>>Would you say it's like having 2 windshirts? People have compared it to the Houdini.

Better than 2 windshirts, since the Thorofare doesn't wet-out like a standard windshirt. This might not apply with the Houdini, though. But a true windshirt over the Thorofare blocks significantly more wind than the Thorofare alone, and that's important in my above example. Also, a wicking base layer beneath the Thorofare felt ideal in these conditions, but would probably be overkill at temperatures closer to the freezing mark. In the upper 30's or low 40's F, I'd probably try wearing the Thorofare alone, after a warm-up period with a windshell over it.

Edited by blister-free on 12/14/2008 12:20:00 MST.

>>3 hour run in a few minutes. Right now, its 5F with a 25 mph wind ... fishnet baselayer for the first time. Wish me luck. :)

Brutal! Dashing!

Hi Paul-

I think we're more on the same page than we realize. A goal of hiking, even strenuous uphill climbing, is to control exertion to minimize excess sweat. Conversely, a goal of running is often to go at a fixed (and typically high) exertion rate for as long as possible. Sure, I could dial my run pace down to stay drier, but that would defeat the purpose of the run. :)

-Mike

Mike, thanks, and do report back on your happiness with the net shirt! What outer layer? Thorofare and net shirt?

Edited by Paul_Tree on 12/14/2008 13:56:39 MST.

Any chance they will be making shorts out of this material?

I have been very pleased with the thorofare pants in the snow. I found them to be much more snow resistant than supplex, cloudveil's Inertia, or 2 year old pertex equilibrium [This might be because the equilibrium's DWR is compromised due to use] while being much more breathable than typically WPB materials. It's been a more than a year since I have used an EPIC shell in snow, but it seems like the thorofare pants did at least as well, I think maybe better. I spent several hours postholing in knee deep snow with nothing but patagonia 3 base + thorofare pants. My legs stayed comfortable the whole time. near the end there were sections that felt slightly damp but the dampness went away very quickly after I got out of the snow. They seemed to do as well as my heavier Dryskin pants, and were somewhat more resistant to moisture when I sat down on wet snow.

I was unimpressed with the thorfare in hot weather. It seems like the thorfare shirt was a bit less air permeable than supplex and also had less ventilation than my standard rail rider adventure shirt (a button version of the echo mesh). Likewise, the pants had less venting options than my typical zip-off leg hiking pants. As a result I found I was sweating more. I didn't see any particularly remarkable wicking performance, nor did they seem to dry significantly faster than the already speedy drying times of a thin supplex.

A place than thorfare seems interesting (still need to more experience before being sure) is in cool, damp conditions. I found the thorofare fabric (at least when new) to have excellent DWR properties. Light drizzle just rolls off. Even when they wet out, they don't stick they way typical windpant or windshirt would. In the last couple of years I have not been using a traditional wind pants or windshirt. I found that in warmer weather supplex provided a bit of wind protection while having enough air permability to keep me from overheating and when it was cool enough that the wind was really going to chill me that propore worked well without causing me to overheat or to get sweaty. I have found that the material used in the thorofare clothing seems to work well when looking for moderate (but not complete) wind protection.

--mark

Is there anything to be done about piling?

"Is there anything to be done about piling?"

Nope.

Thanks Lynn your succinct answer matches my question :P I guess my next question would be, is the piling a sign of serious degradation?

I did get to test these clothes out today. It was about 70 degrees most of the day and I got in a good 20 miles at German Ridge in Hoosier National Forest. It rained the early part of the day, softly at first, and then a good downpour. It then settled in to a muddy mess for the remainder.

I love the pants, save the aforementioned piling, I like the fact that they have no zipper as they are easy enough to just pull down when I have to pee. I didn't seem to sweat much with them on, they felt light and comfortable all day, rain or no rain.

I was planning on just wearing the thorofare shirt on top, but decided to wear a light cotton shirt underneath because I had heard that the material can feel a little stuffy. I guess to be fare I didn't really give it a chance, but wearing the cotton shirt and the thorofare in these conditions was too much. I did wear the shirt when it started to rain hard, and was quite impressed with how easily it shed rain, and at how quickly it dried thereafter. My cotton shirt was still wet when I got back to the car, which was nice because it kept me cool, but the thorofare shirt had dried by the time I stopped for lunch.

All in all I like the system, but will probably bring a breezy undershirt for normal hiking conditions and just add the thorofare shirt for additional warmth and rain protection. I want to thank BPL for making the look so classic, as they go great with my mountaineers hat. It's leather and not at all lightweight, but I do enjoy wearing it, it keeps the spider webs off my face, and the rain out of my eyes.

The pilling tends to happen to the inside face only, doesn't it? And only after a fair amount of use. Albeit, I'm much more familiar with the shirt.

It seems possible that mosquitoes might be able to penetrate the fabric as it degrades over time from use and washing. (One mossie may have penetrated its defenses in a wet area of the shirt fabric where it was pressed against the skin at the shoulders... or I may have simply felt the proboscis probing at the surface of the ultra thin fabric - hard to say.)

Breathability seems to improve over the life of the garment. It'd be interesting what sort of balance a non-Pertex high-denier woven of a comparable weight could achieve w/r/t breathability and bug resistance. (A more "generalist" Thorofare line might have broader application, though as it is I've come around to really enjoying the shirt for 3 season use as well, especially for packrafting.)

Edited by blister-free on 07/06/2009 02:09:06 MDT.

What's the materials CFM. Early in the thread there was an indication that the values would be posted, but I never saw the final answer.

--mark

Hi Mark,

What is CFM? Cubic Feet per minute air will blow through the material?

Thanks

Edited by bfornshell on 11/03/2009 09:10:21 MST.

"The pilling tends to happen to the inside face only, doesn't it? And only after a fair amount of use"

Actually, the pilling is quite bad on the outside face where stuff such as pack straps have rubbed. As for fair amount of use, depends on what that is. My shirt is in pretty bad shape after ~30 days of use with a pack. The pants have faired much better, but they are usually protected from the knees down by sturdy gaiters, so not much rubbung/abrasion going on.