Posts Tagged ExOfficio
ExO Dri Long-sleeve Travel Shirt is a Keeper
We’re big fans of packing light here at Practical Travel Gear, which means taking clothing that can work in multiple situations and climates. I’ve taken this ExO Dri 1/4-zip shirt from ExOfficio pretty much every time I’ve packed a bag in the last four months, so it’s definitely a keeper.
This is one of those do-it-all travel shirts that more than pulls its weight—and it only weighs a few ounces. First, the features: quick-drying, odor resistant, wicking, sun-protecting, and very wrinkle-resistant. So it doesn’t get stinky when you’ve worn it for three days, but when you finally get around to washing it in a sink it’ll be dry in a few hours. When I work up a sweat in this ExO Dri shirt, it’s gone in jiffy after I cool off. (If you care about the specs, it’s treated with dri release and FreshGuard.)
None of that matters if it’s not comfortable, but fortunately this shirt feels great. It’s not clingy and it feels as soft as cotton. After about 30 washings, it feels the same as it did when I got it and hasn’t lost any color.
There are three colors of this on the ExOfficio site, but oddly enough not the one I have in Jade Green. That color is on sale at Backcountry though. This long-sleeve shirt lists for $48, but it’s on sale right now for almost a third less as we head into warmer weather.
Get this great ExO Dri 1/4 Zip Shirt direct from ExOfficio or check prices at Backcountry.com
Posted by Tim L. in Travel Light on April 27th, 2011
Win a Trip for Two Around the World – and Gear!
GET AIRLINE TICKETS, TRAVEL GEAR, CASH, TOURS, CAR RENTAL, EURAIL PASSES, & MORE!
[Update - Sorry kids, this shebang is all finished. But you can still check out this round-the-world guide to plan your big trip.]
Along with nine other top independent travel sites, Perceptive Travel is giving away the ultimate traveler’s treat – an around the world trip with a plane full of prizes!
We’re giving our readers the chance to take off, big time, by putting their travel knowledge to the test and inviting them to enter our contest. The challenge? Guess the route of where the Round the World journey will take them.
The Grand Prize winner will receive the following:
* Round-the-world airfare for two from the BootsnAll Travel Network
* A Southeast Asia tour for two from All Points East
* One year of travel insurance from World Nomads
* One-week First Class Eurail passes
* Four hotel nights from Anantara
* Two BRX luggage sets from Briggs & Riley
* Head-to-toe travel clothing from ExOfficio
* One-week rental car in Europe from Auto Europe
* Shoes from Lowa Boots
* $500 in spending money from Transitions Abroad
* Two pairs of Serengeti Eyewear sunglasses with Polar PHD lenses
* A grab bag of useful apps and guidebooks
First Prizes
- $2000 in airfare to go anywhere in the world from 1800FlyEurope.
Two round trip tickets anywhere on the route map of Southwest Airlines.
With prizes this big, we do need some time to find the perfect travelers to win our prizes so participants have 8 weeks to enter. Here’s how it works.
Each week, participants guess the destination from the provided clues and enter online. One random winner will be chosen from the correct answers each week and awarded a weekly prize. After eight weeks—with eight chances to win—everyone will know the route and there will be eight finalists. One of those eight finalists will win the Grand Prize package for two while two more winners will receive the First and Second Prize awards!
Enter Now!
Besides Practical Travel Gear, Here are Your Hosts:
BootsnAll Travel Network is the traveler’s one-stop indie travel guide, which began publishing travel on the web in 1998.
ConsumerTraveler.com is the web home of the Consumer Travel Alliance, which fights in Washington for reform of air travel, rollback of fees and for airline passenger’s rights.
GoNOMAD.com provides travelers with inspiration and links to plan their trips.
JohnnyJet.com is the home of intrepid traveler John DiScala, who flies more than 150,000 miles a year and provides comprehensive articles about everywhere he goes.
Perceptive Travel webzine publishes the best travel stories from book authors on the move, as well as an award-winning offbeat blog.
TransitionsAbroad.com (founded in 1977 as the print magazine) provides articles, resources, and program listings for long-term travelers seeking to work, live, volunteer, or study abroad.
Travelfish.org is the go-to guide for Southeast Asia, with daily articles and iPhone apps you can download to give you details about any country in their region.
Wanderlust and Lipstick is THE destination for women’s travel including tours, guidebooks and practical information.
Posted by Tim L. in Adventure Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on April 18th, 2011
Soft & Cozy Vona Tube Scarf from ExOfficio
Sure, I know, it’s blustery March now, not the frigid winter that’s been taunting you for months. But in much of Europe and the U.S., you could still use a nice scarf. Especially one so cozy and comfortable as this Vona Tube Scarf from ExOfficio.
There’s another reason to think about hats, gloves, and scarves in early March: that’s when they go on sale. It’s clearance time! Sure enough, this Vona scarf typically goes for $36. Right now you can get it for $25 on the ExOfficio website.
