Outdoor Research Astroman Sun Hoodie

Atop Mount Langley

Most of us in the backpacking community have shared in one singular experience. That is, we all first bought an REI hiking shirt. A hiking shirt with a collar for a tie, two chest pockets for who knows what, and a button-up so you can, um, button and re-button? My dad said the buttons are great for when it gets hot. He explained that ventilation is all that matters in a hiking shirt for him.

Then, after not having hiked with him in over a year, I showed up in my Astroman sun hoodie from Outdoor Research. He looked at my hat without safari flaps and asked how I was going to keep my ears and neck from burning. I showed him the hood. He laughed and said, “You’ll overheat.” To which, I told him to feel how light and breathable the material is. Then he said I couldn’t unbutton the shirt, so I showed him the quarter zip fully unzipped. He shrugged indifferently, and then when we got back to his house after the trip, he ordered two hoodies.

What makes all other hiking shirts obsolete against the sun hoodie is that everything has been simplified. The hoodie is nearly entirely streamlined. No added pockets or buttons for unnecessary material. The sun protection and breathable material kept me comfortable in temps over eighty-five degrees, and the hood is baggy enough to keep ventilation around the headspace. No need to lather up your ears and neck with sunscreen or wear a ghastly safari hat. The hoodie is simple, sleek, and a competition-killing shirt.

Are sun hoodies the perfect hiking shirt…Yes!