outdoor sauna’?
So this is the kind of weather that I really wanted to put the Silver Ridge through. It felt really nice to have on during the nice Spring weather but Summer weather really tells the tale. I’ve come to the conclusion that there is not much in terms of apparell that will keep you cool in the weather we have had. But, with that said, the Silver Ridge comes pretty close to enjoying having a shirt on in that kind of heat.
There is just something about the material that honestly feels cool against the skin. It never felt like it was trapping the heat in or keeping it from escaping. The vents on the shoulder blades really helped a lot as it gave an area for the heat on my back to escape. Overall the shirt performed beautifully while hiking, biking and walking during these hot summer days.
One note on the ‘stink’ factor. For me, I can’t say that the shirt kept the funk from polluting the air. I myself could smell it after sweating a few hours, and I don’t sweat much as mentioned before. I have to say that I feel like I stunk more with this shirt on than with a normal cotton shirt on. The Silver Ridge didn’t show sweat but to me it reeked more of sweat. But again…that’s just me.
I love this shirt and I have made it one of my favorite shirts to wear during the summer. It washes well, no loose threads and it comes out wrinkle free. I will be proud to continue to wear the Columbia Silver Ridge Crew.
