Full disclosure: After this video was published, I was approached by Unbound Merino to be a brand ambassador. It in no way influenced my review. My audience now gets a 10% discount from UNBOUND MERINO when you use the discount code: VANLIFE at website shrsl.com/3j0ru
I practice minimal travel and only travel with one carry on bag, a 30-liter backpack. When searching for the perfect travel shirt I came across numerous merino wool review.
So let's jump into this: I left on my 12-month around the world itinerary with 4 different brands of Merino Wool. I had 2 shirts by Wooley, 1 dress shirt by Libertad, 1 t-shirt by Outlier, and 2 t-shirts and one long sleeve shirt by Unbound Merino. I now have 1 shirt by Wooley, 1 t-shirt by Outlier and 5 t-shirts and 1 long sleeve shirt by Unbound Merino.
Let’s start with the brand I would not recommend - Wooley! Wooley merino wool is really popular because you can get it on Amazon and it’s more affordable than other brands. However, be warned, it doesn’t hold up very well. I left on my trip with one grey Wooley T-shirt and one charcoal grey henley. Both of them started to fall apart after a few months. I would not recommend this brand of merino wool t-shirt for long term travel.
Ok, next is the Libertad dress shirt. I really liked this shirt but just didn’t wear it enough to justify it taking up space up in my carry on luggage and that's a no-no for minimal travel. I can’t really speak to how well it would hold up because I didn’t wear it much. But I think it’s a really well made, sharp-looking shirt. I just didn’t wear it enough and my long sleeve Unbound Merino shirt serves as a dress shirt if I need one. I have no problems recommending this shirt though if you're looking for a collared dress shirt to travel with.
So next on the list is Outlier. This brand is great and I will definitely be buying more of their shirts in the future. Outlier t-shirt is a little thicker than most merino wool t-shirts but they still work in hotter climates. I like this brand because of the wide selection of colors and the high quality of the shirts. The only knock on the brand is that it is the most expensive merino wool t-shirt out there. However, if you're a minimalist traveler, you can afford to pay for quality since your quantity is so low. This is a really nice, high-quality shirt. I can’t recommend it enough.
Ok, so the last brand I am going to talk about is my absolute favorite, Unbound Merino. I love this company because it’s the perfect combination of quality and affordability. You can get an Unbound Merino t-shirt for around $60 dollars. I started traveling with three of their shirts - 2 crew neck t-shirts and 1 long sleeve shirt. Recently, I added 3 more t-shirts - so now I'm traveling with 6 Unbound Merino t-shirts total, 2 black & 2 grey crew-neck t-shirts, 1 red v-neck, and 1 black long sleeve. This is probably a little overkill but I plan on phasing out my other t-shirts and just traveling with these. These shirts hold up so well, you can’t tell the difference between the ones I just bought and the ones I’ve been wearing and washing for the last 6 months.
I really love this black long sleeve shirt because it’s so versatile. You can pair it with jeans or slacks and it passes as a dress shirt and you can also use it hiking in cold climates. I wore this shirt in hot dance clubs in Latin America and stayed cool...and wore it during cold hikes in Patagonia and Peru and stayed warm.
If I had to pick one brand of merino wool, it would definitely be Unbound Merino. I
If you found this video helpful, please hit the thumbs up button - it helps more people find the video. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please consider doing so, I make weekly travel videos documenting my full-time travel adventure!
★ Perfect Travel Shirts:
→My audience now gets a 10% discount from UNBOUND MERINO when you use the discount code: VANLIFE at website shrsl.com/3j0ru
_
★ Gear I Use:
→ Camera: amzn.to/2CGM3Uo
→ Day Lens: amzn.to/2x3di66
→ Night Lens: amzn.to/2x2joTw
→ Action Camera: amzn.to/2ApYwIk
→ Mic: amzn.to/2oXCZAU
→ Osprey 30L Porter Backpack: amzn.to/2GMNl2b
→ Sea to Summit Compression Sack: amzn.to/2IfCzzW