Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is just what I was looking for – a T-shirt for hot, sunny days. I wanted it long-sleeved and white, to block and reflect as much sunlight as possible. Since the Amazon descriptions and reviews cannot reveal everything about a shirt, I ended up buying four different brands in August of 2016. Here is a comparison of those four shirts, showing the brand, size, weight, price, source and country of manufacture: Champion Double Dry (men’s “small”); 148 grams; $13.04; from NY Lingerie; made in El Salvador. Hanes (men’s “small”); 141 grams; $9.10; from NY Lingerie; made in El Salvador. Dri-Equip (“regular small”); 148 grams; $13.95; from Joe’s USA (shipped in Amazon box); made in China. Sport-Tek (men’s “medium”); 163 grams; $8.21; from GotApparel; made in China. I obtained the “free shipping” option for each shirt, so the above prices are totals paid for each. The Champion and Hanes shirts arrived in 6 days, the Dri-Equip and Sport-Tek in 8 days. All of the shirts were measured before laundering while lying flat and relaxed on a table. After machine laundering with detergent, and tumbling dry with low heat (which left them wrinkle-free), the measurements were virtually unchanged (no shrinkage was evident). Since the size charts on the Amazon site are not particularly informative, here are some actual dimensions of these shirts while lying flat: (Keep in mind that all of the shirt sizes are “small” except for the Sport-Tek, which is “medium”) Torso length: All 27-28” (except Sport-Tek, which is a little over 29”) Torso width at top seam (between sleeve seams): All 16.5-16.75” (except Sport-Tek, which is 18.5”) Torso width at bottom: Hanes 17.5”, Champion 18.25”, Dri-Equip 19”, Sport-Tek 20.75” Sleeve length (upper side): All 24.5-25.75” Sleeve length (lower side): All 18-20” Wrist width: Hanes and Dri-Equip 3.75”, Champion and Sport-Tek 4.5” Neck hole: Champion, Hanes, Dri-Equip and Sport-Tek gradually increase from 8.25” to 8.75”, respectively (note that this is not the diameter of the hole, but half the circumference, since it is flattened; the diameters of the circular holes are thus twice these values divided by pi, or about 5.25-5.57”). For my slim 5’11” frame, the “small” shirts fit well, and the “medium” shirt seems a little big. All have sleeves and torsos that are sufficiently long. I am happy that none of the sleeves stop short of my hands. All seem a little larger than their stated sizes. All are silky and drape well. All four shirts appear to be made of identical fabric, based on the weave pattern that is visible under a microscope. All are equivalently sheer (not see-through, but when placed tightly against a striped surface, for example, the stripes are visible). The Champion shirt is not quite as brilliantly white as the other three, but close. All four shirts appear to be constructed identically, with impeccable assembly and stitching. Only one shirt has visible markings on the outside: The Champion name at the back of the neck and logo on the sleeve. All four shirts claim to be moisture-wicking. I have not had a chance to fully compare the sweat-wicking or cooling action of these shirts. Such a test would anyway be difficult to do objectively. But I did perform a water wicking test by observing droplets of tap water applied to several places on each shirt (after the shirts had been laundered together without fabric softener, and then tumbled dry), and clear differences emerged. Here they are ranked in order of how fast the water droplet absorbed into the fabric and how extensively it spread outward (how far the water wicked): Champion > Sport-Tek >> Dri-Equip > Hanes (the first two were significantly more wicking than the second two). If sweat behaves in the same way, than the first two may have an edge in how fast they disperse and evaporate water. In conclusion, the main differences between these shirts seem to be in price and wicking ability. I don’t yet have a favorite, and I consider all of them to be good values – especially considering the remarkable technical and technological achievements that were necessary for their manufacture.