 Having tried merino (Icebreaker 200 L/S and SmartWool Microweight S/S) and found them itchy (even after washing with jeans as recommended by some on this forum) I got a couple of Lowe Alpine DriFlo Lightweight S/S and a couple of cheap Decathlon own brand base layers. I'm happy enough with these, they have worked well in some recent hot weather but they still feel slightly plasticky (if anything the Decathlon feel slightly nicer against the skin). I noticed though that the Umbro Trilogy football shirt which someone recently bought for my son claims to manage vapour, moisture and heat with a cotton, polyester, technical fabric mixture. It also feels very nice and silky. Maybe these big sports companies have cracked something which the smaller outdoor brands haven't yet managed?
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| Edited: 10/06/08 22:36 |
 Football kit for the professional players is advancing all the time in technical terms now - I saw a great tv prog last year about their new lovely baselayer wicking tops at Chelsea; which they reckoned there would eventually replace the bog standard traditional style of football shirt. The fans won't like it though they said, as the shirt prices of the 'original' genuine shirts could go up three fold they reckoned then.  They often ain't cheap as it is now today, many already think!
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| Edited: 10/06/08 22:28 |
pity all that technology didn't help their penalty taking recently 
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Touche! 
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Are you following the Euro footie right now then Ben? I'm not a big fan but will no doubt watch a little bit of it, not sure I could claim like many to have adopted a team in place of our own; upon our very sad failiure to qualify this time round though! Funny old game innit! Only place I know of where the commentator says - as earlier on tonight in the Russia/Spain game - 'The goalkeeper is nicely out of his box there!' And the statement is ok and fully acceptable with everyone!
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| Edited: 10/06/08 22:49 |
I shall be mainly supporting Fernando Torres (the Liverpool player) in this tournament (this advert sums it up), but it's sort of nice just to watch some good football for entertainment with none of the hype surrounding England (I enjoyed USA '94 for the same reason). I had feared that the mere word "football" in my title would put off most outdoor types from replying, so much as I am happy to talk a bit of footie, maybe best to stay on thread . My point was really only that some of the big sports manufacturers might make some kit worth considering for the great outdoors and wondered if others had tried it.
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 You shouldn't be wearing any football shirt full stop unless its red and has the word manchester on it! I've given modern footy shirts that claim to be able to manage sweat a go walking and they don't seem to work that well when worn under something but okay on there own. I actually wear my expensive Smartwool tops for footy as they are incredible and don't smell even after a game of footy.
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Another reason for the new technology fabrics wicking kit, they mentioned in the programme on tv I saw last year, was the poor little players having to play more and more in real torrential rain conditions and cold nowadays. It seems that a lot of players in the Premiership over the last few years have gone down injured with mild hypothermic symptoms and some with really bad chills; suffering some bronchitis and even pneumonia - though they were shy of mentioning any names in particular of either Premier League players or their exact teams so affected. I guess that would make the teams look bad in the press then maybe, their expensive superhuman players being struck down by the wet and cold like that! How did players like old Bestie cope - pissed the night before, taking uppers to go out onto the pitch - it has been claimed by some close colleagues of the time - and running about clad in cotton clothing in the wind and the rain then!
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| Edited: 11/06/08 00:29 |
 I dont see why you cant wear them, as you say they dry quickly. The only thng is the cost just as much as a base layer if not more so is there any point? Oh, and they look cheesy, unless of course you have style and wear an Arsenal top!
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| Edited: 11/06/08 13:07 |
 ahem. the only football shirt to wear is a nice yellow brasil shirt. just count the stars. or the away blue one for a more muted option. only argentinians want to punch you wearing it and they're not too prevalent in these parts. doesn't work too well under something else but are fine on their own. can be picked up very cheaply, especially national shirts and especially the away colours. a foreign national away shirt is always good for conversation and are fantastic for bamboozling manure and chelski fans whilst illiciting intelligent footbal conversation from man city and arsenal fans....
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| Edited: 11/06/08 13:25 |
 A modern football shirt will be much better than an old one for this sort of thing, but the bottom line is it still has to do things which a mountaineering base layer doesn't. Notably, look good on the pitch and be easily made and/or printed in a large variety of colours with names, numbers and advertising slogans. The first one precludes a close fit, which will throw away a great deal of the advantages possible by having something closer to the skin like immediate tapping of moisture on the hot side and closing a trapped air layer close for the cool. For the second, the more numbers, names and slogans on a shirt the worse it will perform, as these will be overprinted. Which base layer fabric feels nicest nest to the skin is a matter of personal taste. Best way to decide your favourite is try a load on. Nobody seems to feel quite the same about all the options as anyone else, someone's "plasticky" being another person's "just like silk". Individual cut will factor into comfort too. Having said all that, plenty of folk get along just fine in cotton T-s so we must realise that for the most part we're in the realm of "better and worse" as opposed to "life and death" . Pete.
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isn't football more serious than "life and death"?
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if you believe Bill Shankly, but I can't say I do... Don't really follow fitba, but the half an eye I have on Euro 2008 is helped by supporting the Cloggies (to show some solidarity with my wife), so unlike most folk there's at least an outside chance I'll be able to have a celebratory drink! Pete.
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 Football IS more inportant than life and death, no debate needed!
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 football shirts for goalposts, I say...
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I'll try to ignore some of the more obviously misguided comments above, starting with Jamie@ and take my own idea seriously for a second. I wasn't advocating wearing replica shirts and making the hills look like the Big Market on a Friday night - all these brands produce what they call training tops. To me something like these or this look pretty much the same as the Berghaus or Montane baselayer T-shirts and are a similar price. My thought was whether some of this stuff might be better, especially to the touch (of course this will be a bit subjective, though I'm sure the vast majority of people would agree which of two materials was the softer, just people have different tolerances of comfort) given the vast budgets and experience of some of these companies. I had a look at some of Adidas' outdoor gear recently and wasn't very impressed. I bought one thing, a baselayer which was a real stinker. But still they probably know how to make footie kit better than outdoor kit.
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I'll be serious Ben I have a couple of Umbro tops and really like them especially the X static ones but i never paid anything like £30 for them. I think i paid about 6 or 7 quid for them at Sportscene. The best one i have is Nike Dri-fit, £5 at the Nike factory shop in Ashford Kent.
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 just don't go pulling the front up over your head and running round arms aloft when reaching a summit
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Thanks Michael, that'll do for me! Makes sense that big mass production companies will be able to knock out stuff like this cheaper than small outdoor brands when they want to. I'll get meself off to Footlocker for a look. Now to return to some of the more serious matters raised above, here's to a certain young Portuguese gentleman flouncing off to Real Madrid next season... 42 goals will be hard to replace.
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Glyn If i could reach a summit and still run around i would be a happy man
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