Hiking Shirts For Hot Adventures

What better way to test the new Kalamina and Glenbrook hiking shirts - featuring Polygiene® anti-odour technology - than a hot Australian summer adventure? Mountain Designs ambassador Harrison Candlin and partner Madison recently set off in northern New South Wales with the hard Aussie sun beating down on their backs, and our new, purpose-made hiking shirts to keep them protected. Read on to see how the latest additions to our lightweight summer hiking range fared.

Kalamina & Glenbrook Hiking Shirts

Summer hiking is here and with that brings heatwaves, sticky humidity, the odd freak snowstorm and lots of incredible adventures all over the country. Australia is a wild land, with summer in the alpine regions being cool to even cold, while the northern parts of the country are extremely tropical. This is where the new men's Glenbrook and women's Kalamina hiking shirts excel. Pair them with a tee when it's cool, or wear unbuttoned on those hot days with the sleeves up. They're the newest additions to the line-up of Mountains Designs lightweight hiking shirts, and are ideal for a range of summer activities with advantages like the added sun safe protection with large collars, extendable wrist cuffs and an extremely breathable fabric.

Madison and I are both stoked on these shirts and their performance so far. They're both lightweight and super packable and we're excited to continue using these over our upcoming summer adventures in the snowy mountains and Tasmania. We're excited to share more from these adventures soon as well!

Let's start with the colours. The men's version comes in four different colourways and I particularly like the blue/bark and green/white check versions. Madison loves the red/navy and rose/turquoise check combinations. For me, having a long sleeve hiking shirt that works great unbuttoned over a tee is key for versatility and comfort. I also enjoy wearing my shirts with the sleeves rolled up, and the Glenbrook offers your regular roll up sleeves with adjuster tabs as well as extendable cuffs to offer sun protection on the back of your hands when hiking on those high UV days. So far we both agree the sun protection has been great in the weather we've tested in.

The Glenbrook (left) and Kalamina (right) come in some a variety of colours, so you can look great while keeping your cool. (Images courtesy of Harrison Candlin)

Field Test

The first weekend of December was a scorcher in northern NSW, with temps around the 33°C mark with 70% humidity. We decided to do a short coastal hike around the Broken Head region near Byron Bay. We found that after the two hours of wearing the shirts in hot, steamy conditions, they had no odour at all (so the Polygiene® anti-odour technology used in these shirts seems to work!). You unfortunately can't escape sweat, and on a hot day like the ones we were exposed to, you sweat relentlessly. This is something you really can't avoid unless you opt to wear a lightweight Merino tee, but then you sacrifice on the sun protection. Another positive to the hiking shirts is their lightweight build, which helps with breathability and ensures you don't overheat. We never felt uncomfortable in the shirts.

They did soak up a fair bit of sweat and were damp in spots (it did surprisingly well under the armpit) when we took them off, but later that afternoon I did a sniff test to see if the Polygiene® was all it was hyped up to be…I can confirm it works a treat and there was no odour! We highly recommend these hiking shirts for all hot adventures, especially in an Australian summer.

With extendable wrist cuffs, Polygiene® anti-odour technology, and a moisture-wicking and quick-drying fabric finish, the Glenbrook and Kalamina hiking shirts are perfect for hot, sunny days on your feet. (Images courtesy of Harrison Candlin)

Photo Credits

All images supplied by Harrison Candlin

• Instagram @harrisoncandlin
• Website https://www.harrisoncandlin.com