Nonaligned in Boston

I like using UV to sterilize water, so I have to bring a Nalgene Kanteen bag/bottle too (SteriPen doesn't fit in the Platypus' little mouth), but you cannot beat the Platypus bottles for weight & convenience. I love that I can bring an extra Platy for long, dry sections and then it just disappears into the pack when I don't need it. THUMBS UP.

I returned mine because it started to get a touch of polyester funk on the second day of wearing it. And that was a shame because it was comfortable, wicked well, and looked really nice--my girlfriend even commented about how sharp it looked for a technical shirt.

It was a tiny bit itchy. Not enough to bother me if it hadn't warned me off with that plastic-clothing funk trace. I'll suffer for a little bit of itch in exchange for several backcountry days without polypro toxicity.

I like this one as a base layer for cool or cold days. Like every wool shirt I own, it's slightly warmer than a corresponding weight of synthetic-only shirt, but not as warm as a 100% wool shirt. I get really hot when I hike & sweat plenty and this shirt is just too warm if it isn't cool out. But it feels great, wicks decently and DOESN'T GET STINKY like a full synthetic does.

I bought this as a gift for my girlfriend and it became her #1 hiking & skiing layer. & it looked super cute on her, too. Unfortunately, moths ate it up pretty badly last summer. I'm waiting for it to go on sale to buy her another one JUST like it.

I don't think it breaths that well, but I guess you can't do better in a light jacket for the price (especially on sale). I use it hiking. I later got the Marmot Oracle Jacket as a gift and find it much more comfortable and seems to breath better, though I haven't used it hiking yet.

My friend made fun of me for me for wearing a wool tshirt on a run while we were on a summer road trip in upstate NY. It was a hot day and we really sweated out. He was wearing some plastic Nike thing and after we were done I could smell his shirt from a few feet away. I hung my shirt out to dry and then wore it in the car later that day. After 150 miles I told him I was wearing the shirt I'd wore running earlier that day. NO SMELL AT ALL. He decided that a wool tshirt was pretty amazing thing after all.

I LOVE this jacket. It was on sale and there were only XLs left. It would fit better and layer better if I'd gotten a large, but it's so comfortable, I'm still happy I have it.

If they were less expensive they'd be the only underwear I wear, period. they're super comfortable, they wick very well, I think they're perfect. I always machine wash them in cold and hang dry them, which makes them less convenient for day-to-day use. I'm not even sure that I have to do that--I'm just afraid I'm going to ruin them and I don't spend the $$$ to replace them.

I don't go out without it--It's so much lighter than my previous go-to fleece midlayer/light outer layer. It's definitely a no-frills jacket--it's obvious that MontBell made design choices based on WEIGHT and not FEATURES. The pockets don't zip and aren't lined, the elastic wrist openings are not adjustable, but I don't care. It's totally cozy and it's always available because I can't make any excuse not to carry it. I bet it would really get destroyed if you got too close to a campfire, though. I don't do fires when I backpack, so I'm not concerned with that, but you might factor that in.