Just In - Smartwool Lightweight Sleeveless

Note the offset - and flatlocked- seams plus drop tail.

You've got to love the little Smartwool merino man. He's been super busy this spring.

Just arrived in time for the sunshine is a review sample of Smartwool's Next-to-Skin series merino wool Lightweight Sleeveless - the ideal garment to show off those honed climbing and scrambling biceps and triceps or, in our case, just stay a little cooler in the Peak sunshine...

It won't astonish you to learn that the Lightweight Sleeveless does pretty much what it says on the box, viz, it's a light tee-shirt with no sleeves. It's made from 195-weight 100 per-cent ethically-sourced merino wool in a jersey and rib knit construction.

Nice Cut

What's nice about it, apart from merino's ace combination of hot and cold weather performance, is that the top's got a really nice, form-fitting cut with flatlocked seams designed to leave the side of the body clean. The arm-holes are deep enough not to interfere with your immaculately coiffed armpits, but not cavernous like a vest - just right in fact, something we like about Smartwool's kit generally.

It also has a drop-tail rear for a little rear-end protection plus is cut slightly overlong to allow for slight shrinkage during the first wash. At 156 grammes it may not be super lightweight, but we think the 195-weight fabric is a good compromise for merino. Once the material gets much finer, it starts to become a tad fragile unless you mix it with synthetic fibres like polyester or Cocona.

Use It For...

It wouldn't necessarily be our first choice for really high tempo activities as it tends to hold water comfortably rather than wick it in the way a good synthetic does or dry as fast, but for all-round walking and climbing use it's an fantastic and comfortable material with its trump card being natural odour resistance meaning you can wear merino for several days running, where you'd be washing your synthetic at least every other day. 

So there you go. Spot on for summer we reckon. Time to get on the wall and tone up those biceps...

More information at www.smartwool.com.