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We put the top 18 UPF-rated sun shirts to the test under the blazing sun, from Outdoor Research, Mountain Hardwear, Columbia, REI, and to find the most comfortable and protective options.
Lining up the sun shirts for testing.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
By Maggie Nichols ⋅ Senior Review Editor ⋅ Updated August 22, 2025
If you're like us, applying sunscreen every 90 minutes all summer just isn't happening. A quality sun shirt offers protection from UV rays without sunscreen, helping to keep your skin covered and sunburn-free.
Since 2018, we've more than 70 UPF-rated shirts to bring you the best sun shirts for women each season. We spent months, sometimes years, wearing these through side-by-side testing, for all sorts of activities from high-altitude mountaineering and ocean snorkeling, to backyard gardening and stand-up paddle boarding.
Our favorite overall sun shirt for women is the Crater Lake Hoody for its next-to-skin comfort and lightweight, stretchy fabric. For sun seekers on a tight budget, we recommend the Baleaf UPF 50 Crew. The soft fabric offers ample coverage at a low price.
As your dermatologist will remind you, sun protection is paramount. Our gear experts also have you covered with our rigorously tested picks for the best sunglasses on the market, as well as in-depth reviews covering top-rated sun hats.
Editor's Note: We expanded and updated this article on August 22, 2025, with new shirts from Columbia, Free Fly, The North Face, and NRS, as well as additional long-term reports from the numerous shirts we've been wearing for several years now.
Each round of testing, we fall in love with this soft, comfortable sun hoody from Mountain Hardwear. The Crater Lake Hoody has everything you could ask for in a sun shirt: 50+ UPF fabric, a lightweight, stretchy hood, thumbholes that work even for longer-armed folks, and good versatility. Made of a particularly soft polyester and elastane blend, the Crater Lake Hoody has exceptional stretch, with a more comfortable feel than other common UPF materials. Our lead tester mentioned, “It's one of the few options I happily wore under the blazing sun without pushing up my sleeves.” For another tester, the Crater Lake was a go-to base layer even for everything from gardening to sunny spring backcountry skiing. We appreciate the zippered hip pocket and the option to cinch and tie the bottom closed, which comes in handy for dynamic activities like yoga and rock climbing.
SPECIFICATIONS
Sun Protection Level (UPF)
50+
Fit
Slim fit
Available Sizes
XS - XL
Coverage
Long sleeve, hood, thumb holes
Features
Extra large hood, draw string at waist, hip pocket (zippered)
The newest iteration of the Crater Lake Hoody runs slightly slim, but still fits well on a range of bodies thanks to the stretch. “I'm sometimes on the cusp between small and medium, and I would consider sizing up for this one,” said one of our testers. While we love the super stretchy design, it also means the hip pocket isn't great for stashing heavier items, like a cell phone. The material is pretty thin, and you can see sports bra or swimsuit lines right through it. Shortcomings aside, we love the Crater Lake Hoody, and it quickly became one of our go-to layers for sunny activities in every season. If you want something with an even lighter feel, check out the Outdoor Research Echo. For similar softness and stretch but with a more relaxed fit, we loved the Free Fly Bamboo Shade.
Over the years, the REI Sahara has proved itself to be astoundingly well-rounded for a button-up sun shirt. It's stylish, comfortable, and quite breathable. It features pockets large enough to hold a smaller phone, and sleeves cut with a scoop to cover the backs of the hands. Stretchy underarm panels vent heat while preventing annoying underarm rub during paddle sports. In our versatility tests, it took the lead over the Outdoor Research Echo Hoodie, earning the top spot. “I love that it's versatile enough to handle a full day on the trail or on the water, and then head straight to a dinner date with girlfriends,” one tester remarked.
SPECIFICATIONS
Sun Protection Level (UPF)
50
Fit
Regular fit
Available Sizes
XS - 2XL
Coverage
Long sleeve, scooped cuff, collar
Features
Chest pockets (Velcro), tab sleeves, back vent, sunglasses loop, seams removed from armpit
The tabs for rolling up your sleeves are placed rather high — well above your elbows. Still, this didn't bother us too much once we realized the sleeves stayed rolled quite well without using the sleeve tabs. Our only other gripe is how easily this shirt wrinkles after being crammed in a suitcase or backpack. Nonetheless, we like this option and think it's more versatile than any other button-up sun shirt we tested. The Sahara Long-Sleeve is a great option for outdoor activities and can also double as a work shirt for Mondays at the office. If you want a looser, more flowy button-up that you can stylishly layer over another shirt, the Columbia Silver Ridge Utility is another great option.
