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Travel Gear Review: Icebreaker Tshirt

August 9, 2015 By James Clark

Icebreaker Merino

In the digital nomad and long term travel community one t-shirt that has become a popular packing item is the Icebreaker Tshirt.

Icebreaker is a brand from New Zealand that uses pure merino wool. Yes, even the t-shirts are made from wool. Most people associate wool with clothes for warmth, but wool is an effective fabric for staying cool as well.

Icebreaker Australia sent me a t-shirt to review so I went about testing how their wool t-shirt fares in the tropics.

I was able to pick a design from their store so I selected a black shirt which has a small logo. I prefer solid colours and no logos on my clothes. The logo on the black t-shirt is barely noticeable so I went with that.

(Since my order there are now more solid-colour options that have been added to the catalogue.)

Icebreaker Tshirts

My shirt was shipped to me in Australia where I picked to up just before I was heading back to Bangkok. This was an ideal location to test out their wool t-shirt in a sweaty location.

On the Icebreaker site it says that wool is “naturally odour-resistant” and that “these short sleeve shirts will stay smelling fresh even after days of wear.”

In Bangkok I went about testing this shirt to see how many days I could wear it for. I like to go urban exploring so I walk alot. You only have to walk a block in Bangkok before you start getting sweaty; half a day of walking around will work up a real sweat.

My shirt was sweaty as hell by the time I returned to my room. I hung it up, showered, and changed for the evening. The next day I gave the shirt the smell test and it didn’t smell. What kind of wizardry is this? Wool, that’s what.

When I wear a cotton t-shirt there is no way I can reuse it again after one sweaty day. I managed to get four days out of the wool shirt before I washed it again.

In normal urban travel situations I would not have to wear a shirt for four days in a row. It’s handy to know that I can though. I have been in situations where I have ran out of clean t-shirts in my bag, and the Icebreaker is always the one that be recycled. I see why these shirt are popular in the minimalist travel movement.

I don’t need to re-use the shirt for days on end without a wash. For me I like that I can wear this shirt all day and not look and smell so sweaty, which is hard to do in a cotton t-shirt.

Icebreaker Tshirt
[Yours truly, sweating it out in style in Ho Chi Minh City.]

Filed Under: Travel Gear Tagged With: clothing

About James Clark

James Clark is the founder of Nomadic Notes. He has been a digital nomad since 2003, and Nomadic Notes features trip reports, train travel articles, and where to stay guides. He writes about transport and urban development at Future Southeast Asia. Subscribe to the weekly travel newsletter.

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About Nomadic Notes

James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

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