Want to get in touch? Feel free. I’m happy to accept:
- Fan mail
Hate mail- Basic questions
- Freelance writing offers
- Product review offers
- Advertising requests (see the Advertising & PR page for a full list of options)
I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks!
This site collects certain personal information through this form, for the sake of communication. Please see the privacy page for more details.
Love the site. I’ve come to very similar conclusions over many years of travel but a huge hat tip to you for having figured it all out so quickly.
A few thoughts…
As an older sweatier guy, the plastic (synthetic) underwear is not ideal, especially as time elapses on s long trip. I’m back from a two week european trip and I brought some under armour boxer briefs and some icebreaker merinos. The under armour was good (and perhaps your new favorites from uniqlo are better) but the Merino was much better. Softer and breathed better. Not sure if they will last longer – I typically find mine on Sierra trading post for 25 to 30 on close out – but they are much better. Despite my love of merino, I made sure that I had a clean pair of cotton boxers for the long flight days because they’re still the best when it comes to siting comfortably for hours at a time.
Merino rocks. Underwear t-shirts sweatshirts and socks. No question. And when traveling it rocks even harder – doesn’t stink, dries quickly, layers well and handles a range of temps. When it comes to socks I would strongly recommend bringing at least a pair or two of the merino toe socks – the kind that would fit inside a pair of vibram five fingers shoes. Especially after several days of travel, feet start to chafe and toes start rubbing their neighbors the wrong way. The toe socks – I like the smartwool – are like lubrication for your toes and everything slips and slides in a very comfortable fashion.
One question – what soft shell pants would you suggest I look at for warmer climates? I’m probably a 35″ waist so that factors in as well. Thanks and keep up the great work.
Len g
Ny, ny
All of those are good points; part of the reason I prefer the synthetic stuff is that merino underwear has to survive in a very challenging environment. Pant seams scratching against it all day long, and so on. I’d have a hard time spending the money on a regular basis to replace them, even though they’d be super comfortable. A couple brands have merino/polyester blends (Patagonia recently introduced some) which should help with the friction damage, but I haven’t used them, so that’s all I can say. But I like the frictionless synthetic, because they stay in place, don’t get damaged, and still work well enough that I think they’re a good all-around value.
Hmm…anything labelled “Dryskin” will be a really good medium-weight which can still work in the summer, but you’d probably want to wear shorts in really oppressive heat. Lighter ones include things like the Outlier Futureworks and the Prana Brion or Zion, which are good in the heat, but a little too wispy for chilly fall or winter days.
Hey mate,
Love your site :)
I was hoping you could steer me in the right direction…
I’m heading overseas (from Australia) for 2 months, hitting up Switzerland, Scotland, Iceland and Sri Lanka. I’m chasing a travel-backpack that can also double as a day-hiking backpack? At the same time I wanted to try and have it maintain an element of ‘style’ but to be honest that’s the least important part… I need it to but functional in the first instance.
I carry a DSLR Canon 50D with me as-well, and 2 lenses.
Is there a ‘middle’ bag that can swap in and out to do both? Or am I better getting 2 bags for different purposes?
Cheers,
Greg
Sorry for the late response on this one; hopefully I can still help. I think when you say “day-hiking” pack, that you mean you’re going hiking with it, as opposed to a day pack, which is just something you’d wear around town. If you mean you want to hike with it, a serious suspension system like the one found on the Tortuga, Osprey Farpoint, or REI Vagabond are probably better than the alternatives (or just get a real hiking pack). If you meant you want it to be a daypack, then you’ll definitely want to look at the options that are 35 liters or below. If you’re carrying camera equipment, I’d say take a look at the Peak Design Everyday Backpack. It’s kind of a game changer for photographers, and you could also travel with it as your main bag, as long as you don’t have too much stuffed in there.
You have flamed my email post with 100 or so emails. Cease and desist.
I cant unsubscribe as you do not have this facility on your webpage.
I do not want to receive anything from ever again.
Yes, sorry about that! There’s an unsubscribe button at the bottom of those emails. It wasn’t even supposed to send anything out today, and I’ve emailed customer service to see what went wrong.
Have you had a chance to try out the Tortuga Setout yet? I’m eyeballing it as a replacement for my Osprey Porter 46, wondering how you may like it compared to the rest of Tortuga’s lineup.
Yes, I have that one and I’ll be doing a real review, but since it has the same straps as the Homebase, the review is going to be mostly the same. They’re pretty stiff, and I wish it had load lifter straps.
Hello sir! Love the site. I’ve got a few questions about clothes for hot – and specifically, humid – weather.
I took a trip to Japan last August and thought I had things pretty well figured out. Granted, if it’s 95F and 80-100% humidity, I didn’t expect to be “comfortable”, but I thought I had a decent plan for minimizing the discomfort as much as possible.
-I thought I should avoid cotton as it would stay wet too long, and there would be no cooling effect from that with humidity close to 100% all the time. I did bring a cotton polo for the heck of it, but the main plan was linen shirts and cotton-linen pants (a little less wrinkly).
-Long sleeves. My thinking was that I’d be out walking around for a large part of each day, and long sleeves would help to minimize sunburn as well as *maybe* keep me cooler by essentially keeping my arms in the shade. Not sure if this ended up being true.
-Loose fit. I didn’t really so much think that I’d get any sort of nice breeze flowing through my clothes, but I thought form-fitting stuff would just feel like it’s warming me up too much.
But basically I’m kind of confused now, after having taken the trip, especially on points 1-2. My Japanese friends thought I was crazy to be wearing long sleeves, saying they thought that was only a good strategy in hot and dry weather.
Admittedly I had been quite profoundly uncomfortable at times, so I decided to test that theory out by wearing a short sleeve shirt the next day, and all I had was a cotton polo. Admittedly I don’t remember feeling any less comfortable in it than I had been in my long sleeve linen shirts in the preceding days. Plenty of people online seem to swear by cotton, even in super hot and humid conditions.
I’m considering taking another trip this August as well, and just want to know if I can improve anything this time around. I’m not doing any hiking or anything, just a ton of walking around doing touristy stuff all day. Last time I basically started off trying to wear long sleeve linen shirts, cotton-linen pants, very lightweight merino socks, and Airism briefs. I did try my Prana Brion pants one day, but I think those felt a bit steamier than the cotton-linen pants.
Any advice you may have would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
So the only thing I’m aware of that’s specifically mentioned as being good for hot AND humid weather is ramie, although practically no one on earth uses it (Outlier does, although seasonally). Still, linen is going to be about as good as it gets for something readily available that works in the heat. I think long sleeves are fine, as you can just undo the buttons at the cuff, giving you plenty of airflow, but sun protection as well, and you can roll them up if necessary. I wouldn’t wear a long-sleeved t-shirt, as those are usually much more closely fitted, and you can’t undo the buttons, although linen t-shirts do exist, and they can work quite nicely.
The Prana Brion (as well as a lot of other synthetic materials) tend to be densely woven, meaning they can’t breathe as well as a more open, almost see-through fabric like linen. They’re more about the all-around weather protection, as they can block some light rain, whereas linen is more specialized for the heat. I think linen is your best bet.