Altitude Ultralight Sun Shirt

The fabric on the Outdoor Vitals Altitude Sun Hoodie is simply not durable enough for normal outdoor use. Mine showed significant snagging after one easy walk on a city park trail. Not a backpacking trip, not bushwhacking, not rock climbing, just a basic walk. Outdoor Vitals themselves acknowledge that the fabric is particularly susceptible to abrasion and snags.

What makes this worse is that Outdoor Vitals would not stand behind the product. They classified the damage as “wear and tear” and rejected the warranty/return, despite the garment having been worn only once.

For comparison, I own sun shirts from Patagonia, Simms, Outdoor Research, Kuhl and Triple Aught Design. I have worn a Patagonia Sun Hoody for 16 straight days trekking in the Alp with rock, scree, and pack strap and it has zero snags.

That's not acceptable quality for outdoor gear. If a shirt can't make it through one easy walk without significant fabric damage, and the manufacturer won't stand behind it, I can't recommend it.

Save your money. There are much better-built sun hoodies from companies that actually stand behind their products.

I wore the Altitude hoodies for three days of backpacking near Lake Tahoe. We backpacked at least four hours a day in the sun and the hoodies protected awesomely. I also liked the lightweight 4 ounces as every ounce counts.

This is my first sun hoodie, and I wasn't sure if I would love it or not. I LOVE IT! I purchased it before a three-week road trip from Tallahasse, FL to the Olympic Peninsula, and back. While we did not backpack (which is really what I want it for), we day-hiked and we camped out most nights. It was a perfect weight for hot summer days and slightly cooler temps on the Peninsula. I thought long sleeves in the heat may not work out for me, but I was comfortable and wore it more than I thought I would. I washed it in the sink three times since we were on the road so much, and hung it to dry two nights and just let it air dry in the car once. It dries fast. It protected me from the sun. I took it to the Gulf Coast this week and it did get hot and muggy one afternoon when I had it on (not on the beach, but inland). I thought I lost it and was so sad. I realized after I got home I had stashed it in my purse (so small, I didn't even notice or remember I had put it in there). I was about to order another one I have come to like it so much. I got the Turquoise (L). It is thinner than I'd like to wear it alone, so I wore a tank underneath. If worn by itself, my bra showed through the lighter color, so if you want to wear it alone, maybe try darker color. I did a get small thread pick on it after the first or second day, but i was able to pull it to underneath side, and so far, no more. Thumbholes would be nice, but I still love it very much. True to size. I am about 5'2" 145 lbs and the Large fits snug, but fits right. I usually wear a Large top in other stuff.

I wore this shirt during a recent ultramarathon on a hot, sunny day. The shirt kept me cool (or at least, as cool as I could reasonably expect in that weather) and protected me from any sunburns. I definitely recommend it.

I wore it fly fishing today and it was really nice and light weight. I hate wearing sunscreen, so I needed something that won’t smother me in this Tennessee 90% humidity. Overall I’m happy with it after my first use.

I wanted this to be my new favorite sun hoody! It fits sleekly and looks attractive enough to wear around town. The hood is fitted well. The fabric is the lightest and most airy I have felt anywhere!! It’s very stretchy and not the clammy type of synthetic fabric, if you know what I mean. And the colors are pretty!!

2 drawbacks: after one washing, the fabric had 3 visible snags up the front. So it is not going to be durable or continue looking nice for long. This was a big bummer. The second is that I AM getting some sun through the fabric. I am very light skinned and working outdoors 12 hours a day in the Mojave Desert in August (yup, worst case testing scenario here, folks. UV index of 11). When I put a patch of sunscreen under the shirt to test it, the skin around the sunscreen DID get some visible sun through the shirt. It wasn’t a bad enough burn to need aloe vera, but it was lightly visible. I think for 2-4 hours of sun, or for darker skinned people, this would work great. But if you’re very light skinned or out all day, you may want to do a little sunscreen test and make sure you don’t need even more protection. I do like this company and product and will stick around to see if they continue to improve their technology!

Love the lightness and was surprised when I snagged on a dry bush and damage was minimal. I have short arms and this wasn’t super long for me like some brands I’ve tried. I wouldn’t mind a little more torso length. I don’t like the look of the neck covering but it is functional for keeping the sun of your neck.

I have two of the sun hoodies and the fabric pulls extremely easily and you get all kinds of pulls on the fabric. They certainly don’t hold up to outdoor use like fly fishing or hiking. I don’t recommend them for outdoorsman

I finally had a chance to wear my new shirt on a two night camping trip. I put it on in Phoenix when it was over 100 deg to pack and leave town. Then up to >8000 ft where the sun got intense to setup camp. Left it on that night to sleep in. Then left as insulating layer under a shirt the next morning. Out hiking all day it stayed on, dried out fast and slept in it again, finally took it off the 3rd day for the drive home. Didn’t stink, feel itchy, or anything. Love it!

The bright yellow color is great. The material is soft and barely weighs anything.
Only one not-so-great comment. The material is so delicate, that during my very first wearing, I damaged the front of shirt. I guess my safety vest (worn on top of the sun shirt) had a rough edge and caused a pull in the front of sun shirt. Bummer. I guess it's my fault? My warning to any other buyers is: use extreme caution since the material is very delicate.
Otherwise, nice shirt for sun protection.
PS. I am going to keep wearing it despite the damage. I paid full retail !!

Light, stretchy, and extremely breathable. Perfect woman’s cut. I had to order a second one I love it so much. I even ordered 3 as gifts.

Paddled on a 87 degree Sunday in the PNW and wasn’t hot, no sunburns, great product

The sun hoodie was very lightweight and the material was soft. It was effective against the sun and effective at keeping mosquitoes from buzzing around your ears, but the material did snag when hiking through some overgrown trails.. Overall, I really like the product, and I will continue to wear it, but wish the material was also snag resistant.

Wore the sun shirt on a long hike in direct 85 degree sun for hours. Never burned and sweat dried quickly when I had my lunch break. Definitely will be taking this as my main shirt on my upcoming section hike.

The fabric is thin an the velcro on my backpack pocket rubbed on it for hours and it did create tiny snags. This is to be expected especially with any similar sun fabric. It was so affordable that I dont mind using it during technical sports.

Very pretty colors I have blue and torquoise. Fits well, dries fast and looks great!

Amazing shirt for mountain marathon.

I had previously bought my wife two of these, and she wears them all the time for walks and hikes. So much so that I just bought her two more so she did have to worry about having a clean one available.

I have recently had some skin cancer scares and that has prompted me to make sure when outside whether hiking, watching kids soccer or gardening that I am covered up. This shirt hits the spot. It runs on the tighter side, but very comfy. Gave it 4 stars because I personally love having the thumb hole to cover up my wrist so that is the reason.

It is the most breathable lightweight sun shirt I have ever worn. I live in the humid and hot Houston heat and this shirt wicked away the sweat so I didn’t even feel wet. I highly recommend,