If you're searching for a relaxed UPF layer that won't break the bank, the REI Co-op Sahara Shade Hoodie will keep you happy and protected during long sunny days. This buttery-soft shirt is designed to be worn slightly baggy, which is both comfortable and allows cooling airflow through the hem. Its high-cut sides and intentionally loose design help to circulate air as you move. With wide cuffs and flat seams, the thumbholes are enjoyable to wear even while paddling.
SPECIFICATIONS
Sun Protection Level (UPF)
50+
Fit
Relaxed fit
Available Sizes
XS - XL
Coverage
Long sleeve, hood, thumb holes
Features
Drawstring on hood, shaped hem
One potential drawback with the Sahara Shade Hoodie is the baggy fit. If you want a tighter fit, you can size down, but the relatively thick fabric might leave you wishing you hadn't. If the loose fit isn't for you, the Columbia PFG Tidal Tee II is a similarly-priced hoody with a slimmer fit and slightly more breathable fabric. The breathability of the Sahara Shade Hoodie is tied to airflow while you're wearing it, as the fabric is thicker than most options we tested. Also, it does not have pockets, which may not be a dealbreaker for you, especially at this very reasonable price. For a much slimmer and cropped fit, we also liked the The North Face Adventure Hoodie, which doesn't break the bank for a high-quality sun shirt.
The Baleaf UPF 50 Crew is a simple sun shirt that works as advertised and doesn't cost a ton. It's an athletic-cut shirt made of a silky-smooth fabric that's comfortable to wear and fits easily. The crew-cut neck provides great coverage without being so tight that it chokes you. This shirt is available in a wide variety of bright colors, and, for its price, you could pick up three or four of them for the cost of some of the other sun shirts we tested.
SPECIFICATIONS
Sun Protection Level (UPF)
50+
Fit
Relaxed fit
Available Sizes
S - 2XL
Coverage
Long sleeve, crew neck
Features
Flat shoulder seams
The Baleaf UPF 50 Crew runs a bit small, particularly in the sleeve length. Therefore, we suggest sizing up if you're typically between sizes or prefer a looser fit. If you want maximum coverage, you might also like the Baleaf Hoodie with Face Cover we tested. It's less breathable but has a built-in gaiter to protect your mouth and nose. Or, you could consider the Jessie Kidden Safari Shirt, a lightweight button-up that can be layered over other clothing for a more polished look at an affordable price. The Baleaf is a great option for everyday casual wear, but it's not quite breathable enough for running in the heat. This shirt easily holds onto body odors. While it isn't the most “bombproof” shirt we tested, it's an incredible value for everyday sun protection.
The Outdoor Research Echo Hoodie includes some unique features, making it an excellent wardrobe addition for any activewear junkie. First, this lightweight sun shirt has horizontally aligned thumbholes that are comfortable to wear, even when moving. Second, the top has a hole in its hood for your ponytail. “I know it might not sport the most stylish look, but it's undeniably functional,” our tester commented. Beyond these two unique features, this hoody is absurdly lightweight and impressively breathable. It is one of only a couple of shirts we tested that we could comfortably wear in the hot sun without pushing up the sleeves — precisely why it's great for days when you're pushing hard in hotter climates.
SPECIFICATIONS
Sun Protection Level (UPF)
15
Fit
Slim fit
Available Sizes
2XS - 4XL
Coverage
Long sleeve, hood, thumb holes
Features
Ponytail hole in hood, flat-seams, reflective logo
For all the utilities it offers, the Echo Hoodie doesn't have everything. This sun shirt lacks pockets and has the lowest UPF rating of any model we tested. If your skin is really sensitive and you need all the protection you can get, the Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake is nearly as breathable and is made of fabric that blocks more than 98% of UV rays. With a 15 UPF rating, the Echo Hoodie still blocks around 93% of UV rays, though (as compared to 98% blockage from 50 UPF fabric). “During a full day of mountain biking in full sun, I did still get a slight burn through the fabric when I didn't wear sunscreen,” noted our tester. Nevertheless, the supreme breathability is unbeatable, and we love that the Echo Hoodie comes in more colors now than ever before. For another highly breathable hoody, check out the Free Fly Bamboo Shade Hoodie II, which effectively breathes and wicks moisture thanks to the bamboo-blend fabric.
If you're looking for sun protection for spending a whole day in the water, the O'Neill Basic Skins is the shirt for you. It's tight enough to stay put when you're swimming laps, surfing, kayaking, or even crashing on a wakeboard. The seams are sewn conveniently to ensure this top won't rub even during the most active adventures. And with a very high UPF rating, you can be sure you won't burn — one tester wore this for a full week of successful sun protection while snorkeling and boating in the Galapagos Islands, located directly on the equator! The material is thick enough to provide some protection against cold water without being too warm to wear in warmer climates.
