Posts Tagged quick-dry
ExOfficio Nio Amphi Convertible Pants
Yeah, I know, I’ve heard all the reasons why these travel pants that convert to shorts are not for cool people. If you’re part of the fashion police brigade, you can ignore this review of ExOfficio’s version.
For everyone else—and judging by what I see on the road “everyone else” is a whole lot of people—these Nio Amphi ones are the top shelf version of this adventure travel staple. But first, if these convertible pants are so dorky, why are they so popular?
There’s one primary reason: one less item to pack. Here at Practical Travel Gear we believe in packing light and one of the best ways to pull that off is by choosing a lot of double-duty gear. These pants are exhibit A in that strategy. They’re pants when you need pants, but the legs zip off and they’re shorts when you need shorts. Handy on a hike or when you’re a man in a country where men don’t wear shorts (which is, unfortunately, most of the world). Pants by day, shorts by night in the hostel or guesthouse.
The ExOfficio Nio Amphi ones make the packing even easier by being super-light and wrinkle free. They weigh about half what a couple cheaper pairs I have weigh and they feel nicer on the skin as well. Their tag line says they “dry faster than you can say ‘amphibious’” and while that may be stretching it, I’ve repeatedly found them to dry in less than an hour on an outdoor clothesline—impressive.
These travel pants are water resistant and stain resistant and in my experience they still look like new after multiple trips and washings—both in the sink and in a machine. They’re light and wispy, but still pack a 30SPF sun protection.
As with most ExOfficio products, there are a lot of little details that set these apart. There’s a nice built-in woven nylon belt that can be removed, there are flaps covering the zippers on the legs when the bottom parts are removed, and there’s a soft liner around the waist to make them more comfortable. You want pockets? These pants have so many pockets you could stash your money in seven different places if you wanted, including two zippered back pockets, a couple that close with Velcro, and some secret stash pockets for change or bills.
The ExOfficio Nio Amphi pants come in three colors and multiple sizes for men and two colors for women. The list price is $75, but less popular colors and sizes sometimes get discounted to move them out the door.
Free Shipping On Orders Over $50 at ExOfficio.com
See the ExOfficio Nio Amphi Women’s version at Backcountry.com
Posted by Tim in Adventure Gear, Travel Light on September 1st, 2010
O’Neill Rash Guard Shirts for Sun Protection
Even when I’m not using difficult natural sunscreen, I find slathering lotion all over my body about as much fun as repeatedly pulling weeds in the garden. So I wear a sun hat while walking around and will slip into a rash guard shirt if I’m boogie boarding or snorkeling on the coast.
In a moment that made me realize why I like shopping at REI in person sometimes, I asked the sales rep what the difference was between the Body Glove rash guard shirt I was holding in one hand and the less expensive O’Neill one I was holding in the other. “Nothing really,” he replied. “Just buy the one that fits better and looks better.”
This is the third one of these things I’ve owned (see my Body Glove review here) and I was glad to hear that my hunch was the reality. Any brand you pick will do a good job of keeping you from getting sunburned and keeping you from rubbing your skin raw if you surf or ride a boogie board for hours. The Body Glove one I reviewed in the past did the job and looked good; so does this O’Neill version.
These cost a bit more than a regular wicking t-shirt, but not much. This one had a list price of $34 on it and I got it a bit cheaper on sale. Sometimes you can find various models for less than $20 on close-out sales at Sierra Trading Post or Campmor.
So what are you getting exactly? A very stretchy, strong, and fast-drying Nylon/Spandex shirt that feels like a second skin. It offers an SPF sun protection of 50+ for UV rays, so you can spend all day in the water and just have to reapply lotion to the arms and legs. (Or you can buy a long-sleeve version and have even less skin to worry about.) You can’t see it in the photos, but there’s a little tab at the bottom to help you pull it off when it’s wet and clingy.
Naturally these rash guard shirts are lightweight and easy to pack, but be advised that every curve and love handle will show up when you’re wearing one of these, so they’re meant for people in decent physical shape—as in six-pack abs, not a big Joe six-pack gut. (Of course all your kids will care about is the color, so get one for them regardless.)
If you’ve got a really fast connection and lots of time to wait for pages to load, see the whole collection at Oneill.com. Or get your sun protection swim shirt (at what may be a late-summer discount) at your local surf shop or at one of the following:
Search O’Neill swim shirt prices online
Search for rash guard swim shirts at Campmor or Sierra Trading Post
Posted by Tim in Adventure Gear, General Gear, Kids and Family on August 11th, 2010
Columbia Silver Ridge Stretch Travel Shirt
Want a quick-dry, lightweight, multi-functional shirt that moves with you when you’re on the move? This long-sleeve stretch version of the popular Silver Ridge shirt from Columbia works a lot of features into its $55 list price.
It’s got tabs with buttons so you can roll up the sleeves as you get hotter and keep them there. There’s a fabric hook on both the inside and outside to hang it up. Each pocket has a zipper and there’s also a pocket where you can stick in a pen or small knife, with a buttonhole to allow it to poke up through the pocket flap if the object is too long. It’s made of wicking, quick-dry nylon, but the additional 4% elastane fabric provides more give than similar shirts so you have a wider range of motion.
