SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019
50 BACKPACKER.COMBEST T-SHIRT- adidas Outdoor Agravic Parley Tee
So you’ve finally wiped all single-use plastic out of your life. Great,
but there’s still plenty of work to do, and this tee can help. It blends
20 percent virgin polyester yarn with 80 percent recycled polyes-
ter yarn collected from the coastline by the organization Parley
for the Ocean. The athletic cut fits well under a pack or a midlayer
without bunching, and the material wicked sweat as fast as any top
we tested during 80°F hi kes in Colorado’s India n Pea ks Wi lderness.
Downside: It lacks an anti-odor treatment, so the synthetic funk
was real after a day or two of heavy use.
$35; 3.2 oz.; m’s S-XXL, w’s S-XL; adidasoutdoor.comBEST SHORT- KÜHL Silencr Kargo Short
You want shorts that can hold everything, but you don’t want shorts
that look like they can hold everything. Enter the Silencr, which has
seven pockets—two front, two back, two vertical zippered ones on
the side, and one cell phone pocket on the right thigh—but a trim cut.
“During a trip in Cuba, I stashed snacks for three of us while logging
15-mile days around Viñales National Park, so I didn’t need to tote a
large daypack,” says a tester. The Silencr’s 80-denier polyester soft-
shel l is lig ht but toug h, so we took it bushwhacking wit h no issue.
$75; 9.6 oz. (m’s 32 x 8); m’s 28-42 waist, 8-12 inseam; w’s 0-16
waist, 5-11 inseam; kuhl.comBEST SUN SHIRT- The North Face North Dome Pullover Hoodie
Plenty of sun shirts have UPF 50+ like this one, but we haven’t seen
any that dry as fast. Credit a special treatment added to the North
Dome’s poly/nylon blend; a porous additive embedded at the fiber
level expands the surface area of the fabric when it gets wet to accel-
erate evaporation. Other sun shirts we tested pilled after a few
months of use, but this one’s abrasion-resistant, circular weave
meant it didn’t get too chewed up by the sandstone in Utah’s Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
$70; 8 oz.; m’s S-XXL, w’s XS-XL; thenorthface.comBEST HAT- Hydro Flask Crushable Hat
We’re not asking how or why, but the folks at Hydro Flask have
turned their water bottle expertise into making the season’s best
hat. It’s airy light and superbreathable but structured with a rigid
brim. It also doesn’t lose its shape, so we stuffed it in the tiniest
crevices of our packs without ruining it. Better yet? The Crushable
Hat is waterproof. In addition to keeping the sun off our faces, it pro-
tected us from driving rain on Mt. Washington in New Hampshire.
$31; 2 oz.; one size; hydroflask.comField Test
APPAREL GUIDE
LOUISA ALBANESEThe Backpacker’s
New Clothes
Clothes may not make you a better hiker, but they can make—
or break—your next hike. These three-season pieces will
upgrade any layering system. By William M. Rochfort, Jr.ALL WEIGHTS ARE PROVIDED BY THE MANUFACTURER FOR SIZE MEN’S MEDIUM UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.1423