SPECIFICATIONS
Sun Protection Level (UPF)
50+
Fit
Performance fit
Available Sizes
XS - XL
Coverage
Long sleeve, crew neck
Features
Flat seams; rash guard placement
As a skintight layer, the Basic Skins isn't the most versatile all-around sun shirt we tested. For most land-based activities, you'll find better options available, as our test showed the tight fit is less breathable and simply tends to pool sweat. So, if a versatile, looser-fitting sun shirt for on-water rather than in-water activities is what you're after, avoid picking up a rashguard like this one. Conversely, if you're in the market for a shirt you can rock all day in the water and look stylish without ever feeling uncomfortable, this incredible option is the one.
The O'Neill Basic is a great option for staying protected while playing in the water.
Credit: Kaylee Walden
Compare Product Specifications
Specifications
Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake Long Sleeve Hoody
Outdoor Research Echo Hoodie
NRS Silkweight Hoodie
REI Co-op Sahara Long-Sleeve
Columbia Silver Ridge Utility Long Sleeve
Black Diamond Alpenglow Hoody
REI Co-op Sahara Shade Hoodie
Free Fly Bamboo Shade Hoodie II
Patagonia Tropic Comfort Natural Hoody
Voormi River Run Hoodie
O'Neill Basic Skins L/S Crew
The North Face Adventure Hoodie
Jessie Kidden Safari
Columbia PFG Tidal Tee II Hoodie
Baleaf UPF 50 Crew
Baleaf Hoodie with Face Cover
Roxy Whole Hearted Long-Sleeve
Carve Designs Cruz Rashguard
Awards
Best Overall Hooded Sun Shirt for Women
Best for High Output Activity
Best Overall Button-up Sun Shirt for Women
Best Value for a Hooded Sun Shirt
Best Rashguard
Best Value on a Tight Budget
Sun Protection Level (UPF)
50+
15
50+
50
50
50+
50+
50+
40+
30
50+
40+
50
40+
50+
50+
50+
50+
Fit
Slim fit
Slim fit
Regular fit
Regular fit
Relaxed fit
Relaxed fit
Relaxed fit
Relaxed fit
Regular fit
Performance fit
Performance fit
Slim fit
Relaxed fit
Regular fit
Relaxed fit
Regular fit
Performance fit
Slim fit
Available Sizes
XS - XL
2XS - 4XL
XS - 3XL
XS - 2XL
XS - 2XL
XS - XL
XS - XL
XS - 2XL
XS - XL
XS - XL
XS - XL
XS - 2XL
XS - 3XL
XS - 2XL
S - 2XL
S - 3XL
XS - 2XL
XS - XL
Coverage
Long sleeve, hood, thumb holes
Long sleeve, hood, thumb holes
Long sleeve, hood, thumb holes
Long sleeve, scooped cuff, collar
Long sleeve
Long sleeve, hood
Long sleeve, hood, thumb holes
Long sleeve, hood, thumb holes
Long sleeve, hood, thumb holes, finger loops
Long sleeve, hood, thumb holes
Long sleeve, crew neck
Long sleeve, hood, thumb holes
Long sleeve
Long sleeve, crossover hood, thumb holes
Long sleeve, crew neck
Long sleeve, hood, neck gaitor, thumb holes
Long sleeve
Long sleeve, collar
Features
Extra large hood, draw string at waist, hip pocket (zippered)
Ponytail hole in hood, flat-seams, reflective logo
Button hood, ponytail hole, watch access on both sleeves, seamless armpits
Chest pockets (Velcro), tab sleeves, back vent, sunglasses loop, seams removed from armpit
Mesh back vent, snap-close chest pocket, side entry chest pocket, small inner slip pocket
Zippered pocket
Drawstring on hood, shaped hem
Set-forward shoulder seams, 4-way stretch
Zippered pocket, button on hood
Button hood, elastic hand cuffs
Flat seams; rash guard placement
Three-piece hood, raglan sleeves, moisture-wicking and quick dry fabric
Two chest pockets with closure, one sunglasses loop, vented back, sleeve tabs
Self-wicking fabric, full coverage hood
Flat shoulder seams
Neck gaiter, zippered pocket. ponytail hole in hood, reflective logos
Flat shoulder seams
Stand-up collar, half zip, adjustable side seam drawstrings
Material
88% polyester, 12% elastane
100% recycled polyester (bluesign approved)
92% polyester, 8% spandex
94% nylon, 6% spandex (bluesign approved)
100% recycled polyester
87% polyester, 13% elastane
92% polyester, 8% spandex
68% viscose (bamboo), 29% polyester, 3% spandex
96% modal, 4% spandex
Dual surface UL precision blended wool
Polyester spandex blend
92% recycled polyester
100% polyester
100% polyester
100% polyester
Body: 100% polyester
Side & face mask: 60% polyester, 40% polypropylene
86% recycled polyester, 14% spandex
82% recycled polyester, 18% spandex
Odor Control
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Soaking up the sun while staying protected! Testing sun shirts on a bluebird day alpine mountain bike ride in southwest Colorado.
