- What's a good shirt to take with you when you're traveling
In this video, we're gonna be taking a look at the
Outlier Ultrafine Merino T-shirt.
Let's check it out.
(upbeat pop music)
What's up, it's Tom from Pack Hacker coming at you
from my hotel in Taipei, Taiwan.
I'm digging it here.
It's really chill.
Love the vibes.
We're taking a look at the
Ultra-fine Merino wool T-shirt from Outlier.
If at any time you're viewing this video
and you're not there already,
there's a page on Packhacker.com for this review
where we go a little bit more into depth on everything.
And we also have, kind of, a timeline where we keep track
of this thing and the durability as we use it more and more.
So all that info is there and constantly being updated.
All right, first of all I wanna say
that this shirt is great.
I've been using it for about the last year and a half
as I've been testing it and taking a look at it.
And overall, it's held up super well.
In comparison to some of Outlier's other shirts,
for instance, the Runweight Merino,
this thing feels a little bit thicker.
At first when I bought that thickness would be
a little bit hard in warmer climates.
But it actually breathes better
than some cotton T-shirts that are out there today.
Outlier also has a different shirt
called the Runweight Merino, which is a little bit
thinner than this one, but I found it to be less durable.
So this thing is like the tank of T-shirts
and it's held up super well with the exception
of a couple little things, which we're gonna
get into in a little bit.
This thing is comfortable.
It's well fitted, and it looks pretty sharp.
After about six months of use,
I did notice that there was a little bit of a hole
developing right around where my belt was.
And I emailed Outlier about this, and they said,
"Hey, this looks like it's from your belt,
but if you ever want to get it repaired,
just bring it into a tailor and they can darn the fabric
and get rid of that."
I haven't done that because I really dislike
any type of maintenance, but it's good to know
that there is a solve for it.
I just found out that there's an even bigger hole
that's developed in this thing in the back of the shirt.
(ominous music)
But this is after, like, 1.5 years of use.
I'm wearing this T-shirt probably like three times a week.
You even it out with everything else.
The cost to wear is pretty good overall.
This T-shirt is super expensive at 98 bucks.
But again, this is one of two of my T-shirts
that I have in my 40 liter backpack.
I mean, it's either one $98 T-shirt for me
or five $20 T-shirts.
I'd rather carry around one that weighs a lot less
that I hardly ever have to wash and that looks sharp
and is soft and is comfortable to wear than trying
to carry around five T-shirts that are mediocre.
So overall, I've worn this T-shirt about 200 times.
It's a $98 T-shirt, about 50 cents per wear.
I'll take it.
It's not like I've been babying this shirt either.
(soothing lullaby music)
It's been in many climates with me,
many different countries, out camping
where there's bugs, out in the rain.
This thing has gone through a decent amount
of wear and tear.
I can go sometimes maybe 10 even 20 times
without washing it.
(crickets chirping)
Don't tell anybody.
It's our little secret.
It doesn't smell.
It's so bizarre.
I will have, like, another T-shirt that I'll wear twice
and I'll be like, man, I need to wash that thing.
But this thing, I feel like it almost, like, takes care
of the smell itself too, to some degree.
You leave it out to air dry, just kind of gets rid of it,
which is pretty crazy.
(loudly inhaling)
If it's in the washer, I put it
on the most delicate setting possible.
I do typically wash this by hand.
I'm kind using my Lush shampoo bar
or something of that nature and being careful
about what soap that I use.
Never put it into the dryer or you're gonna shrink it
and mess it up, and it's gonna get all fuzzy.
I always hang dry it, and since it's wool,
it dries really, really fast.
So for the pros, this thing is a modern fit,
and it looks sharp on you, if that's what you're into.
Also, it's held up super well over a lot
of different climates and a lot of different situations
over a decent amount of time.
1.5 years is pretty good for testing one T-shirt.
And in comparison to other fast-drying
or antimicrobial marketed shirts, it's not some
shiny material, breathable, mesh-looking nylon shirt.
It just looks like a normal shirt.
And it has those natural antimicrobial
and breathable features built right into the fabric.
From the cons standpoint, this shirt
is pretty expensive for a T-shirt.
It's kind of hard to justify spending
that much for a T-shirt.
But again, you're looking at it
from a cost-per-wear standpoint,
and what you're gonna be packing
with you in your bag as you're on the go.
Can start to kind of justify it
if you're gonna be wearing this thing a lot,
and it's gonna be in your primary rotation.
Another con is it's a thicker wool material,
can be hot, depending on the climate that you're in.
And also the dark blue color that I've been
testing doesn't help.
Now if you're concerned with that,
be sure to get a lighter color
than what I've done here with the dark navy.
So just be aware of that.
Thanks for taking a look
at the Outlier Ultrafine Merino T-shirt.
Be sure to head over to packhacker.com/newsletter
to never miss an update on the good reviews
that we do, and the latest in travel tips and tricks.
We'll see you in the next one.
I love that I've been wearing this T-shirt
for just about every other video that I've done.
You're probably like, man, this guy, he just has one shirt.
He never changes it, but I don't need to.
(beep noise)
Are we recording right now?
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(funky music)