The Merino Tech Long Sleeve Thermal Shirt, made out of 100% super fine merino wool, is a soft but durable base layer for hiking and camping. It keeps you warm on those chillier days on the trail, even when you’re sweating, and naturally keeps the sweat odors to a minimum.
The shape and design are flattering, and though the color selections aren’t as fun as what’s available for the Smart Wool classic thermal merino base layer crew shirt, the shirt holds its own in every other way at half the cost. Heck, I think my 250 weight Merino Tech base layer feels a little softer than my equivalent Smart Wool shirt. So get ready for a glowing review here.
Merino Tech Merino Wool Long Sleeve Thermal Shirt – Men’s
Merino Tech Merino Wool Long Sleeve Thermal Shirt – Women’s
Pro’s and Con’s
Pro’s: soft feel with very little ‘wool scratchiness’; stays warm even when sweaty; dries from sweating after an hour or two; wool fabric minimizes sweat related odor; works well as part of a layering system in cold weather; high quality and durable; half the cost of a Smart Wool long sleeve shirt of similar design.
Con’s: dyes or wool related oils come out during first several washings, so its best to hand wash alone in a sink; takes overnight (12 hours) to dry in colder ambient, windless conditions, if fully saturated with water during washing; colors are not as stylish as what’s available for Smart Wool’s equivalent product.
Features
- 100% superfine merino wool
- after a few washes the fabric is soft with very little wool scratchiness
- stays warm even when you’ve sweated into the material
- dries to comfort (i.e. feels mostly dry) within around an hour, based on ambient conditions; dries completely after a few hours, when worn
- doesn’t smell bad if camping multiple days; can start to smell over multiple sweaty hikes
- durable at the 250 weight – reliable for multiple winter, or cool weather seasons, even when using a pack with a hip belt
- works well as a base layer in a 3 or 4 part layering system in the cold
- high quality material and stitching
- half as expensive as its Smart Wool competitor’s long sleeve base layer shirt
Comfort
The Merino Tech Long Sleeve Thermal Shirt is made out of 100% superfine merino wool, and it really softens up after a few washes to the point that you forget you’re wearing wool after having the shirt on a few minutes.
Using the shirt with a 10 pound day pack that has both Eva foam shoulder straps and a hip belt tightened down to keep the weight off your back, the shirt still is comfortable.
The shirt, being 100% merino wool, doesn’t really smell bad after a few days of camping. If you do use it hiking multiple days, eventually the pits will start to smell a little, but just dunking it in some lukewarm water in the sink, and lightly rubbing the pit areas against the surrounding fabric tends to get it back to normal.
Warmth
Further, its efficient enough to wick your sweat away from your body as you’re hiking, that you never feel cold or damp when wearing it. Indeed it lives up to the merino wool reputation that even when wet it still insulates you from the cold.
Related: See my article on hiking base layers for the different technical qualities of various base layer fabrics.
I’ve used it while visiting my father on the east coast, who has wooded property behind his home. Paired up with an appropriate mid layer and down puffer jacket (see layering details below), I’ve stayed plenty warm when walking in the woods in 20°F weather, and walking through the snow to survey dad’s maple syrup buckets he’s got strewn around the woods.
And the shirt is warm enough by itself, when hiking in the mild So Cal winters (50-70°F), with a pack on my back.
Style
The Merino Tech Long Sleeve Thermal Shirt has a slender but generous upper body cut, that credibly accentuates a trapezoid or inverted triangle body shape.
The neckband, and equivalent sleeve bands, and bottom band are all subtle, but stylish. The sleeve bands are much better than those large, stretchy cuffs that are on old school thermal underwear.
The sleeves are generous but not too long, such that they hang at an appropriate length for my particular arms, almost, but not quite as though they were tailored to do so.
The bottom of the shirt is long enough to wear outside your pants, and keep the warmth in. But it’s not so long as to look odd, like an untucked sports jersey, or Duluth extra long flannel, that rides down near your inseam, as were it almost a dress. No, this one is meant to be worn untucked. That is however one of my gripes about my Smart Wool classic thermal merino base layer – way too long!
