Sherpa Gandaki Shirt

A comfortable, stylish and fast drying travel shirt ideal for those trips to warmer climes.

First things first, this is not a highly technical piece of kit. The fabric itself is a fairly standard polycotton blend (85% cotton/ 12% Polyester/ 3% Linen) with the addition of a permanent wicking finish. The shirt itself has been designed with two buttoned chest pockets, useful for storing sunglasses etc when you’re sat in the cafe or bar and gusseted underarms/side panels that facilitate ease of movement. There are numerous neat touches to the shirt as well;  from the embroidered ‘Endless Knot’ motif on the nape of the neck to the ‘prayer flag’ trim on the hem and a spare button sewn on to the placket. Together these make the Sherpa Gandaki shirt stand out with its quality of cut and construction.

I found the size small an excellent fit on my 5′ 8″tall 36″ frame, it never felt like it was binding or restrictive whether I was wandering around the Forest of Fontainebleau, driving the long schlep to Provençe or sightseeing and drinking beer in little hill top villages. For those days when you may wish to smarten up your appearance and lose the well worn climbing dirtbag look the Gandaki shirt is ideal. Fold it in the bottom of a kit bag and it will come out smart enough to wear. At camp it can be washed in a sink and be dry in an hour.

The Geelo Clay colour of my review shirt was excellent at hiding the dirt and the fabric didn’t seem to develop any unpleasant odours despite several days of wear in sweaty conditions. Talking of sweaty conditions the Gandaki is very cool to wear, the fabric being lighter than a normal T shirt and allowing more air to circulate and if needed you can turn the collar up to protect the back of your neck from fierce sun (Sherpa don’t give an SPF for the shirt but I had no issues even after several hours walking under scorching Provençal skies).

For those not familiar with the Sherpa Adventure Gear story they are a Sherpa owned company producing their product in Nepal with a proportion of every sale going towards the Paldorje Education Foundation – you can find out more about ‘Giving Back’.

So although you may be paying a slight premium over the cost of a shirt from a high street bargain chainstore you will be getting a top quality item that gives a subtle nod to your climbing allegiance as well as supporting jobs and education within the Sherpa community of Nepal.

RRP: £45.00

Stockists: Sherpa Adventure Gear

Richie is the enthusiastic amateur of the team. Enjoying all aspects of climbing but especially alpine, winter and his local grit . Having managed to survive the vagaries of both fluorescent Koflachs and rainbow tights in the 80s he looks forward to an even more stylish future. A shady past in mountain marathons and adventure races, including the Marathon des Sables, means he’s an advocate of fast and light. Though the former is debatable if you’ve seen him on a tricky lead!