Credit: Kaylee Walden
How We Tested
The market for women's sun shirts expands every year. We purchase every shirt to wear side-by-side through several months of testing and adventuring. We wore them for casual, everyday activities like gardening, walking the dog, and grabbing coffee with a friend. We tested the limits of these shirts in more extreme environments, like high-altitude mountaineering, alpine mountain biking, multi-pitch climbing, snorkeling at the equator, kayaking a mile above sea level, and running trails through the desert. We sweated in them, crammed them in backpacks, and laundered them all repeatedly. Some of them we've been wearing regularly for years now. Along with sun protection, we assess factors like fit, comfort, and breathability.
Our testing of women's sun shirts is divided across five rating metrics:
Comfort and Fit (30% of overall score weight)
Sun Protection (25% weight)
Breathability (20% weight)
Versatility (15% weight)
Durability (10% weight)
We wore these shirts on runs, hikes, traveling, and paddling, to learn which ones are best for what.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
Why Trust GearLab
To take these shirts to their sunny limits outdoors, we enlisted Senior Review Editor Maggie Nichols and Review Editor Kaylee Walden. Both of these women strive to spend every possible moment outside. Maggie first fell in love with the outdoors by chasing frogs and watching cicadas hatch. She has now worked in the outdoor industry for over 15 years, taking on many roles from camp counselor in the Midwest to leading kayakers in the Caribbean and guiding backcountry trips across the US. She lives and works in some seriously high-UV environments, from the sun-scorched high deserts of northern Nevada to the baking mountaintops of the Sierra Nevada.
Likewise, Kaylee lives and works in the high mountains of Southwest Colorado, with frequent Utah and New Mexico desert trips on the menu, where sun protection is paramount. She works as an outdoor guide, taking people hiking and climbing in the summers, backcountry skiing in the winters, and high-altitude mountaineering in the spring — where a sun shirt is always a non-negotiable part of the daily uniform. With so much outdoor work and play, and consideration for skin cancer risk, neither of these ladies takes chances when it comes to staying consistently protected from the sun.
We've taken these sun shirts across the world to test them in all kinds of environments where harsh sunlight can damage your skin.
Analysis and Test Results
To find the best sun shirt for every application, our team of female testers wore these shirts extensively, assessing them across a wide range of climates and conditions. In what follows, we dive into the details, breaking down which shirts stand out from the rest in their specifics.
Worse Value
Better Value
What's the Best Value?
Only after scoring each shirt's performance do we consider its price. In this widely variable realm of sun-protective garments, price and performance are clearly not correlated.
The Baleaf Crew is a high-value shirt. It's not quite as high-scoring as some but offers solid, basic protection at an unbeatable price point. The REI Sahara Shade Hoodie is another highly valuable option. It's soft and smooth, with great protective features and a generous fit through the torso, and costs a lot less than many others in our lineup.
Likewise, the North Face Adventure Hoody offers a lot of performance in an affordable package. Columbia PFG Tidal Tee II Hoodie impressed us especially for water sports, keeping us cool and protected — especially when the shirt was a little wet. Even our favorite shirt of the bunch, the Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake Hoody, isn't the most expensive, despite beating all the competition for several years in a row now.
For sunny water sports, the Columbia Tidal Tee is an exceptional value.
Credit: Kaylee Walden
Comfort and Fit
We asked a variety of women with different body shapes to test the comfort of each model. We assessed shape and fit, and assessed how well each one moves with the body, evaluating both cut and stretch. We judged the feel of the fabric and seams against the skin and considered features that add to the wearer's experience.
