Hands up!

You won't believe it, but the new shirt pairs perfectly with our Vide fleece. It was a strange moment when things just aligned. We were trying on an earlier prototype and I had the Vide fleece under the shirt. It felt like they were meant to be together instantly.

We tweaked the snap buttons to match the snaps on the Vide fleece and added an extra row. Now, they snap together and the Vide becomes a great insulation liner. It's almost too good to be true. The summer shirt can now also be worn as a wind shirt, an overshirt, and even a fall jacket.

The challenge became to find a fabric that could work both as a shirt, without anything under, and as a overshirt where you would wear lika a t-shirt under to a jacket with padding. In other words a fabric that is light enough to wear as a first layer but strong and sturdy enough as a jacket. Can that even be made? I think we have found it 🙂

What about the weight?

We understand that weight is an important factor to consider when choosing your hiking gear. While there are certainly very lightweight options available, this shirt is not heavy at all. In fact, the medium size for men comes in at only 164 grams, taking into account all aspects of the shirt's design and construction that's really really good.

We should definitely mention that this shirt has two pockets for added convenience. And as a bonus, it can be turned inside out and conveniently stored in one of its own pockets.

To be able to achieve this, we had to find the perfect balance between fabric type and fabric weight. As we have been in love with the Merino wool and Tencel combination since before, we thought that this could be a good path to follow again. So what is this combination and how is it made?

Tencel is a cellulose fiber that comes from the raw material wood. It is such a fine fiber that it is soft like silk to your skin. Not only is Tencel extremely smooth, it has also really good absorbent and evaporate properties. It means that it helps the merino wool to regulate your temperature and keeping you, not too warm, not too cold. The Tencel we use come from Lenzing, Lenzing has been protecting the production of Tencel for a long time and you can read more about their work here

Merino wool has some of the most astonishing qualities. It is a great insulator and has at the same time, great evaporate properties. It means that when you are in a cold climate, merino wool keeps you warm and when you are in a warm climate, merino wool cools you down.
It is also naturally anti-bacterial, which means that you can wear your t-shirt longer without starting to smell bad. Merino wool is also an organic and sustainable fiber from sheep in South Africa, guaranteed mulesing free.

What better way to test it than on a ride-hike-eat excursion. We took our bikes and rode some mtb and gravel to a close by nature reserve here in Nynäshamn. A 30-40 minute ride later and we arrived at trail leading up to one of the higher peaks here in Nynäshamn. 

We left the bikes and hiked to the top, stunning 67 meters above the water line. Hang on, so how did the sweater preform on the bikes?  Really good actually, no surprise there. The slightly longer back makes sure your back is protected even when leaning forward. Even the main layout of the zipper is inspired from traditional bike sweaters, the long 1/3 zip gives you great possibilities to ventilate if you get too hot. 

The transition to hiking was not too bad either. The fabric ingredient Tencel, which is 40% of the mix, has really good absorbent and evaporate properties. This means that as we still where building up body heat as we hiked up to the top the fabric helped us regulated the temperature.   

Sometimes a small peak like 67 meters can give you great views and with all the leafs changing colors this time of the year, the view over the archipelago was amazing. 

We stopped on the top to make lunch and just as the Tencel helped us cool the down, the Merino wool now helped us keep warm and we could all agree that the other small details that we had changed prior to this test all worked out to the better. 

The launch is getting closer and closer. 

The fit is similar to the Lupin tee and just as the tee is it slightly longer in the back. On the front you find a halv-zip much inspired by a bike jersey, where you get the possibly to ventilate incase you get to hot.  

The fabric has the same melange effect as the tee and is really soft on the inside. We have decided to make it in two colors a green and a black version, and the first production run will be limited to make sure you stay tuned!

The layout is very straight forward:

• Collar that is small enough not disturbing when folded down but large enough to give some protection in the back when folded up.
• Snap buttons for quick and easy adjutments.
• Fit that is straight and a slight overshirt feel to it for good movment but still not bulky.
• Lightweight and packable, kept it in my shorts pocket during a mtb climb and when it got windy on the top I simply put on.