SPF Gear

[Just Jeff]

So, does this SPF clothing thing look like a marketing scam to anyone else? I didn't realize we NEEDED a shirt with SPF 45!

Do people really have a problem getting sunburned UNDER their clothes?

I never have. Haven't really hiked in the desert unless I was wearing body armor, though...no getting sunburned under there!

Seems to me that some guy came home to his wife, who asked how his a$$ cheeks got sunburned. "You know, it's the durndest thing...I think I'm gonna invent SPF clothing so it doesn't happen again!" Know what I mean?

[Mags]

So, does this SPF clothing thing look like a marketing scam to anyone else? I didn't realize we NEEDED a shirt with SPF 45!

Do people really have a problem getting sunburned UNDER their clothes?

I've done well with a big ole hat and a long-sleeved polyester dress shirt from the thrift store when I do desert hiking/above treeline/high altitude hiking. Never felt the need for special clothes. I also have an olive complexion and tan very easily. Other people swear by these clothes.

I will say that the Bedouin probably do not have SPF 45 clothing.

[chris]

Like Mags, I don't use SPF specific clothing. However, the long sleeve shirt that I used on the PCT had an SPF of something like 45. I certainly didn't buy it because of that, and I think it had more to do with the weave and material than any specific treatment MEC gave it. Along with pants and a big hat, I was good in the desert. The only thing I would have added are sun gloves.

Incidently, I'm going to try hiking at ADZ in an Underarmor shirt, mostly to see how it does in the direct sun. I wore it, and liked it, in the Grand Canyon recently, but it was overcast most of the time.

[stumpy]

Has anyone tried the insect repellant clothing? Does it work?

[Pencil Pusher]

Do people really have a problem getting sunburned UNDER their clothes?
I never have. Haven't really hiked in the desert unless I was wearing body armor, though...no getting sunburned under there!

So they have full-body armor nowadays? Just razzing you dude

[verber]

So, does this SPF clothing thing look like a marketing scam to anyone else? I didn't realize we NEEDED a shirt with SPF 45!

Do people really have a problem getting sunburned UNDER their clothes?

Actually... yes. I have been been sunburned through my clothing. I used to hike during the hot summers in a long sleeve button down cotton shirt. On an few long days I ended up getting burned through the shirt. Best I can figure (based on the pattern on my shoulders) is that light was getting thorough the weave. The type of shirt I was wearing is typically classified as SPF 15 or so. I have also gotten burned when wearing a heavy tee-shirt which got soaked.

Do most people need SPF 45? Most likely not. Do some of use really benefit from this? You betcha.

--mark

[hauptman]

I never wear sunscreen and have very pale skin, but t-shirts and shorts usually do enough. At most I might get a little tender if ya know what I mean, but I figure I can put up with that. Why carry the sun tan lotion, it is just extra weight. If it lookes bad I can always smear some mud on the bad areas and off I go. Don't have carry the mud around and it costs me no $$. Keeps ya cool too on a hot day.

[Just Jeff]

So they have full-body armor nowadays?

Yeah...it's something they invented back in the Middle Ages. I think the hiking staff came before that, though.

[jh24463]

I find the spf clothing to work really well. I think of it as sunscreen that doesn't wear off. When I am surfing, paddling etc. I can't keep enough sunscreen on me through out the day. When I hike the AT though it is not really necessary with all the tree cover. As was said, the spf properties are a result of the fabric weave and composition and it is quite possible to find non spf labeled clothing that would block the sun though the problem is you have to do the 'get burned' experiment to find out.

Josh