Review of Long Sleeve Winter Undershirts

[s.leinicke]

Ok you may be familiar with my thread calling out for suggestions here (viewtopic.php?f=14&t=88100). I got a lot of great suggestions and based on those suggestions I purchased these three things:
http://www.amazon.com/Tru-Spec-Level-EC ... VK0YV3U0FG
http://www.amazon.com/Minus33-Merino-Wo ... VK0YV3U0FG
http://www.amazon.com/Minus33-Merino-Wo ... VK0YV3U0FG

Starting out with the Tru-Spec undershirt:
I have a Tru-Spec blouse that I adore and seems to be of exceptional quality. Unfortunately, this undershirt didn't quite match the quality I expected. The stitching was a little haphazard on the cuffs, but overall the rest of the stitching was pretty good. The material seems to be of a great quality. After wearing and washing it 5-7 times over the winter it is definitely holding up well. After the first wash some of the threads came out of the cuffs so it looks a lot cleaner than it did at first and seems to be holding well, but I don't know enough about stitching to know if it compromised the integrity of the hem (does the term hem apply to sleeves?). I don't particularly like how its cut, because in my size it is loose around the cuffs and can be semi-annoying. I kinda wish they had tapered sleeves and not straight, but that's what they make.

Overall: Not bad, but not great. Worth it for the price to me, but if I find another silk weight from another brand for a comparable price (or even 10-20 dollars more) I would definitely try it out over this one. I would recommend buying it if you are more fit than I am. I may have just gotten the one jenky stitched one from the factory.



Now for both the minus 33 merino wool base layer:
I absolutely love these. Quality is amazing. Seriously. The tags are leather and honestly I wonder why all tags aren't made out of leather; it really is more comfortable. They are surprisingly soft for wool and are quite possibly the softest clothes I own. One problem (or perhaps benefit) is they are extremely warm. Whenever I was wearing these I would wear both the pants and the undershirt, a t-shirt, pants, and a hoodie and I was almost uncomfortably warm in near zero temperatures walking through snow (-17 in Celsius). I didn't really have a chance to test them out over extended exposure, but they worked more than sufficiently for walking to class and the like.

Overall: I want to buy more of these for next winter. They held up well, had amazing quality and worked phenomenally.


Sorry for taking so long to review. I wanted to make sure that the cold weather was behind me enough that I wouldn't have any more testing opportunities until next winter. I will probably buy more of the Tru-Spec stuff when I drop some weight and get down to a point where the sleeves won't be such an issue. I will definitely buy more minus 33 degree stuff next fall. Thanks for the read.

[PistolPete]

Thanks for the post sharing your experience. I love the long sleeve merino shirts. The ones I have are holding up very well to every week wear 4 or 5 months a week going on 3 years.

[markhen]

Having a big clear out this weekend. Got a long sleeve top that doesn't fit.
long sleeve shirts

[DrJack]

I found the Tru Spec silkweits to be quite warm for the bulk and weight. However I agree with OP that the tailoring and quality is well.....GI.
The current GI step-up from them is the "Waffle Top" polar tech LS and Drawers. They are warmer but are too bulky for my taste.

Several years ago I switched to Merino Wool for my skiing and winter camping baselayer and will NEVER go back.
I've never used Minus 33 but have been curious about them for a long time.

Huge fan of Smartwool Expedition weight and Icebreaker 200 gram base layer sets.

The Smartwool is more comfortable but the Icebreaker are sturdier and slightly warmer, however I can never seem to find them on sale whereas Smartwool I can typically find for 50% off if I search hard enough.

Smartwool started showing pinholes in the fabric after 1 season of wearing daily for about 16 weeks. Holes turned pencil size halfway through next season.
Icebreaker still standing strong after 2 seasons of daily wear.

(Wash your wool as infrequently as possible, it doesn't hold odor the way synthetics do, and will last longer)