While I'm well-suited to bar-fighting and pillaging, my Viking blood has me wanting in the sun tolerance department...

Instead of sunblock, I'm going to try the full-coverage route this season (except for shorts).

I'm looking for an ultrarunning/backpacking shirt and have my eye on Railriders Ecomesh. Can you roll up the sleeves or hike them up? Are the cuffs elasticized? If so, I'm thinking I'd cut the elastic, put a 4-6" slit in the sleeve, and sew on velcro instead (I have big forearms...rolled up sleeves are usually too tight, especially if they have elastic). I wish I could try one on around here...

I'm also looking at the REI OXT long sleeve.

Basically I need a really light, breathable, high SPF long sleeve shirt for long running/days in the sun.

Recommendations?
Thanks.

If you're a medium and you want to pay for shipping, I'll send you one of mine to try on. If your questions haven't been answered by the time I get home tonight, I'll answer when I get my shirt in my hands.

cuffs are elasticized and yes you can hike them up but I found the elastic too tight and uncomfortable. You can get essentially the same shirt in the RR adventure shirt which has cuffs instead of elasticized sleeves and buttons instead of the velcro for the neck.

For what it's worth, I've owned both shirts and really did not like them much, especially in hot weather. Biggest disadvantage is you can't unbutton the front much for ventilation. I much prefer a regular supplex shirt with full button front.

The RailRider Adventure shirt is nearly identical to the Ecomesh but has a button cuff and neck. I've worn both and prefer the Adventure shirt because I can roll up the sleeves past my elbows.
Just my 2 cents.

-Lance

+1 RailRider Adventure shirt--WHITE

So the Adventure shirt is basically the Ecomesh, just with buttons instead of velcro and elastic?

I'm a little concerned that these shirts are a bit much for running (collars, buttons...chafing issues).

I'm wondering if a loose fitting, light longsleeve would be more comfortable.

Thanks everyone.
And thanks for the offer Douglas, but I'd be an L or XL

Edited by xnomanx on 03/30/2011 14:14:04 MDT.

The Ecomesh sleeves are about 1" shorter than the cuffed RR styles. I also found them uncomfortable to roll/push up.You can get a button-front, button cuff, longer sleeve equivalent in their Madison River shirt. The MR also has a regular flip-up collar that protects more than the EM and Adventure.

RR just came out with a new shirt that, IMO, incorporates the best of all the others in a new lighter fabric. All the original vented shirts are 3oz/yd nylon. The new Bone Flats line is 1.5oz. It is full button front, button cuffs, a nice coverage flip-up collar, and a new HIGHER price. I've just started wearing mine and like it a lot. The vertical zip chest pockets are secure and can be accessed with a pack on.

The lighter weight fabric is a big plus. The mesh sides are WAY better than the Columbia/REI/Academy ones without vented sides I've owned. Sun protection is my first priority (plenty of squamous and basal lesions removed) and I have never gotten sun exposure from the mesh sides.

This is the type of shirt I prefer from 70-100F. Never had a chafing issue. The fabric hand is very pleasant. Check 'em out @ railrider.com.

The fabric does not stretch. Go with their size table on the chest size.

I recently sold my adventure shirt because I prefer the elastic cuffs and velcro collar of the eco-mesh. My eco-mesh is size large if you need any measurements (or want to pay shipping to test it out).

+1 for RailRiders Adventure shirt. The button version is much more comfortable to me than the elastic cuffs of the Ecomesh. I've worn both for 10 years.

Craig,

I wore an eco-mesh shirt last year on our trip. All 3 days, even in triple digits. Slept in it each night too. I also own several Adventure and Madison River shirts. I like the eco-mesh best but the Adventure is not much differnt, other than the cuffs and 3 top buttons instead of the single Velcro closure. Most of the time I leave the shirt opened. If I need more pockets, then it is the Madison River. Anyway, all my 3-season trips use some sort of Rail Riders.

The large fits me in sleeve length as a normal medium shirt, but is fairly loose around the body. I like the Napolean pocket, you can stuff a small camera in it and it stays put. The collar is about an inch taller than a t-shirt, and I don't notice it at all. In 3 season hiking, I wear the eco-mesh 90% of the time. I have thin arms, so the elastic is lose on my wrists. It is tight if I hike it up below my elbows... stays there but the elastic does not bother me. They would probably be too tight on your arms.

The shirt is light in weight, but the material feels thicker than it weighs, if that makes sense. Breathes well for me.

I have a bunch of OXT stuff, and I wear it lot around town, but it does not breath that well for me. I find the OXT gets stinky easily... at least my wife says so. When I want to hike in short sleeves, the Rail Riders Eco-speed-T breathes the best, but no long sleeves. It is rated UPF 20, but I really do not know what that means.

