by Anderson Bowman
April 28, 2010
Columbia Sportswear
Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew
* Fabric: 65% nylon/35% polyester body map jersey
* Omni-Dry® advanced evaporation
* Antimicrobial
* Seamless venting
* Quick dry
* Reflective detail
I am a big T-shirt wearer and when I hike, run, or go outdoors I really prefer T-shirts over anything else. When the Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-Shirt arrived, I was impressed. It took two things that I like (synthetic fabric and t-shirts) and combined them into something new and unusual.
The first thing I noticed when handling the shirt was the feel of the fabric. It felt more like a nice cotton fabric rather than a super slick and slinky synthetic. The fabric also did not have a shiny finish to it which usually is a dead give away that it is made from a synthetic fabric. Unless I read the tag, it would have been hard for me to know that this shirt was made from anything other than cotton from its look and feel.
The next thing that I noticed (and it jumped out as soon as the shirt was spread out) was the mesh-knit vents. Columbia claims that they are present in key hot spots, but they seem to take up a large area of the shirt. This is not an issue, but from looking at the front and back, this shirt has a lot of vent areas. Definitely a plus in the spring and summer climates here in Texas. As far as I can tell, if there is a spot on my torso to sweat, then there is probably a vent in this shirt over the area. The vented areas appear as a little darker color than the rest of the shirt and this has led to several comments about the shirt appearing ‘wet’ while I have it on. Again, not a big issue, but for the more stylish hikers out there, it may be something to think about.
My shirt arrived in a size large, which I requested, and the fit is just like I like it. I could probably wear a medium, but it would be tighter (not too tight) than I like to wear a t-shirt. I like to have some wiggle room in my shirts, just in case, even though I have no clue what just in case is.
Over the next few months I will put this shirt to the test while trail running, fishing, hiking, backpacking, and any other outdoor activities that I take part in. My next installment will definitely cover how well this shirt keeps me cool, how fast it dries, and how fresh it smells despite my best efforts to over come its antimicrobial treatment.
A Month or more on the Trail with the Pro
by Anderson Bowman
July 5, 2010
It has been over a month since the interesting Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-Shirt arrived. I have been moving outside for more and more activities since the weather has warmed up and this means more use for this shirt. At this point I have probably done about 8 days of trail running in it, mowed the yard at least three times in it, and been on two fishing trip and two day hikes while wearing this shirt.
As far as durability goes, everything has gone well. The shirt has held up well with no rips, tears or permanent stains. Considering that these are the usual injuries that my shirts get while fishing, the Columbia Trail Prot Short Sleeve Crew T-Shirt is doing pretty well. Of course I have only been fishing once, but there are still plenty more to come.
Summer is hot and humid here in Southeast Texas which also means I can turn any shirt I wear into a sweaty nasty piece of cloth. The Columbia Trail Pro Shirt is no exception; it is hot, I sweat, my shirts get soaked. The good news is that this shirt dries fast and I do have a bit more of a difficult time getting it soaked with sweat. What I really like is that when the breeze blows, the vents seem to cool me off way quicker than with a regular shirt which is very nice. So while hot is hot in Texas no matter what I wear, the Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-Shirt does seem to offer some relief from the heat.
The one thing that I am not as excited about is the odor. For some reason this shirt seems to get stinky really fast, after one really hot afternoon on the lake or after an hour or two of trail running (over 2-3 days). The one thing that I will say in its defense is that on most outings I do not wear deodorant, but it does seem to get stinky rather fast.
Over the next month I will ramp up my use of this shirt since I will be fishing and running outdoors even more. There will also be more hiking and backpacking involved and I really want to see how well this shirt works under a pack in the Texas heat. I will also wear some deodorant on my outings to see if this helps delay the amount of time it takes for this shirt to get rather stinky.
One excellent thing about this shirt is how fast it dries. It does not matter if I have sweated it up or if it is coming directly out of the washing machine because the Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-Shirt dries damn fast. Out of the wash the instructions say to hang to dry and it feels barely damp when removing it from the machine. If nothing else, this is one useful shirt for my long hiking trips. A shirt that I can wear all day, wash at night and hang to dry with the expectation of it being ready by the next morning is a huge bonus. I can hike all day, stink it up, wash the stink out, and have a dry shirt to wear by morning.
End of the Trail with the Trail Pro
by Anderson Bowman
August 22, 2010
One thing that I have forced myself to come to grips with while wearing the Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-shirt is that someone is going to ask; “Is your shirt wet?” It is not an issue of “IF” but of “WHEN” they will ask this. It seems like the vented area on the shirt make it appear to have wet spots on it or at least the people I run into like to think that it has wet spots.
After more than few of these conversations at the gym, in the boat, and even on the trail, I realized that it was just part of wearing this shirt. They are going to ask and I am going to explain the vents as best I can. Part of me wonders if this would help me strike up conversations with beautiful women in bars, but so far I have kept that little experiment stored on the shelf where it belongs.
One thing that I finally go to do was a multi-day hike/back packing trip in the Sam Houston National Forest. Now summer is not the time to do this, but it is the only chance I was going to have to get out and wear the Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-shirt for several days on the trail. Four days and three nights with temperatures over 95 F during the day and no lower than 80 F at night meant that I was going to sweat a lot and I did.
The great news is not only did the Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-shirt hold up to the rigors of being worn under a pack for hours on end, but it also held up to the constant threat of snags and tears from the bushes and trees along the trail. I wish that I could report that this shirt kept me super cool, but nothing is going to do that in the summer heat and humidity in Texas.
What I did notice was that the shirt dried very quickly, even when soaked in sweat, and it never seemed to stick to me too much, even when soaked in sweat. My earlier observations that the Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-shirt developed a nasty odor after just one or two running sessions have a tiny foot note added to them. After two days and nights of constant wear (even while sleeping) the shirt did not seem to smell any worse than any other part of myself or my gear.
I guess that when everything is stinky, the Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-shirt does not stand out as being odorous. I guess my nose is just a bit sensitive when I cling to being civilized after a nice trail run. I will not claim it did not smell, but after a few days on the hot trail, it smells no worse than anything else I wore.
As a hiker I prefer to wear t-shirts on the trail. There are no buttons or zippers to fail and they can be pulled on and off with relative ease. The Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-shirt fits right in with the way I like to hike, run, and exercise in general. I am very pleased to report that it has held up to a lot of use (probably 3-4 days a week for the entire time I have owned it) and shows no signs of wear or fading. The shirt looks damn good after soaking up gallons of sweat, being used to wipe my mouth (and nose), and being washed many, many, many times.
Overall, I like this shirt. It looks good on and off the trail, and it has proven itself durable as well as comfortable in all kinds of environments. I can wear the Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-shirt on a multi-day hiking trip, to the gym, or to the grocery store without it ever being out of place. Best of all, my wife even approves of it since it is not gray in color like most of my other hiking t-shirts. She likes to believe that the Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-shirt if proof that I can wear some other color besides gray or white when it comes to t-shirts.
In closing I want to say that I was a bit underwhelmed by this shirt when it arrived. While it may have seemed gimmicky in the beginning, it proved itself to be so much more during my summer out doors. I am surprised that it still looks so good at this point (it has proven to be very stain resistant) and I am hoping that I can get another summer’s use out of it before I am forced to retire it. If it makes it through more than two summers, I am going to be in hog heaven.
[...] Columbia Trail Pro Short Sleeve Crew T-Shirt [...]