Can anyone enlighten me why Coolmax is increasingly being incorporated in outdoor gear? Is it a case of that you can fool some of the people some of the time?
It appears to be a cotton analogue, with all that material's unsuitability for mountain use while not being as comfortable as cotton for the beach in summer.
Like cotton it soaks up, and holds water; unlike polyester, polypropolene or wool, that wick out the sweat, and allow it to evaporate.
Try washing similar items made from cotton, Coolmax, merino and polyester. Then put them out to dry. The polyester will dry very quickly, closely followed by the wool. Hours later the cotton will have dried, with the Coolmax still being damp.
Myself, I wear wool baselayers and socks. It wicks about the same as synthetics. It is more expensive, but on my long distance walks it magically stays unpongy for days.

Funny, my polyester CoolMax shirts all dry pretty quickly. I wonder what you could be doing wrong?

Funnily enough, For the last year we have had coolmax T shirts issued to wear under our Uniform shirts and they are superb, far better than the cotton T shirts they have issued in the past!

Coolmax. "Like cotton it soaks up, and holds water".

"I wear wool baselayers and socks. It wicks about the same as synthetics".

I don't think wool 'wicks'. Wool is actually very absorbent; far more so than cotton, so it absorbs moisture away from your skin and unlike cotton keeps you relatively warm even when saturated.

Sythetics wick moisture away from the body because they _don't_ absorb much moisture.

I have a coolmax rowing top and it dries far far faster than my merino wool top. For high output activities I think it is better than merino (and I've been out in both) but it smells really bad pretty quickly. For hiking merino is probably better but it depends on the person.

Im going back to synthetics for walking as my merino baselayer pilled so badly in just 4 days of walking under a rucsac.

Performance wise, merino seemed warmer but I didn't notice much difference in the way the two fabrics draw sweat away. Even the merino dried pretty quickly, though it does smell better.

I have 4 or 5 old North Cape coolmax Tshirts for walking and biking and like others here I like them and they were half the price of big brand baselayers. I have other more expensive baselayers by Karrimor, Kathmandu etc etc. Some are thicker, thinner, lighter, heavier etc. However, I find Coolmax wicks, doesn't smell, is very comfortable and dries reasonably quickly. I don't sweat much tho!

My Coolmax liner socks come out of the washing machine vitually dry, so I really don't understand what this is all about.

And for the hard of reading an FAQ

Coolmax® fabrics deliver performance and comfort through the use of proprietary polyester fibers with unique engineered microchannel cross sections and/or specially engineered two sided, denier gradient fabrics made using Coolmax® qualifiable polyester or nylon yarns.

I would post a link but it's far too much hassle from a pda,suffice to say it's the second match on google.

Thanks for the replies. I'll give it another go.
Admittedly I don't have a top, my experience of Coolmax is through a pair of North Cape underpants and several pairs of socks from different manufactures.

One thing to be aware of it the highstreet cotton socks with some coolmax in them (think M&S). These are designed to be just a bit better than normal cotton socks rather than as technical garments.

I to have tried coolmax tops and although they do wick and dry quickly boy do they PILL!!!

I would not get another one for that reason, though I must say they do not pill as much as HH

Just bought a merino L/S baselayer which is very comfortable, absorbs the moisture well and does dry reasonalbly quickly on you. When finally moisture overloaded it does take longer to dry than synthetics - but you are nicer to know and people do sit nearer to you in merino!

Oh the horror of Coolmax. The days of North Cape, the smell , the bobbling, the colours...

Excellent in socks.

I've just bought 2 Coolmax T's for £6 the pair (!) from Aldi. So far I've used them for walking and playing tennis - no complaints. They dry very quickly from the washing machine. I challenge anyone to get wicking base layers cheaper.

I've had some Peter Storm Coolmax T-shirts for a couple of years now and they seem to dry just as quickly as my Dryflo gear out of the wash. I'd say they are more comfortable against the skin too, but that might just be because of their age.

I too consider the Aldi Coolmax baselayer tops in the highest regard. I am lucky to be able to wear outdoor gear most of the time , and have quite a few baselayer tops.
In order of preference, my favourites are Berghaus Tech Tee, Aldi, Mountain Hardwear, and the worst: TNF Flight Series T.. an awful clammy, expensive top.

My favourite base t-shirt is also the Berghaus Tech Tee - long sleeve in winter, short sleeve the rest of the time. I've also got a couple of the Aldi ones and they also work well (the don't look anything like as good though!).

I've also not been too impressed with the TNF one's I've had - good looks but not the best performance.

I've got some Coolmax socks ('proper' outdoor ones) and I hate them! They make my feet feel clammy and sweaty, in all conditions.

Exciting.
I was emailed this morning with an offer too good to miss and subsequently have coming hotfoot from NZ some winter '07 Icebreaker kit.
It's all been updated, the mondo zip neck now has a really high collar and new colours include pea green and orange (not at the same time though).

That was a vote for merino over coolmax as well.

I bougt a couple of different coolmax t shirts from Aldi a couple of years ago, (sold as walking/hiking shirts). Only wore them once each. Seams on the shoulders and joining the collar to the shirt rubbed bady when used with a rucksack. Pity
I have some other coolmax shirts and socks(various brands) which do the job perfectly.

I have coolmax sleeping-bag liner, socks, liner gloves and balaclava, and I love them all - especially the soft, cosy bag liner which preserves my down bag, keeps me comfy in a lighter-season version, and is almost as light and compact as silk. T-shirts are fine in the heat, but for cold conditions I prefer silk, wool or Helly baselayers.