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[pct-l] supplex (nylon) vs polyester



on 12/3/02 5:04 PM, CMountainDave@aol.com at CMountainDave@aol.com wrote:

> It's hard to beat supplex nylon for durability and breathability. I am still
> wearing the shirts I wore on the pct in 1999. It drys extremely rapidly and
> doesn't itch like polyester

Hello CMDave and d-low -

CMD: don't plan on a new wardrobe anytime soon...I am still wearing one of
the two Sportif supplex long sleeve white shirts that I wore on the trail in
'95 <g>.

I agree 100% with the comments on ease of cleaning (I just rinsed it out
every chance I got on the trail and tossed it in the town stop wash), the
relative lack of odor-retention, and its comfort (my Sportif shirts had a
large mesh-lined flap on the back that improved air flow a LOT).  The white
shirts did stain a little where my pack's shoulder straps rested after a few
months on the trail, but a few dozen washes after returning home removed all
those stains.

I wore one shirt for the first 1100 miles and then the second for the next
1500 miles.  Interestingly, the first shirt bit the dust a year or so ago -
the material started tearing with just an easy pull (I assumed UV damage
during the May - Jul part of my hike did it in).

I also wore tan supplex zip-leg shorts for the entire hike.  They did great
and were the only lower-body clothing that I carried.  I wondered if the
zippers on the legs would hold up, but I almost never used them (left the
legs in my pack 99% of the time).

I was very glad that the supplex nylon material is very strong.  I was
hiking along a trail above Belden where there was a fair number of downed
trees laying across the trail.  I stepped up on one fairly good sized tree
to get over it and discovered on the way up that someone had cut it all the
way through on both sides of the trail without removing the section in
between.  

It rolled when my weight got up on top and for a minute there I looked a
little like a circus bear (pack on back) doing his act.  Unfortunately, I
ain't got no circus bear genes and my feet went up in the air as I sat
down...right onto a short fairly sharp stob that had turned up from where it
was hidden below the log.

When the haze cleared, my first thought was that a medevac was in my
immediate future.  My son helped me unsort from log, pack, and the brush I
was laying in and I felt around and discovered that I was NOT leaking
anywhere.   The supplex cloth had not torn...it had kept the semi-sharp stob
from penetrating my skin.  I had a heck of a bruise back there and my daily
mileage took a hit for a while, but I didn't have to leave the trail.

I am a big fan of nylon clothing in all of its forms.  It's all I wear on
the trail anymore and about all I wear in town.

- Charlie