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Berghaus Long-Sleeved Tech T
Tested
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Price: £20.00
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Weight: 180 grammes (men's
large)
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Features: Tech T
polyester wicking fabric, flat-locked seams, tee-shirt
styling and colours.
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Much better than a cotton tee shirt and a reasonable
price.
Not quite as good as Berghaus's top-end X-Static
baselayers.
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Bright colours and contrasts give
a casual
look but with technical performance.
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The Concept The clue is in the name... Apparently Berghaus
carried out an impromptu survey of walkers in the Lakes and found
that an astonishing 70-odd per-cent of them were still using cotton
tee-shirts. As most OMers will know, cotton is death to any sort of
breathability and traps moisture next to the skin.
There's no point in wearing a breathable waterproof shell, if you
pop it on over cotton. The idea behind the Tech T range - it comes in
a variety of styles, natch - is that it's affordable, so you can buy
one at the same time as you buy a shell without filing for
bankruptcy. On top of that, more casual styling and colours makes it
less obviously 'technical' than their top-end X-Static baselayer
kit.
So make that an affordable base layer that's not quite as high
wicking as the top-end kit, but streets ahead of soggy cotton.
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Trendy red strip and label
transfer are nice...
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Features The fabric, dubbed 'Tech T', is a classic bipolar
polyester, which means it uses the knit of the fabric to move
moisture away from the body. Otherwise the test top was a simple
long-sleeved crew with flat-locked seams to reduce rubbing and a
non-scratchy transfer neck label.
Also available are a zip-necked long-sleeved version and a
straight short-sleeved tee-shirt. Our test top was in a dullish dark
blue, but other colour ways use two tones and are much brighter and
more casual. You do get a classy red-stripe on the inside of the neck
though, just like a trendy tee.
In Action First, let's state the obvious and point out that
the Tech T is much more effective than cotton. It feels comfortable
against the skin, though very slightly slick and wicking performance,
though not in the X-Static class, is pretty much up with other
baselayers in the same price range.
We didn't have any major pong problems either, though we wouldn't
want to use it repeatedly without washing. Otherwise it pretty much
does what it says on the box. Nothing dramatic, but quietly
effective.
Simple, effective, well-made, decent value baselayer with the
Berghaus label. Not quite up there with the likes of Patagonia's
Capilene, Lowe Alpine's DryFlo or the thinner versions of Powerdry as
far as wicking performance goes, but not that far behind either. And
much, much better than cotton, which is really what it's all
about.
Yes, the Berghaus X-Static top ultimately works better and is more
odour resistant too, then again, the stitched hem on the Tech T
doesn't unpick itself with use. A decent buy.
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Performance
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Value
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Pushed for time:
Price conscious baselayer option from Berghaus that
wicks decently and won't put a huge hole in your bank
balance. Styling is designed to wean committed cotton
tee-shirt wearers away from their soggy sub-layers and allow
breathable shells to work as intended. Decent buy though not
quite as effective as top-end baselayers.
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