Marmot Women’s AirExchange UPF 40 Novelty Short-Sleeve Collared Shirt

Review by Erin Trail

The Women’s AirExchange UPF 40 Novelty Short-Sleeve Collared Shirt is Marmot’s camp shirt addition to their AirExchange line.  This shirt features tidy lines and a light weight + breathable fabric that lends itself towards a wide array of uses.

Details

• UPF 40 sun protection
• Flat-felled seams, making the shirt feel comfortable without seam discomfort while wearing a pack
• A drop-in chest pocket
• Shirttail hem
• Made from 100% recycled polyester ripstop

Fit and Performance

I typically wear lightweight button down shirts when I mountain bike.  The Marmot Women’s AirExchange UPF 40 Novelty Short-Sleeve Collared Shirt caught my eye for that very reason.  But after wearing it, I realize it’s a shirt that can work itself into a wide array of activities.

The shirt fabric is 100% recycled polyester and has a UPF of 40.  I wore the Marmot Women’s AirExchange UPF 40 Novelty Short-Sleeve Collared Shirt while on a mountain bike + camping trip in the Fruita, Colorado desert.  Temperatures were in the 80s and the sun was blasting.

The fabric of the Marmot Women’s AirExchange UPF 40 Novelty Short-Sleeve Collared Shirt is fairly stiff; it doesn’t have a lot of softness or flex to it. On the flip side, the shirt looks crisp, even after a day’s riding. It also washes and air dries nicely, not needing any additional work (like ironing) to keep it looking fresh.

The styling is on the relaxed side.  I found it to run a little bit and I ordered down from the size recommended by the Marmot size guide for a slightly more form fitting fit.

The Marmot Women’s AirExchange UPF 40 Novelty Short-Sleeve Collared Shirt breathes incredibly well.  I was sweating a decent amount on my Fruita rides, but I noticed that the sweat wicked straight into the shirt and evaporated.  I could even feel the evaporation happening, which helped to keep me feel cool. The only negative thing I can say about the shirt is that the fabric may be a little too stiff.  If I caught the wind just right, the collar would flap up and hit my ears, and the sensation was similar to being snapped by a flag.  I’ll probably tack down the collar points down with a few stitches of thread to prevent this from happening again.

The wonderful thing about the Marmot Women’s AirExchange UPF 40 Novelty Short-Sleeve Collared Shirt is it’s versatility.  It is equally at home on the trail in warm conditions as it would be on a restaurant patio or at work.  When I used to do environmental work (long, hot days of collecting soil and groundwater samples), I would have killed for a shirt like this.  You can sweat and work hard in the shirt, but it will still retain its shape and look nice, no matter what.  This would also be a great camping or travel shirt; you can wear the shirt while you’re active and have it look nice enough for when you’re out in public when you’re done.

The Marmot Women’s AirExchange UPF 40 Novelty Short-Sleeve Collared Shirt is available in 2 prints (rain cloud blue and pomelo mini bloom) and ranges in sizes from xs to xl.

Erin Trail