Clothes for NZ sun?

I often wear just a merino base layer to get some sun protection. Merino is meant to be a heat "regulator". ie keeps you warm when it is cold but wont overheat you like a polyprop when it is hot. No idea how that works... Otherwise my go to tramping "shirts" are a couple of Macpac sleeveless trail running tops. No sleeves or collar = extremely poor sun protection. For years I just always wore my flannel shirts from on the farm, until they literally fell apart and I had to go looking for other options. I find I run a very consistent temperature (or I just don't notice temperature changes much). I will often be the last person still wearing their fleece jersey as a day heats up but also the last one to put it back on again if a day gets cold.

“ Otherwise drink water Lots of water.“ Make sure you’re getting your minerals back in you (electrolytes). I collapsed from dehydration despite drinking at least 5l of water in the alps on a long 35c+ day of exposed scrambling. I was lucky it happened when coming down to cross a col with a road intersecting it - had been ten hours of technical walking and scrambling before then! I didn’t realize how easy it was to deplete yourself (and how important it was not to) until then. Real wake up call. @Geeves Why can’t you wear synthetics? Also, fleece is synthetic. Unless you meant wool?

Interesting. Yeah merino definitely is marketed as being cool when hot and hot when cool. Which seems questionable. On my lookout for a shirt I haven’t seen much made of merino that actually looks like it’s designed for hot weather (ie with decent ventilation or a collar) which makes me question if it really does work for the heat that well.

I have an older Icebreaker merino with a stand up collar and a half zip, and small ventilation holes in the fabric on the back.It works really well, but not sure if they still do these. Some of the new stuff is so thin you could spit through the fabric, so they may work.

@Geeves Why can’t you wear synthetics? Also, fleece is synthetic. Unless you meant wool? The comment only applies to socks. With synthetics I could wear them for a day and enter a room and everyone would know why I dont wear synthetic socks even before I took my shoes off. Synthetic socks would be dripping wet as well

I have an IceBreaker merino "GT" garment that's seen better days. Something like this, only in 2 shades of grey & a perforated material under the arms & down the side. https://www.bivouac.co.nz/media/catalog/product/cache/5568cf404f8d0c6ee97aec570a5f3902/w/-/w-ss16-spark-ss-half-zip_panblk_102169002-1.jpg They don't make them anymore.

Ah thats what I have! Awesome shirt. Long may it last! Cant wear synthetics due to overheating and odour.

I had a problem with synthetics acquiring an odour and retaining some of it even after washing. That problem has been solved with a quick hand wash with some detergent, and a rinse before leaving to soak in water with a little vinegar. In a few days i have sufficient enough items for a washing load. I only give a quick squeeze of each item from the diluted vinegar bucket and put through the wash. It has been suggested that a cup of vinegar be put through your washing machine on a separate load every now and then. My process negates the need for that now. I can reuse the vinegar mix for several loads before changing. Probably best to minimise the amount of detergent that gets into it.

Interesting that you guys have trouble with overheating in synthetics. As it’s generally a lot more durable I’ve generally used thinner synthetics than I could with wool. Combined with a loose fit and much faster dry times, much lower prices I’ve found it pretty ideal. It definitely stinks faster, but I smell bad after a long day sweating regardless so it didn’t really seem to matter - it only seems a problem In an every-day-life scenario where I need to be presentable to people in a professional context! But I’m interested in using less plastic based products so wool has an appeal there.

@dreambroom did you still collapse after drinking 5L of water? that could easily have been hyponatremia from loosing sodium through sweat and diluting what was left of your body's sodium levels with high water intake