If I was running, I probably would not pick the eco-mesh. I sweat a lot more when running, and not sure I would like it. One that does interest me is the Golite Wildwood Trail Longsleeve. 4 oz in medium, supposedly wicks well. They are fitted sizing, so I would get one size larger, as I don't care for tight shirts. UPF is 50+. List price is $50. I have been looking at it for a while.

Edit: P.S. If you would like I can send you all 3 styles to try on. They are all larges.

Edited by ngatel on 03/31/2011 02:20:37 MDT.

Hi Craig,

I've done a lot of running and LD backpacking in the railriders shirts. I prefer the Adventure Top to the Ecomesh because the velcro on the Ecomesh doesn't keep the top closed up as well and it can catch on things. The railriders shirts are durable and comfortable, and they seem to be mosquito proof.

However, for running, I prefer a shirt like the Nike Pro Combat Core Shirt in white. I wore a predecessor to this shirt when I did the Rae Lakes loop in a day, and then for the first 800 miles of the PCT last summer. It is nearly as durable as the railriders, and manages sweat and chafing a lot better. Mosquitoes can bite right through it, though.

Edited by Hiker816 on 03/31/2011 19:49:47 MDT.

I picked up one of the REI OXT longsleeves yesterday (Lt. Grey), it seems it'll do OK.
I want to try the Railriders but I'm doing a quick solo across the CRHT in Joshua Tree tomorrow and I needed a new longsleeve ASAP (I don't own one except for insulation).

I think the OXT will be OK...we'll see.

I'd still like to see the Railriders. Maybe I'll take you up on trying yours on Nick. No hurry though, I really don't need anything until late June. I'll possibly see you before then anyway; you're not that far and I'd like to run San Jacinto when the higher snow clears up a bit.

Thanks everyone.

Craig, just let me know. Check the weather it is getting hot quick. Might be some great flowers up there too depending upon the alititude.

Last year I used the RailRiders Madison River shirt as sun protection in hot weather in the East and on several trips in the Sierras. And I recently got my hands on a RailRiders Bone Flats shirt that I'm looking forward to trying under the same conditions. I think it's a huge perk that both shirts (in typical RailRiders fashion) have a nice, wide mesh section running from the bottom of the shirt on the side (torso), up to the armpit, and then completely down the inner arm to the wrist. There's also a mesh back panel. The Madison River shirt dries really fast fast, and I'm sure my future experience will show that the Bone Flats dries at least as fast, if not faster. The fact that these two shirts button COMPLETELY down is a huge advantage in venting options. I also like that the sleeves can be rolled up and secured with a button so that they can't start creeping back down.


For the Gram Geeks, here's something that's sort of weird to me though. The Bone Flats shirt is made of a lighter material that's supposed to dry faster and be cooler, yet it weighs more than the Madison River shirt. It's NOT supposed to according to the RR website specs though. It's supposed to weigh less. The Bone Flats shirt DOES indeed feel softer and thinner (yet plenty durable), so my guess is that it would be cooler and dry faster. But why it actually weighs more than the Madison River leaves me a little perplexed. And I've weighed them both twice with the same results.


I'm not sure what size the RR folks use when they cite the weights (obviously not Large), but their site says the Madison River weighs 8.0 oz, and the Bone Flats weighs 5.9 oz.


On my scale:
Madison River shirt (large) weighs 8.9 oz
Bone Flats shirt (large) 10.0 oz


Very odd. Regardless, I REALLY like the Madison River shirt, and I think I will like the Bone Flats every bit as much.

I have both an ecomesh with button cuff and one with the elastic.

I find them both good for sun and bug protection. The elastic cuffs work fine for my lighter frame and allows me to easilly slide the sleaves up and down for changing conditions.
The button cuffs are fine, but like any button cuff shirt, takes a little fiddling to get them to stay rolled up.

I also like the equivalent pant because of the light weight and ventilation.
Long pants are often prefered by me for hiking in certain conditions(bugs, nasty vegetation, cold, direct sunlight, ... and having the adjustable vemtilation helps.

Steven, do you find that the pants hang low in the crotch? I bought a couple styles of their pants and LOVED them except for that part. I talked with a rep about it, and they said that the "rise" (I think was the word) was the same in all of their pants. Anyway, I sent them back, because the crotch just hung too low and drove me crazy. VERY unfortunate, because I really liked the pants, pockets, ventilation, etc.

I saw another post awhile back where a guy said he actually rolled the waist down in order to pull the crotch up.

I have had similar experience with the "low crotch" phenomenon with RR pants. More so with the Adventure(?) series then the "travel khakis." Not that big an issue (for me), seems like there's always something that's not ideal.

Yes, they do have a low crotch which has been fine for me hiking and every day stuff. It helps with the ventilation.

But, now that I think of it, it's probably not so good for running.

It's a bummer to me that the RailRiders crew has no interest in fixing the low crotch issue. IF and when they do, I'll buy the pants in a heart beat! Till then I'll stick with North Face. I like the features of the RR pants better, but the crotch thing is a total deal-breaker for me.