The impressively soft and stretchy Crater Lake Hoody stands out for being comfortable to wear no matter what shape you are or the activity you are getting into. It's silky smooth, with seams in all the right places, and provides an almost ridiculous amount of stretch, allowing it to stay comfortable all day long outside or in. The bottom can cinch shut if you need to flip upside down, and the sleeves are actually long enough (and elastic enough) for long-armed women to feel comfortable. It also features a buttery soft hood that protects without impeding vision or movement, or feeling like it's smashing your ponytail. For straight-up comfort that you can paddle, hike, get groceries, and fall asleep in, the Crater Lake Hoody has been and remains our favorite for years.
We love lake days even more in the Crater Lake hoody.
Credit: Kaylee Walden
We also like the soft and comfy OR Echo Hoodie. Though not nearly as stretchy as the Crater Lake Hoody, it still provides exceptional comfort for everyday wear or heading out for a run or a hike. The Echo Hoodie's thumbholes are unique in that they're horizontal rather than vertical, allowing them to be closer to the end of the sleeve, creating less pull when you're moving. The cut is also significantly more comfortable and less awkward when you need to push up your sleeves.
Even when hanging onto mountain bike handlebars for a jostling downhill, the OR Echo's sleeves stay perfectly in place.
Credit: Kaylee Walden
We love the sweatshirt-like fit and comfort of the Black Diamond Alpenglow Hoody. With a wide hem, cuffs that hold it in place without being tight, and no seams in the armpits for comfort while moving, we confess we even enjoy sleeping in this cozy garment.
The NRS Silkweight Hoodie is also superbly soft and has a pleasant, comfortable weight. With its relaxed fit, we love lounging in this sun shirt. We loved the fabric feel of the incredibly soft North Face Adventure Hoody, but our testers had mixed opinions of the cropped fit, which reduces its versatility and can leave your lower back exposed to the sun.
The NRS Silkweight is a favorite of ours for paddling (especially with furry friends).
Credit: Sara James
The Columbia Silver Ridge Utility and REI Sahara Long Sleeve are our favorites among the collared options we tested. The Columbia Utility has soft, thin, flowy fabric that drapes pleasantly on bare skin or over another shirt. Drop hems add a touch of shape and class without constricting any part of your body. The fabric of the REI Sahara might seem a tad crinkly at first, but it feels almost cool against the skin, and the shoulders have an impressive amount of stretch to keep even our broad-shouldered testers mobile.
If oversized T-shirts are one of your favorite fits, the Sahara Shade Hoodie will be right up your alley. It has an oversized, drapey fit made of smooth, silky fabric and long cuffs with thumbholes.
The Sahara Long Sleeve is a very comfortable hiking and hanging around shirt.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
The Patagonia Tropic Comfort Natural Hoody is notable for its great comfort with its buttery soft fabric and long, slim fit. Its thumbholes are a touch small, though, and not all of our testers love the extra elastic loops that go over your index and middle fingers to hold the cuffs against the backs of your hands. The O'Neill Basic Skins is our favorite rashguard if water sports and beaches are your jam. It's easy to wear and stays put, whether you're floating alongside a sea turtle or paddling out into the surf on your board. It has flat seams and is meant to fit quite slim; this fit ensures you'll be comfortable moving through the water without flowing fabric to drag you down.
The O'Neill is a smooth rash guard with no underarm seams, keeping it comfortable for all day paddling.
Credit: Kaylee Walden
Sun Protection
There is a lot more that goes into sun protection than just the UPF rating, though that's the bare minimum requirement for consideration in our roundup. Not all hoods, collars, or long sleeves are created equal. And it's one thing to be covered while standing unmoving in your yard and a whole other beast to cover up while you bike to work, boulder up a sunny route, or push the kids on the swings. We put the sun protection, coverage, and our willingness to wear these shirts during any given activity to the test to see how they stack up.
When it comes to maximal coverage, the Baleaf Hoodie with Face Cover is the cream of the crop. You might look a little unconventional with the gaiter pulled up over your mouth and nose, but the UPF 50+ fabric covering so much of your torso, hands, and face provides an impressive level of protection.
Perhaps not winning any style contests, the Baleaf Hoodie with Face Cover does provide an impressive level of coverage, with UPF 50+ fabric.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
The Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake Hoody offers top-notch protection. It has a hood that stays on decently even without ties, maintaining airflow while protecting your ears and neck. Its large thumbholes have plenty of fabric below them that fully covers your hands and even your knuckles from the sun. The Crater Lake Hoody is a great option for dynamic movement, as its ability to stretch farther than you'd think possible makes it an excellent companion to stay covered no matter how you move. A drawstring around the bottom also lets you secure it in place during yoga in the park or a particularly tricky climb.