“Scarf schmarf—I can get one for ten bucks from a street vendor outside my office!”
Well yes, but it won’t be a scarf like this one. My cold-blooded mate served as tester for this scarf and although she’s been through a couple dozen of them in her time, she says this is her all-time favorite. Anyone who tries to pry it from her neck right now is going to jostle the Tae Kwon Do moves that have been buried in her subconscious for the past we years since we left a teaching stint in Korea.
Some textile designer obviously put some thought into the weave to come up with these numbers: 71% Nylon, 15% Soybean, 14% Wool. You’ve got your softness, your quick drying after a wash, your wool warmth, and a smidgen of renewable materials. I’m not sure what the soybean part accomplishes other than that, but a soy-based sweater of theirs I tried once was incredibly soft to the touch…
The “tube” part of the name in tube scarf turns out to be quite a practical idea: you’ve always got two layers of fabric against your neck to keep out the cold, with an air pocket in between, plus it never gets rolled up like the one Grandma knitted for you.
One size fits all, but it comes in four colors: the two you see at the top plus two more you can find by clicking the photos or this link here:
Get the Vona Tube Scarf at ExOfficio.com or check prices at Amazon and Sierra Trading Post.
Posted by Tim L. in General Gear on March 2nd, 2011
ExOfficio Therma-Wise Henley: Winter Wear for Layering
Yesterday I posted about warm pants I’ve been wearing for close to a month solid, and here’s the shirt that has been accompanying them more often than not: the ExOfficio Therma-Wise Henley.
Basically this looks like the kind of thermal long underwear that’s been around for decades, but in dark colors and with lots of technology built in. It’s got that “waffle weave” look, but is not just plain cotton. In this case it’s 68% cotton and 32% polyester blended into a “CoolPlus” fiber weave that dries faster and is more durable.
It’s also a tad lighter, making it good for travel. More importantly for travel, it incorporates Aegis Microbe Shield technology to keep you from getting stinky. So you can wear this for quite a while without washing it before your hostel-mates will start complaining. (I wore this four days straight at one point, in the interest of research, and my family didn’t start avoiding me. Yes, I work from home and seldom have to dress up…)
There’s also a tricot-lined back neck facing and shoulder panel, plus the flat lock stitched, forward placed shoulder seams that are meant to make this more comfortable when you are carrying a backpack.
In theory there’s wicking ability built in as well, but in my tests this was nothing to write home about. You need to get pretty hot and bothered to feel this start working: it’ll dry faster than straight cotton, but not dramatically faster. Instead think of this as a higher-tech version of a thermal base layer that will keep you warm when you’re cold, not as something to wear in high-performance situations like ice climbing or cross-country skiing. Outdoor cocktails and snuggling by the fire, not activities that would be featured in a Mountain Dew commercial.
Like most ExOfficio clothing, this Therma-Wise Henley is a core staple worth packing. It does the job over and over again and you find yourself gravitating to it more times than not when you open your backpack or suitcase.
It comes in three colors and five sizes. Mine is black, but I put the red picture up here so you can see it better. The other choice is dark green. The list price is $55, but right now you can pick up the Therma-Wise Henley for $40 at the ExOfficio site.
Posted by Tim L. in General Gear, Travel Light on February 17th, 2011
ExOfficio’s FlexCord Corduroy Travel Pants
I’m a big fan of lightweight, quick-dry travel pants, but most of them are not ideal for traveling in cold climates. So I’ve been pretty psyched to try out these new Flexcord pants from ExOfficio. They’re warm and cozy like your regular corduroy pants, but they’ve got all kinds of features to make them ideal for travel.
The first thing is, these pants are still pretty lightweight and though they’ll take up more space in your bag than something like the wispy Altyn pants, they’re still quite easy to pack—they feel about half the weight of my blue jeans but are warmer. They also dry reasonably fast too since they’re only 63% cotton. (The rest is polyester and spandex.) They’re preshrunk, so if they fit when you try them on, they’ll still fit after a few washings as well.
There are a few other little things that vault these over regular corduroy pants. There’s a handy hidden zipper pocket inside a regular pocket so you can stash some cash in a secret place. They also have a Velcro long pocket on one leg that’s great for holding a Swiss Army Knife or a Leatherman tool. It’s also got the usual ExOfficio double button action going too around the waist, with one on the inside, one on the outside.
My only problem with these pants is that they’re quite long. They’re marked as a 32-inch inseam, but need to be rolled up to keep from dragging the ground on my average 5’11″ frame. Unless you’re at least a few inches taller than me, go for the “short length” version. And of course they make that “fwick fwick” sound when your pants legs rub together as you walk, but that’s inherent with corduroy it seems. Well, unless you’re bowlegged.
The FlexCord pants come in the color pictured here or a khaki version and sell for around $78 at the ExOfficio site, at REI, or at RockCreek.com
See more ExOfficio travel clothing reviews
Posted by Tim L. in General Gear, Travel Light on January 6th, 2011
