[pct-l] linen shirt in the desert/more kudos for silk

[Marion Davison]

Donna Saufley wrote:
> Also consider silk shirts, which can be picked up at a thrift store cheap.
> They have all of the properties you spoke of, however, are a useful base
> layer in that silk, like wool, retains its insulative properties when wet. 
> 
> L-Rod
> 
I second the motion for considering silk shirts for hiking 
in the hot, non-humid climate in California.  We hike 
exclusively in voluminous long sleeve silk shirts.  They 
have the following pros:
They are cheap at thrift stores, especially the really gaudy 
fun ones.  So you can start collecting them now and stuff a 
few in every resupply box.
They are very loose fitting, therefore keeping most of the 
mosquitoes at bay.  I only spray my hands, neck, collar and 
hat brim when wearing a silk shirt.  Pop on a headnet when 
you hit one of those bug-infested swamps.
They let all the cooling breezes thru, which is great on hot 
days.
They dry very fast.  You can rinse out all the dirt and 
sweat from your shirt each evening and it will be dry in 
less than an hour.  They also dry very quickly on your body 
if you get sweaty, so you don't get chilled when it cools.
The long sleeves also keep off the sun and save you from 
scratches from bushes and ticks.
They weigh almost nothing and stuff to a miniscule size.
I wear silk all the time because it feels so good on the skin!
They have the following cons:
They are not I repeat NOT the least bit durable.  The first 
thing to go is under the arms.  The fabric under the pack 
straps will tend to shred as well.  Solid color shirts last 
a lot longer than prints--something about the process of 
making the print seems to weaken the fabric.
There is just no way to repair them when they rip.  It would 
be like sewing kleenex back together.  So we wear them until 
they are too tattered to put on, and throw them out at each 
resupply. That's why we need about six shirts apiece for a 
typical 30 day section hike. It is easy to shred three silk 
shirts in a 2 week period.
We did a day hike in Montana last summer, where it was hot 
and very humid.  The long sleeve silk shirt was totally the 
wrong thing there.  I was desperately trying to vent body 
heat all day in my usual hiking get-up, which works so well 
in the non-humid Sierras.
Marion