The OR Echo Hoodie offers some solid hand protection with unique, horizontally oriented thumbholes. The sleeves are long and stretchy to keep them from pulling on your hand webbing as you move, making it more likely you'll keep using the thumbholes even when it's hot.
The Crater Lake and Echo Hoody both have long sleeves that protect up to the knuckles.
Interpreting UPF Values
To understand what a numerical UPF value means in terms of UV rays blocked, take that number and flip it to turn it into a fraction that tells you how much UV radiation gets through that fabric.
For example, UPF 50 allows 1/50th of UV radiation through, thereby blocking about 98% of harmful UV rays. UPF 15 allows 1/15th of the UV rays through, which equates to blocking around 93.3% of harmful radiation. So, while the difference between UPF 15 and UPF 50 sounds vast, it's actually just over 5%.
The Echo hood features a ponytail hole, which doesn't earn any style points but massively improves your ability to keep that hood firmly protecting your neck and ears. While the UPF rating on this hoody is lower than most, it's still blocking over 93% of UV rays (just 5% less than the highest-UPF-rated shirts we tested), and its impressive suite of sun-protection features helps make up for it. We did notice that in very high-UV environments, you can still get a light sunburn through this shirt if you have sensitive skin.
The pony tail portal helps keep the Echo hood in place.
Credit: Kaylee Walden
The hood on the REI Sahara Shade Hoodie has a cross-front top — adding neck protection to its arsenal of already great sun-protection features — and has a drawstring hidden inside for keeping your hood on no matter how windy it may get. It also has longer-than-average sleeves, making it easy and comfortable to use the thumb holes.
The REI Sahara Shade hoody has a generous and comfortable fit.
Credit: Kaylee Walden
The NRS Silkweight Hoodie doesn't have that cross-front design but does have buttons that can help keep the hood in place for windy paddling days and gusty ridgetops. Its thumbholes are well-placed, located to the side of the sleeve seam, and angled to match your hand's shape. The Sahara Long Sleeve may not have the protection of a hood and thumbholes, but its collar and scooped cuffs add protection, and drop hems in both the front and back help keep you covered as you bend.
The Color Difference
There are pros and cons to both lighter and darker colors in a sun shirt. While darker colors inevitably absorb more heat from the sun, darker dyes also are more effective at blocking UV — just as darker-tinted sunglasses are more effective. Generally, we opt for light colors in a sun shirt for the reduced temperature, but they also may allow more rays to pass through the shirt and reach your skin.
If you appreciate extra hood security, the Voormi River Run and Patagonia Tropic Comfort Natural Hoody both have buttons for keeping your hood up when you need it most. The Tropic Comfort Hoody has a single button, while the Voormi has three buttons in a row for customized tightness. The Tropic Comfort takes secure coverage a step further, with small thumbholes and an elastic loop at the end of each cuff. By looping this band over your index and middle fingers, the cuff stays pulled down even while you move. The sleeves aren't as long as the knuckle-protecting Crater Lake Hoody and Echo Hoodie, but the extra loops help — even if the feeling of wearing them takes some getting used to.
Keep the Voormi hood securely up on windy days with its handy buttons for versatile closure tightness.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
Among rashguards, the O'Neill Basic Skins provides excellent coverage by staying put while you swim and play in the waves. The Carve Designs Cruz Rashguard adds a little extra with its collar, half-zip fit, and extendable scrunching sides to find your perfect length.
If fishing is more your gig, check out the Columbia PFG Tidal Tee II. This sun hoody provides effective coverage in all the right ways, making it a perfect fishing companion. It features a large hood with a wide neck that keeps you protected from the sun without stopping the breeze from cooling you down. The Tidal Tee also has sleeves that easily cover the backs of your hands past the knuckles when using the thumbholes, even on our longest-armed testers.
Staying cool in the Columbia Tidal Tee.
Credit: Kaylee Walden
Breathability
Spending time in the hot sun while wearing a long-sleeved shirt isn't always easy. The breathability of your sun shirt goes a long way toward your ability to stand wearing it on triple-digit days. To test breathability, we checked out the thickness and weight of fabrics, venting options, and drying speed, and wore each shirt during high-output activities to see how they function when we got sweaty.
Again, the thin and lightweight OR Echo Hoodie and Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake Hoody stand out in this category for being breathable, especially for activities. They come in mostly light colors, which helps them to reflect more sun than they absorb. The REI Sahara Long Sleeve also earns high marks, with buttons that allow you to open up the collar and wide, well-placed back vents.
