Paramo Ladies Cambia Sport T-Shirt - First Look

Paramo Ladies Cambia Sport T-Shirt

The Paramo Cambia Ladies sport t-shirt is a cousin of the Cambia long- and short-sleeved tees – clue’s in the name on that one – which were new last season. The sport version is this season’s addition to the range and its main selling point is its slim cut.

It’s a no-brainer that a slim-cut tee is an advantage if you are – well – slim. The idea isn’t just to cater for the less well-built end of the market though. The Cambia sport t-shirt also serves as a baselayer for running, biking and other fast-moving activities where you don’t want any loose material flapping around you.

All in all, this could be your next spring baselayer if you’re short on pounds (of the weight variety) or you like to exercise in the fast lane.

This is a straightforward, no-nonsense baselayer so the main techy element is the fabric. In this case, it’s Parameta T, one of Paramo’s reversible, ‘directional’ fabrics.

What does that mean? Well, directional fabrics are supposed to actively point any drops of moisture in the direction of the exits, rather than leaving them to find their own way out of the fabric, or even letting them get stuck like a tourist on the tube in rush hour. That means the moisture evaporates more quickly and you stay drier.

The twist is the ‘reversible’ part of the equation. The fabric has a smooth side and a honeycomb-patterned side and it’s the smooth side that moisture makes a bee-line for. So, if the weather’s chilly and you want to stay as dry and warm as possible, this is the one to wear on the outside, away from your skin.

On the other hand, there’s always the heatwave option of wearing the smooth side of the tee – the wet side – next to your skin to keep you cool. The choice is yours.

We’ve reviewed Cambia t-shirts before but what’s different about this one is the fit, so that’s what we’ll look at first.

In previous articles on Paramo clothing we’ve always made the point that it’s generally quite short, both in the body and the sleeves, and that it tends to be much baggier than you’d expect from the sizing. That’s not a criticism as such; it just means it won’t fit everyone and unfortunately we’re in the category of people who have to shop elsewhere.

The Cambia sport tee changes all that. It’s genuinely figure hugging, so there’s no spare material wafting around in an irritating fashion when you’re going for a run. And in chillier moments – not that there’ve been many of those this winter – it doesn’t bunch up under your outer layers either. So far so good.

It wasn’t just the volume of Paramo garments that we used to have a problem with though; it was also the length. There are no long sleeves on this tee to finish well short of our wrists, which was the problem we had with the Paramo Cambia long-sleeved t-shirt. Still, the body is slightly shorter than on most base layers we’ve tried.

It’s still OK for us, at 5’ 7”, so if you’re average height or less then you’ll be fine. If you’re a Long Tall Sally kind of girl though, this one probably isn’t for you.

Other than the fit, the fabric’s light and very fast-drying, so it’s a great option for a baselayer. Whether you’re sweating buckets into it, or a good British deluge catches you out, you shouldn’t stay wet for too long. Oh yes, the fabric’s pretty soft on your skin too.

The fabric is another asset – it’s quick-drying, light, breathable and it wicks well, which is all you want for a good day out in the hills.

On the down side, the tee could still be a little short for some but other than that we didn’t have much fault to find.

If you'd like to add your own experiences of this product check out our user review system and post your opinions to the world. If you have questions you can mail us direct, ask Richard Gear or try a posting to our gear forum.