I picked up an
Icebreaker Tech T Lite recently in my never-ending pursuit of the perfect T-shirt. Dare I say it, this might be the one.
I was working in the yard and wearing one my my REI Sahara Tech Ts the other day and was still pretty warm and sweaty. The REI shirt was very comfortable, and was doing a decent job of regulating my body temp and sweat, but I thought it would be a good time to test the Icebreaker. I threw the REI shirt at my dog (putting shirts over his head is like giving him sleeping pills) and slipped on the Icebreaker.
It was like a breeze starting blowing, cooling me down and taking care of the sweat. Mind you, I was still inside at this point. I stepped outside, and it felt even better. I worked outside for a while longer, and the Icebreaker had no problem keeping up, keeping me at the right temperature the whole time. Merino wool does not dry as well as polyester, but it does breathe and handle moisture well, so I did not have any problems with my rivers of sweat.
The Tech T Lite is 140 weight (or weave, or whatever the numbers mean), so it is pretty much the lightest fabric that Icebreaker makes. I wore it recently in ~60F weather, and it still felt great, keeping my core at the right temperature. The price, like with all Icebreaker stuff, is a bit steep, but well worth it. I have a few more on the way.