Fabric Weight and UV Protection
While sun shirts made with heavier, thicker weave fabric no doubt suffer a bit in the breathability metric, thicker fabric inevitably also protects your skin better from the sun's rays. Generally, thicker shirts can make up for their lack of fabric breathability with a more generous fit that enables maximum airflow.
The Columbia Silver Ridge Utility is another breathable option. With quick-drying, thin fabric, a looser fit to facilitate airflow, and large, strategically placed vents, this shirt is very wearable even on hot days.
The Jessie Kidden Safari Shirt is another thin, flowy, breathable button-up. While this shirt and the Columbia Silver Ridge Utility are both made from 100% polyester, the Jessie Kidden isn't quite as breathable, but is still well above average, with a loose fit that maintains airflow and a massive vent across the back. All of these shirts can easily have their sleeves comfortably rolled up, too.
The Jessie Kidden Safari is made of thin, lightweight material and features a loose fit for better air circulation and a huge back vent to keep you cool.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
Interestingly, the Sahara Shade Hoodie is made of thicker fabric than most others we tested, yet it is surprisingly breathable because of the loose, flowy fit, designed to catch even the slightest breeze. It has a long drop hem on the front and back, with high-cut sides that leave plenty of space for air to pass through without exposing you to the blazing sun. Wearing this shirt in your normal size may produce a tunic-like fit — plenty baggy enough that gentle winds or even just the buffeting air caused by walking around manage to find the way inside for ventilation.
The high sides of the REI Sahara Shade hoody promote maximum airflow.
Credit: Kaylee Walden
The Black Diamond Alpenglow Hoody has higher cuffs and a shorter hem than most other tops we tested, but it still has a breathable fabric that keeps air moving through fairly effectively. The Tropic Comfort Natural Hoody takes a different approach, leaving more space around your torso, with longer drop hems in the front and back and shorter sides to allow air to move inside the shirt. We also loved both the fabric and relaxed fit of the Free Fly Bamboo Shade Hoodie II, which quickly wicks away moisture when you're working hard, easily keeping you cool on the hottest days.
The Tropic Comfort Natural maintains better airflow with a looser fit.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
Versatility
Versatility is a broad metric. In assessing each shirt's versatility, we consider the activities that can be accomplished with high functionality. We took these shirts paddling, running, climbing, biking, and more, to consider where they excelled and where they fell short. While subjective, we also considered each shirt's overall style, and if we could wear it seamlessly from time out on the water to dinner and drinks. We considered it a bonus if the shirt was both highly functional and made us look like a million bucks.
A winner in this metric is the REI Sahara Long Sleeve. As a button-up, collared shirt, it goes seamlessly between environments, settings, and activities. It's as easily worn on the trail or the water as it is in the office or a cafe. It's a fairly flattering shirt across many body types and comes in colors we think are flattering without being too in-your-face. Even testers who normally aren't fans of collared shirts appreciated the style of the Sahara and the ability to wear it in multiple settings all within the same day, eliminating the need to keep a spare shirt in your car to change into between hiking and meeting the gals for a cocktail.
The Sahara Long Sleeve has one of the most versatile styles of any we tested.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
The Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake scored above average in this metric. Its aesthetic is solidly sporty-chic, and it's functionally versatile across many activities. We loved wearing this top for everything from trail runs to paddling sessions to mornings at the farmer's market.
Though a solidly athletic-looking shirt, the Echo Hoodie scores high marks for versatility across the sheer number of activities, environments, and temperatures in which we're happy to wear it. The Baleaf Crew is a fairly versatile option. It lacks just about any athletic-specific features, has raglan sleeves, and comes in a wide variety of colors that offer something for just about everyone. The same goes for the Free Fly Bamboo Shade Hoodie II, which we happily wore for everything from climbing and paddling to mountain biking and Farmer's Market browsing.
We went straight from pedaling to a barbecue in the comfortable and versatile Bamboo Shade II.
Credit: Kaylee Walden
Durability
We beat these shirts up during our testing to see if they could take it. From scrambling up rocks and scraping through twisted bushes to landscaping, we went beyond their “normal” scope of use. We also combed the internet to learn what failed for other people to see if it failed for us, too.
Both the Sahara Long Sleeve and the Silver Ridge Utility are constructed of sturdy material that withstood a lot of abuse from our testers. The Silver Ridge Utility is even sewn with ripstop nylon to help put your mind at ease. Both of these shirts are well-made with reinforced seams and thoughtful features to help them last the years. They showed nearly no wear, stains, or snags throughout our intensive testing process.
