So — part of this trip and the experimentation with fabrics on the river had to do with the comparison of cotton, bamboo cotton blend, 100% bamboo, and the synthetics such as UnderArmor(tm).

Bamboo definitely has a place on the river. The question is where. Several of the seasoned rafters were excited to see, feel, and wear the bamboo (some had even surfed to the http://www.shirtsofbamboo.com website and were happy to feel me up). But the question loomed — compared to the synthetics — will it dry quickly?

The short answer is no, not as quickly. If you are on Class 4-5 rapids (on the 6 scale), or Class 7-10 rapids (on the 10 scale that the Grand Canyon uses) — stick to the synthetics. However, if you are on lower class rapids, the bamboo and bamboo/cotton blends do dry quicker than straight cotton, and they have the advantage of not starting to stink after one use.

So, let’s continue on the “doesn’t stink” thread with a little story. My first introduction to Shirts of Bamboo shirts was on a trip to Hawaii years ago with Dan (owner of Shirts of Bamboo) sent me a trial shirt to the condo I was staying at in Hawaii. I wore it one day… didn’t stink (in the tropical heat), so I wore it the next and again, it didn’t stink — and day three it still wasn’t standing by itself in the corner. By day 4, the person I was travelling with just didn’t want to look at the same shirt again — not that it stunk — because he was tired of blue.

So — the moral of this post is that for smaller rapids bamboo has better drying qualities than cotton — but it’s real strength is in “camp wear” — a shirt that can last 3-4 times as long as cotton before it starts to stink to high heaven.