Bushwalk Australia

In the market for new tops for bushwalking/cycle touring and given I tend to tour in more remote locations where washing of clothes is a weekly chore rather than more frequently and given I prefer to not have to carry spare clothes I am investigating stink free options. Of course merino such as Icebreaker's Cool-Lite is one option but they don't do long sleeve t-shirts.

Anyway in my search I have come across Polygiene which it seems quite a few manufacturers are now using their product. I have only found one "review" at Gear Junkie and Steve was pretty positive.

I am wondering therefore if anyone here has experience with garments treated with Polygiene and what your experience has been.

Thanks in advance.

I am skeptical, but then I am also skeptical about wool.

In my experience wool does smell if I have not showered and sweated in it after a week. Just not as bad as polypropylene. There are some who claim you can spend a week in the wilderness, have a shower, put your wool thermal back on and go to the opera. i am not one of those people. Remenbering that, whilst the fabric itself does not foster bacterial growth, it is contacting the festy stinky bacteria on your skin which when sweating is absorbed into the fabric. The wool or polygiene can't remove the smell of the bacteria that have soaked into the fabric.

i don't bike tour but i would consider having 'bike only' clothes or wearing an ultra light mesh polyester base layer that can be rinsed and dried daily. I have some long sleeved 'mountain hardwear' tops that would fit this purpose and they' re UPF 50 or whatever it is that doesn't get you sunburnt. they dry in a jiffy.

My understanding is that the smell can be washed away in wool but lingers in synthetic fabric despite washing, not so much as stopping smell during periods of use. Then the hype and spin started...

Personally I have not had trouble with synthetic thermal layers in this way but maybe I haven't been out long enough.

I tend to sweat quite heavily during bushwalks and have found the polygeine in my burghaus shirts works well for a couple of days.

DanR wrote:I tend to sweat quite heavily during bushwalks and have found the polygeine in my burghaus shirts works well for a couple of days.

Thanks Dan. I am going to give a shot and see how it goes. It cannot be any worse than my Ground Effect jersey, a Rock Lobster anyway.

My test wear of a polygiene garment arrived today, a Outdoor Research Echo Long Sleeved Duo Tee. It has a nice feel to the material, sizing is good and the weight is nice too at 109 grams. Packs down nicely. This will be my back up top on my week long Holland Track ride late September. It is likely to get worn for about three days.

My other top on the ride is a long sleeved Icebreaker Aero Long Sleeve Crewe which is a 120 weight merino wool top. As it weighs more than the Outdoor Research top it will get more use.

I will update once the ride is over.