The Sahara is well-built and reinforced and has stayed looking great through plenty of abuse on the trail and in the laundry.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
The O'Neill Basic Skins rashguard resisted wear throughout the test period. Though it's not made for pressing through dense undergrowth, we found it excellent for water activities. Rubbing against sand, sliding along the edge of a life jacket for hours of paddling, and repeated saltwater adventures all left no marks on this impressive shirt. The NRS Silkweight Hoodie also has flat seams perfectly placed for paddling and is similarly built to last (without being so tight). To prevent pulling and wear on the inside of the shirt, we loved the addition of the smart watch port to be able to tell the time without having to constantly pull up our sleeves.
We appreciated being able to check the time without exposing any skin in the NRS silkweight.
Credit: Sara James
The Tropic Comfort Natural Hoody and the REI Sahara Shade Hoodie are soft and smooth, with mostly flat-sewn seams (except for the sides). These tops proved to be relatively durable during our testing.
Both the BD Alpenglow and OR Echo Hoodieseem fairly durable, with visually similar textures of fabric and flat-sewn seams. While the Alpenglow Hoody and two older versions of the Echo Hoodie picked up a couple of tiny snags during our testing, the Echo, at least, seems to have improved more recently. Our main tester took a nasty fall on broken asphalt during a run while wearing the Echo and utilizing its thumbholes. While her palms were much worse for the wear, with several deep cuts and a significant chunk of missing skin, the cuff of the Echo had just a single minor rip. In the year+ since that accident, despite continued and repeated wear and washing, those small tears have failed to grow any larger.
The aftermath (several months later) of a bad fall while running. On the left, a lingering scar from the accident is circled in red. On the right, the single tear in the OR Echo cuff is circled in yellow.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
The Carve Designs Cruz Rashguard feels solid enough at first, but ripped the first time we tried to undo the side ties to make the torso longer. The seam holding the two sides of the ties split right down the middle. The shirt is still wearable with minor holes, but we're rather disappointed at how quickly it came apart with just regular use. We also found that the side ties tend to get caught in the tops of pants and swimsuit bottoms.
The cinch ties on the Carve Designs Cruz Rashguard catch easily in bottoms, and the seam between the ties split the first time we tried to adjust it.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
Several of the shirts we tested come with a claim of odor treatment by either blocking the odor itself or blocking bacterial growth that leads to odor. We tested every claim by going for a long run in the midday sun and heat, then leaving the shirt in a pile to smell the next morning. Only the Alpenglow Hoody and Tropic Comfort Natural Hoody seemed to have any noticeable resistance to odor. We're unsure if this effect will be able to last through years of laundering, but we appreciate it while it's working.
We hope this review has helped you narrow down your search for the perfect sun shirt!
Credit: Kaylee Walden
How To Choose a Sun Shirt
If you spend time recreating or working in the sun, a sun shirt can be essential to protect your skin from the sun's powerful rays. Here are some factors to consider before making your purchase.
What Activities Do You Do?
When and where you plan to wear your sun shirt will have a bearing on which one you choose. Most of the shirts in our test are fairly quick drying, but folks participating in water sports will definitely want a top that dries out quickly. If you're swimming, you may want a body-hugging rashguard, while folks who are hiking or doing yard work will probably want a looser-fitting shirt with more breathability.
What's UPF?
UPF is the rating given to clothing that protects your skin from the sun, similar to the SPF rating in sunscreen. UPF clothing protects from UVA and UVB rays. The average t-shirt usually has a rating around 5 UPF, but dedicated sun protection shirts range from 25-50+ UPF. An easy way to understand UPF rating is to convert it to a fraction. A UPF of 25 lets 1/25th (roughly 4%) of the sun's UV rays through the material, and a UPF of 50 lets 1/50th (roughly 2%) of the UV rays through. So a UPF of 50 is blocking 98% of the sun's UV rays from reaching your skin.
Features
Sun shirts can have a variety of features. Some are button-ups with collars, which can transition from the trail to the office, while others have hoods and thumb loops to help cover you as much as possible. Those doing paddle sports will want to ensure that the underarm seams won't be bothersome or cause chafing while performing paddle strokes. It's also good to consider the color of your shirt. Light colors will reflect the sun, keeping you cooler, while the dark colors will absorb heat and make you warmer.
Conclusion
There's a lot to consider to find the right sun shirt for your preferred activities and lifestyle. We hope our deep dive into the comparative testing process helps you identify the sun shirt that can, quite literally, help save your skin.
Looking for more ways to protect yourself? Staying protected from the sun is no easy feat. We've collected and tested a wide array of sun protection gear to help you get out there without suffering UV damage. From top-ranked sun hats to sunglasses, we want to help you keep you shaded from the strong summer sun.