Naturally it dries quickly when you sink wash it and in my experience it only took five minutes for sweat to dry if I moved from a hot place to a cooler one. There are vents to let out some of that body heat too, which helps a lot, and a mesh liner along the top third of the shirt.
The fabric is wispy-light, a good thing unless you routinely rely on your shirt for sun protection—the SPF rating is only 15. Not for the Danes perhaps.
The Silver Ridge Stretch long-sleeve shirt from Columbia Sportswear comes in five sizes and four colors. There’s a women’s version too, with significantly trimmer styling and no pockets on the front. It has a list price that’s $5 less, has an SPF rating of 30, and comes in six colors.
The links above go to the specific shirt pages on Columbia.com. It’s also available at these retailers:
Columbia Silver Ridge Stretch Shirt – Men’s at Backcountry.com
Posted by Tim in Adventure Gear, Travel Light on July 22nd, 2010
ExOfficio Insect Shield Halo Shirt Keeps the Mozzies Away
Mozzies? Well if you travel internationally in the tropics, you hear that word a lot—a slang term for mosquitoes—often accompanied by some kind of swear word. When you’re in a place with hungry mosquitoes it’s always annoying, but when those bugs carry malaria or dengue fever, you need an arsenal of weapons to stay healthy.
This Halo Check shirt with Insect Shield takes ExOfficio’s usual double-duty usefulness to a higher level, hitting all the right points for active travelers and keeping the bugs away as well. This fabric treatment is a no-brainer really once you get past the cost: there’s no odor, no harm to your skin, and no change to the feel of the fabric. Yet it holds up for 70 washings or so. I don’t know about you, but there are very few items of travel clothing I own that have been washed that many times.
The shirt itself has most of the attributes I love from ExOfficio . It’s lightweight nylon that doesn’t wrinkle, it dries quickly after a sink washing, it’s ventilated, and there’s a 30+ SPF sun protection. Provided you’re not in a place that’s super hot and humid, it’ll wick away the sweat. With the color I tried out—the khaki checked one—it doesn’t show sweaty areas too badly either.
As usual, there are lots of nice thoughtful extra features built in as well. It has snaps instead of buttons, which I really like. A mesh liner extends much of the way down the inside. There’s a 
fabric hook on the back for hanging it up and a flap and snap system to hold the sleeves up when you roll them up. (Rolled up during the day when the mosquitoes aren’t around, down at night to protect the arms.) Each breast pocket has a regular pocket and a handy zippered hidden pocket for stashing some cash or a credit card.
This is a great all-around, double-duty travel shirt that should keep looking good for years and keep the mosquitoes away for however long it takes you to wear it enough to need to wash it 70 times. It lists for $90, but prices will vary depending on who is selling it and what colors aren’t moving. As I wrote this, some colors were selling for around $50, so shop around.
There’s a version for women and a version for men, some in solid colors, others in checked patterns.
See more at the source, ExOfficio.com: Halo Check Shirt for Men and Halo Check Shirt for Women
Get the ExOfficio Halo shirt at Amazon.
ExOfficio Insect Shield Halo Check Shirt – Men’s or Women’s at REI.
Check prices at Magellan’s – Halo ExOfficio shirt
Posted by Tim in Adventure Gear, General Gear, Travel Light on July 15th, 2010
Tangier Quick-dry, Sunblock Top from Columbia
I’ll be the first to admit that us guys are not all too picky about what our travel clothing looks like when we go on vacation or are backpacking around the world. The women in our lives don’t always agree though. So they’re less enthusiastic about rugged clothes meant for travel and often want to pack 20 pretty blouses for 10 days of travel.
This Tangier Travel Top from Columbia Sportswear got a major thumbs-up from my significant other though, thanks to its ability to effectively combine form with function. Think of it as a Lulu Lemon top at half the price: a list price of $45 and even less for close-out colors at Amazon. (Follow that link.)
What sold my personal trainer wife on this top was that it made her look great. The usual complaint about travel clothing is that it’s too baggy and is not flattering to a figure that stays in shape. This Tangier Travel Top is a different story, fitting snugly but with plenty of stretchy movement built in. It is drawn in at the waist and goes partway down the hips, accentuating the body shape.
It looks like something a trainer could be wearing to a gym, but is made to wear well on the road. It dries fast after a sink washing or a strenuous climb. It is made with Columbia’s Omni-shade technology, giving you an SPF factor of 50. (So you can ride a camel through the desert, but be more sensibly dressed than the Sex & the City bimbos.)
It’s all synthetic of course, but this travel top is soft, comfortable, and feels nice to the touch. No swishy-swishy as you sashay.
For some reason only the black color is available at the Columbia Sportswear site, but I’ve seen others at retail and you can find the whole spectrum at Amazon and at Backcountry.com
Related post: Fashion and Function for the “It Girl”
Posted by Tim in Adventure Gear, Travel Light on July 7th, 2010
