Patagonia Capilene Cool Lightweight T-Shirt | Review - Outdoors Magic

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Patagonia Capilene Cool Lightweight T-Shirt | Review

Is the Capilene Cool the perfect all-round outdoor t-shirt? Perhaps

Why We Chose The Patagonia Capilene Cool: Quality fabric blend with right outdoor attributes

A lot of t-shirts for outdoor activity, especially those that are made from synthetic materials, can often look a little overly technical – they’ll look at home on the hill but a bit keen when, say, down the pub.

That isn’t the case with Patagonia’s Capilene Cool and that’s why we decided to give it some love by including it in our Outdoor 100 product guide for 2020/21.

Who Is The Patagonia Capilene Cool Lightweight For?

People who want a t-shirt that they can basically wear for virtually everything, from hiking, running and camping, to that job interview with a tech start-up in Shoreditch. It’s got that casual, relaxed look of a cotton t-shirt but then the functionality that you want for a day hike, weekend wild camp or full blown expedition.

Materials And Construction

The main fabric is a 100% recycled polyester that has a cotton-like look thanks to heathered interwoven yarns and cross-dyes made from another polyester that’s 50% recycled.

“It features an anti-odour system built in called HeiQ.”

As you can expect from a fully synthetic t, the fabric spreads out any moisture that it absorbs super thinly and this means it can be speedily drawn away by evaporation. In other words, it wicks away your sweat and dries nice and fast.

On top of that fast wicking ability, there’s also a good amount of UV protection, 50+ UPF in fact. Then there’s an anti-odour system built in called HeiQ. This treatment is very similar stuff to Polygiene; basically a silver chloride that helps to break down the nasty bacteria that forms when we sweat. It’s permanently embedded in the fabric and isn’t harmful to skin or to the environment.

Tester’s Verdict

Will Renwick editor of Outdoors Magic

“This has that light, smooth and supremely comfortable feel that a t-shirt with merino content has. In fact, it took me a while to realise that it’s actually fully synthetic. From my experience using this, I’d say it has a lot of the performance qualities of merino as well; it wicks moisture incredibly well, dries quickly straight out of the wash, holds its shape after time and it doesn’t start to stink quickly either.

Will wearing the t-shirt during a backpacking trip in the Brecon Beacons.

“I wore this for day after day for three days while out hiking with a heavy pack in some very muggy conditions and even on that last day it felt quite fresh – not as fresh as a merino t-shirt would, but still enough that I could have worn it for another day if that would’ve been socially acceptable.

“I’m a size M normally (5 foot 10 and about 11 and a half stone) and this fitted me perfectly; it’s loose and relaxed but there’s still a little bit of shape to it.

“Overall it’s very similar to my favourite t-shirt actually, which is the Smartwool Merino Air 150. They’re both options I could happily hike for a week straight in. Which is better? Well, I’d still probably say the Smartwool has a slight edge in most departments however, on a hot day, I think I’d reach to the Capilene as the full synthetic content makes it slightly cooler. They’re both t-shirts to get in your wardrobe/armoury, I’d say.”

Patagonia Capilene Cool

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