Patagonia Long Haul Western Shirt Review
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Patagonia Long Haul Western Shirt
Patagonia is known for quality apparel that’s great for the outdoors, so at first glance this seems to be a good camping or hiking shirt. Then I looked at the name, Patagonia Long Haul Western Shirt, and I envision something different altogether. Long Haul has me thinking about driving a big rig semi. Now, I’m not a trucker, but I bet this is a fantastic shirt for travel; be it by truck, air, train, boat, or bus. The final kicker for me is that on the bottom of the attached information tag, there’s the designation of ‘Trail Running’. Are you confused yet as to what, when, and where to wear this rather casual looking shirt? I decided to travel, trail run, and go casual in my slim fitting shirt.
Patagonia Long Haul Western Shirt Initial Thoughts.
The Patagonia Long Haul Western Shirt with its Polygiene odor resistant and UV protection technical qualities can definitely find affinity with the Ultra Trail running crowd. The grungy, sleep in my truck, bearded hipster movement while being able to wear one shirt for many occasions (I say this with the utmost respect as I have sampled a tiny taste of this lifestyle, and yearn for more). You can knock out a 14-er in the morning, and a social local trail run in the evening followed by a farm to table café outing with a micro-brew to celebrate a healthy natural lifestyle. All in one shirt!
This review is about a shirt that has many of the quality that we’ve all come to expect from Patagonia, but the real unsung hero here is Polygiene.
Polygiene Features of the Patagonia Long Haul Western Shirt
Polygiene® is an anti-bacterial agent that has been incorporated into the garment which allows you to extend the garment’s number of wears before washing. Polygiene is also bluesign approved which means that it is made in the most eco-friendly industry standards during production.
2 small venting hole in the pits for that little extra breathing room
Ever since finding out about Polygiene, I’ve wanted to see what the fuss is all about. Or lack of fuss , I suppose, when it comes to odor. Did you know that sweat itself is actually odorless? I didn’t! Turns out, that sweat does create a condition that bacteria need to multiply. Certain bacteria do create an odor, but Polygiene stops the growth of those odor-causing bacteria on fabrics. You can simply wear this shirt more without having to wash it as often.
The rear venting panels were something that I had originally missed. They lay flat and blend right in across the upper back along a seam line. These do however, provide some extra venting as you run because air is moving through the shirt, and your movement aids in opening up those vents. Pretty clever and unique. The Patagonia Long Haul Western Shirt also has built-in Sun UPF protection. Sunscreen is usually an afterthought, so that is just an added bonus for me.
Rear venting panels. These go unnoticed unless you really open them up like I have.
Putting the Patagonia Long Haul Western Shirt to the test
I decided to wear this shirt for my twice a day running commutes taking my little ones to school. The way it works is that I run 5 or 6 miles each day just pushing a stroller in a variety of weather conditions. I have to bundle up, stay cool, appear collected and casual all while sometimes sweating profusely. This may seem gross, but I pulled in my wife to be the judge on the smell factor. I did not mention that I had worn the Patagonia Long Haul Western Shirt for as much as I actually did. She looked at me a bit funny, but made no real comment that I smelled bad or anything. Not Spring fresh by any means, but nothing offensive.
A long travel day pulling luggage, wearing a backpack, pushing a stroller with a car seat on top while herding 2 little ones.
A 10 day trip to the East Coast with my family provided a host of conditions: rain, wind, cold, warm, and sea level humidity. Living in the dry climate of Denver had me struggling with the humidity in the air. All that oxygon did give me wings on a few runs, but I felt clammy wet half the time. The shirt stood up well to my body’s reaction to all this sweat. I did not feel too worried wearing this shirt on the airplane while herding my little ones, and carrying bags, stroller, car seats, and all the little extras required to make a trip successful.
Trail Running is truly something I enjoy, and I refer to it as “therapy time” with my very rambunctious 65 pound Weimeraner. As it is still early Spring, I did not encounter intense heat, but I managed to put a good sweat on to give this shirt a run for its money so to speak. The vents in the back did their part, and the snap buttons on the front were pretty sweet as they allowed me to rapidly unbutton one button at a time as I warmed up. They were also fairly easy to snap back up, as the weather (clouds and wind) changed rather abruptly.
Casual comfy fit
How does this wear?
This is classified as a slim fit shirt, and I tend to agree. I am an endurance athlete at 6’-1”, 165 pounds, and the fit is actually really nice. It looks good and feels good.
As mentioned before, Patagonia has classified this as a “Trail running” piece of apparel. Now, I do enjoy trail running, but I don’t know if this would be my go-to running shirt. I will say that because of the Polygiene, the Patagonia Long Haul Western Shirt could handle some serious outdoor mountain, camping, or hiking activity. I’d also throw it into the mix as a fantastic travel piece to combat the ever changing climate conditions, pressure zones, airport connections, etc.
Final Thoughts
The Patagonia Long Haul Western shirt is a very versatile piece of apparel. I’d classify it as a three season shirt that can be worn camping, hiking, traveling, commuting, casually, or out on the trails. The fact that it is made with Polygiene only makes it that more appealing because it controls a bit of the stank that is bound to the forefront if you are living an active lifestyle.
MSRP: $89.00
For more information and purchase please visit: www.patagonia.com
