Merino Experiment: Can I only pack 2 shirts?
I really hate packing clothes for travel. It's bulky and inconvenient.
I don't really care if people think I'm not fashionable; I prefer people to think I'm unfashionable than having to deal with the mess that's overpacking.
Didn't think there was any solution to this since packing only 2 shirts for vacation usually means disgusting smells and bacteria.
But I recently came upon some YouTube videos touting praises for merino wool, where you basically can wear it indefinitely as it's antimicrobial. And it won't smell.
This post investigates merino wool.
If all goes well, I should ideally only pack 3 tops: 2 shorts (1 to dry if I get sweat on it), and 1 long sleeve (assumption is I won't sweat in long sleeve since it'll be cold).
Merino Wool
A big brand influencers push is Unbound Merino, and they're very expensive. I don't want to commit that much yet, unless I know merino is actually antimicrobial and you can actually wear it forever.
A brand nobody talks about but is one of my favorite brands is: Uniqlo.
In Japan, I bought 3 merino long sleeves for less than $20 each.
The test is simple. As of writing, I'm currently cutting and need to do cardio anyway. So I'm going to subject it to my nasty cardio sweat:
Every. Single. Day. For a month.
This is a good stress test since I generally won't be sweating if I am deciding it's cold enough to wear a long sleeve.
If after a month, it has no smell, then I'm good to buy some short-sleeve shirts from Unbound Merino (otherwise it's too hot to wear when it's hot).
Log
2-week update
After about 2 weeks of sweating into this merino wool shirt, it does not stink. That is good news.
The bad news is that merino wool is known for anti-microbial properties, not comfort. So there is some chafing. Not sure if more expensive, non-uniqlo brands can offer a smoother, less-rough texture. If I travel long-term with merino wool at this point, I feel like I'd have some backup shirts if I'm in an environment where sweating's a concern.
The other bad news is hanging merino wool to dry = stretches the wool, which makes it more loose. This is my mistake and the past few days doing lie-flat drying still makes it dry completely, despite it being colder indoors. The looseness can contribute to chafing as well, so lie-flat drying on a tighter merino may prevent chafing.
1-month update
It also doesn't smell after 4 weeks of sweating into my merino wool.
Ready for next phase.
The Thailand Test
Went to Thailand. I bought a t-shirt from Unbound Merino to test. Objective is to "test-drive" it and see if actually traveling with it is worth the hype.
Reason I didn't use existing Merino long-sleeves is because I'm not a psycho. Thailand is high 30s (Celsius), or about 95F+ with humidity most days.
I know it won't smell, but are there other factors that I should consider that I'm not thinking about that'll break this hack?
After spending 2 weeks there, I alternated between Merino and regular shirts. Unbound Merino is a bit more combed than Uniqlo's and so is more comfortable to be honest. Guess there's a reason why they're so goddamn expensive.
And for the record, because I wasn't doing rigorous exercise in my Merino shirt, I didn't chafe (and the material is softer than Uniqlo anyway--though hard to know if the material will chafe after many washes).
But after 2 weeks here are the pros and cons of Merino Wool:
Pros/Cons Roundup Of Using Merino Wool
Pros
- Sweat dries very fast, like any drifit.
- You can pack very little and go very far. You can use all your empty luggage space to buy more souvenirs, or simply have fewer luggages to haul around.
- Even in hot climates, surprisingly comfortable if short-sleeve. Not suffocating at all, which is what I'd have speculated.
- Antibacterial so you won't have to worry about skin rashes due to bacteria growing from your not washing it.
Cons
- You won't smell from your sweat, but you will smell if you eat any spices, or near any charcoal or grilling.
- You won't wash it much due to the more fragile nature of Merino Wool, so splashing sauces / food is a real concern, especially because it is so expensive.
Basically you'll end up non-bacterial and clean, but you'll smell weird (though not stink particularly) and have stains all over, if you use Merino Wool for long-term travel and don't wash it. And if you do wash it, Merino Wool isn't worth it.
So in theory, Merino is great. In practice, it's still OK if you're OK looking dirty and smelling weird, for the upside of not having to pack as much clothes for travel.
TLDR
Works if you're not traveling with your significant other.
Also works if you're single and not trying to get laid.
Doesn't work as well otherwise.