Posts Tagged Spyder

As I’ve mentioned before, one byproduct of a lot of wicking shirts and base layers is that, well, after sweating in them a while people can smell you coming 20 yards away. The better ones are treated with something, usually involving silver, so that the odors and bacteria are eliminated.

I’ve been unwilling to test how long this fabric treatment would actually work, however, until Spyder sent me this high-end wool crew baselayer. They told me it was worth $100 because it had extra stinkproofing and I could wear it for a week without washing it. Oooh boy, that’s a challenge I couldn’t leave standing.

So I did wear it for close to a week, in that time going sledding, going snow tubing, and taking some brisk walks in sub-freezing weather. Then for good measure I left in on inside a lot with the heat on. After day 6 it was starting to get noticeably “less fresh” smelling, so I threw it in the hamper. But hey, six days—that’s pretty impressive. I don’t think I have another shirt that would make it that long, especially a wicking shirt.

Spyder suits up a lot of skiers and other athletes you’ll be seeing at the Winter Olympics soon though, so I knew this would be a quality piece of cold weather clothing. My torso didn’t look quite as buff as the one in this photo, but I did like the fact it clung to my body tightly while still letting me move around. It looks pretty cool too, with the spider webs on each side—you can feel like a superhero. Spyder incorporated an extra nylon fabric weave that acts as a pillar, lifting the wool slightly off the skin, plus they incorporated venting here, extra padding there to make it especially comfortable. I have to admit I was never itchy wearing this baselayer, even though it’s made of wool.

Here’s the official rundown on the odor-fighting features: “Textile fibers permanently bonded with pure silver are woven into the fabric. This construction has huge anti-microbial and anti-odor benefits. You can literally wear this top for a week long trip and it won’t smell. Silver is the most conductive metal, so the heat transfer benefit of having every surface of your upper body covered by it is great as well.”

But still, is a baselayer worth $100? This being Practical Travel Gear, for most people probably not. But if you were going on a cold-weather camping trip in the backcountry or hiking to the top of Aconcagua, your fellow travelers would probably be quite happy that you made this investment—especially if you were sharing a tent. In all fairness, this Spyder one is only about $10 more than a lot of similar high-end baselayers from the likes of Arc’teryx, Ibex, and CW-X. And it looks to be going for $75 at this ReliableRacing.com ski site.

See more at Spyder.com

Search baselayers at Backcountry.com

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