Speaking of my Smart Wool equivalent shirt, that one does come in some pretty handsome two-toned color styles, and it does beat the Merino Tech shirt in that respect. Aside from the blacks and greys, the color options for the Merino Tech shirt are not as appealing.
Drying
If you’re actually wearing the Merino Tech Thermal Shirt, when hiking in cool temperatures, and have just completed a rather sweaty section of trail, then I would expect the shirt to feel mostly dry after around an hour, and actually be dry an hour or so after that. Keep in mind, that’s based on my use of the shirt in 50 to 70°F ambient temperatures, in the mild So Cal colder seasons, and further, that I use a floating suspension pack that allows air to circulate on my back as I hike.
Related: Check out my Gregory Zulu 30 day pack, that has the free floating trampoline suspension on the back to minimize sweat pooling.
Now if you fully submerge the shirt in a stream, or at home in a sink filled with water, in order to wash it, in cool, overcast weather, it will take a good 12 or more hours to completely dry out. That’s after mildly wringing it, to get a significant amount of the water out.
Layering
My Merino Tech thermal shirt, as a reminder, is the 250 weight.
I’ve used it in a winter 3 layer system, paired up with a Columbia Men’s Steens Mountain 2.0 Full Zip Fleece Jacket as a mid-layer, and Cotopaxi Fuego Hooded Down Puffy Jacket in temperatures as low as the 20°F, when both walking and hiking in the woods on the east coast.
And I’ve used it camping in the cooler weather up in Lake Arrowhead, CA, by combining it with that same Columbia fleece.
It just did its job in all those conditions just fine. You don’t really even have to think about it; it just does what it’s supposed to do – keep you warm and dry.
Quality & Durability
I’ve used the 250 weight Merino Tech Merino Wool Long Sleeve Thermal Shirt for a couple years now, in the cooler seasons, and in the early summer at Yosemite. It’s usually stuck between my body and my shoulder straps and hip belt, cranked down to hold about 10 pounds of pack weight (yeah I usually bring lots of junk on the trail).
Just looking at it superficially there’s little to no wear on the shirt. No stretching, no thinning of the material, and no unraveling or loose threads.
Giving it a more thorough look, I can see very minor pilling in the areas where my pack’s shoulder straps touch it while hiking. Further the logo has a few tiny cracks in it that are visible only by examining the shirt at approximately 6 inches from my eyes, while pulling the material around the logo tight. Not a big deal.
As far as the quality goes, its stitching is beautiful, the fabric feels as though it lives up to its nominal 250g/m² weight, and it feels as though it can hold its own against my Smart Wool classic thermal merino base layer crew shirt that costs twice as much as this shirt.
Washing & Drying the Merino Tech merino wool long sleeve thermal base layer shirt
I would probably hand wash this shirt in a sink, at least for the several first washings. Mine, as you can see in the pics, is black and produced a grayish wash water for several washings, which could be dye coming out, or oils from the wool. Either way, I probably wouldn’t want it to get on any of my other, lighter colored clothes.
Also it says to lay it flat to dry. I usually drape mine over a glass shower pane or large diameter towel bar to dry.
Hand Washing Care Tips
- follow the label directions
- gently dab existing stains
- soak for 10 minutes
- gently rub and swish
- rinse in cold water
- lay flat to dry
Machine Washing Required Care
- use a max of 86°F or 30°C warm water
- use wool or gentle cycle
- turn inside out
- use wool detergent or mild soap
- do not tumble dry – lay flat to dry
- do not bleach
- do not use fabric softeners
- do not wring dry or dry on a hanger
More tips at Merino Tech Care.
Further Reading
Thanks for checking out my Merino Tech Long Sleeve Thermal Shirt review! Next check out my hiking and camping clothes page, or my winter hiking and camping page.
See ya out there…