Thrift store shirt

[Pajj]

I've seen a few posts online suggesting a long sleeve thrift store shirt as an equal alternative to a high dollar sun shirt for SoCal. When I see this, the only thing that comes to my mind that could be found at a thrift store is a dress shirt type of deal. Am I correct that this is what said posts are talking about? Many shirts like that are made of polyester/cotton, while I've seen nylon shirts suggested multiple times. Is polyester ok for the desert? Being an east coast hiker, I'm pretty lost when it comes to desert garb.
On another note, I really really liked wearing my running shorts on the AT rather than pants. Are running shorts acceptable in the desert or will my legs turn to dust? I will be using an umbrella.

Thanks in advance
-Young Blood

[Kookork]

I plan to thru hike PCT next year. I have not been in SoCal but my experience in similar environments says that a light color lose and thin long sleeve shirt is the way to go. Polyester and nylon Vs Cotton is the matter of choice in hotter climates but from what I have seen the first 400 miles of PCT is not always hot and dry( depending on the season and your start date) and you may encounter snow and possibly rain in some days. This reason made me choose a Polyester/Nylon fabric for my hike.

Finding a suitable Shirt in thrift store is plausible but not reliable. Once I found a nice Columbia Shirt for 3 dollar there.

I advise against any short . The sun is baking and the dry weather will make your skin shrink and dry out in couple of hours let alone days.

[Venchka]

Take a tip from the Bedouins and other desert dwellers: cover up head to toe.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

[MuddyWaters]

Yep, thats it.
A poly blend dress shirt is loose fitting, light, has collar for neck protection, and is $3 at many thrift stores.

Reasonably quick to dry, and cheap to replace, because it will get so dirty after a week, it will still look dirty after washing.

[SCRUB HIKER]

I think you have it right, OP ... poly-blend dress shirts from the thrift store. Even if you go through 5 of those over the course of the trail, you won't have invested nearly as much money as you would have in even a medium-quality brand name hiking shirt, let alone a top-drawer one. That's why, with hiking clothing, I advocate for going either really cheap (and replace replace replace) or really high-quality (Rail Riders or Ex Officio, which will last forever and do their job perfectly with full peace of mind for the buyer). In the middle (Columbia, REI brand) is where you lose value.

Shorts are alright as far as I'm concerned. I wore them with a late-ish start (May 5) and never wished I had long pants, at least until the mosquito apocalypse started around Mammoth (at which point I bought some long pants). I think a slight majority, maybe 60%, of PCTers wear shorts in the desert and/or the whole way.

[Mags]

The thing about thrift store poly-cotton dress shirts is that many started their life as good quality dress shirts. At least the ones I wore, they did indeed get dirty but lasted a thru-hike each. I chucked them because they were quite disgusting at the end in terms of dirt, sweat and salt stains ..but were structurally intact. I recently got rid of one that I did not thru-hike with, but did see me through a few seasons as an active weekend warrior (24 overnight trips last year of various lengths. Not bad for a working stiff!)

I actually prefer polycotton shirts to "real" hiking shirts. I find they breathe better, are more comfortable and because they are thin and made of mainly poly, they dry quickly. I recycle now and use my two old casual dress shirts (one long sleeve, one short). Wish I kept another one as they work quite well and look decent enough vs the mixed bag bought at thrift stores.

[Spirit Walker]

I mostly wore shorts when hiking on the PCT because my legs sweat so much in nylon hiking pants. Same with my nylon hiking shirt. However, I carried both for camp wear to keep the bugs from biting and in the snow.

[Colter]

Gear of course is very subjective. I mostly wore shorts on the AT and would do so again.

I've done a lot of hiking in the desert on the PCT and other trails. In real desert I always wear a long sleeve shirt and long pants to avoid the baking sun and sunscreen. Long pants are much more popular on the PCT and CDT, mostly because of the sun, I'm sure. I saw a lot of red legs on shorts wearers in the desert. I also saw people that were happy and comfortable in shorts.