As above. My merinos are full of holes and aren’t very good, I lost a polyprop Helly recently, I’ve not found polyester great…

I really like my bamboo base layers .

Uniqlo Heat-tech.

I really rate the turtle-neck type Canterbury ones – Nylon/poly mix.

Have 3 + 2 round neck ones, but that doesn’t stop me wnting this http://www.prodirectrugby.com/products/canterbury-hooded-cold-long-sleeve-top-rugby-baselayer-clothing-black-51851.aspx

HH Lifa – still hard to beat

The bamboo ones from Lidl are totally superb. Really top kit. Superior in every way to Helly Hansen, Howies etc IMHO. I know nothing about the ethical considerations though. I buy the tops in the hope that the workers who produced them did so in an environment that I’d find acceptable and for a wage that will offer them a reasonable standard of living.

The new Helly Hansen Active Flow baselayers seem rather nice. Its a mixture of polypropylene and polyester.
Fairly cheap from Sportsshoes.com

Does bamboo hold water like merino?

I tempted to go back to smelly hellies

Have a couple of bamboo tees from Aldi, and a long sleeve base layer from BAM.

Like merino, thicker weights can stay damp.

Cheap Decathlon synthetic baselayers work for us, they also do merino. The cheap ski base layers are toasty for the money.

It’s not warmth per se, more not being damp like merino.

Helly Warm. Best of both worlds.

Or, Odlo.

I gave up on merino ones and use Craft now

I’ve got a couple of Oaramo Cambia base layers for winter and they’re very good, nice balance of sweat transfer and warmth (can be reversed for poorer sweat transmission but greater warmth). They get washed every Tim they’re worn anyway so never get pongy and dry quick.

From a PSA on here a year ago i can recomend Bam bamboo clothing, they’re having a sale at the moment so you may find something.

Top quality stuff, i have two pairs of their heavyweight bamboo sweatpants (bought at full price) and they’re ace, my goto wear when i come home at night – admittingly they are now covered in oil n’ grease marks after a years use so i’ll treat myself to a new pair in the sale

Al, I’m a gear junkie and I started out 25 years ago with various flavours of Patagonia half zip Capilene tops and they still work well today after all those years. Since then I think I have tried every thing from lots of other polyester or propylene tops, blends of polyester and merino, bamboo mixes, charcoal mixes and every density of merino possible.
Up until recently I insisted on a zipped design however I was recommended to try Craft tops and I can say with confidence if you pick a Craft top wisely they will outperform all others from a wicking and fast drying perspective.
Their range is huge and by using a bit of nous with layering you will be fine. In low temps 5 or less I will use the long sleeve top with the perforated weave, then a shirt sleeved zipped enduro merino wool top, the a light weave polyester running top and possible an ultra light weight pretext outer smock top.
In warmer weather I select the sleeveless perforated Craft top as my wicking base layer and then what ever takes my fancy over it. So Craft next to my skin, then what ever takes your fancy layer wise to suit the conditions.
Fwiw I thought the two HH base layers tops I owned were the worst I ever tried

Interesting. Soma and others, isn’t bamboo damp for exercise?

I might just head to TKMaxx….

still got that decathlon one i sent up to you al? mine’s more holes than shirt now, but i use it for commuting from time to time!

I wear a bamboo layer for work just now but if you don’t like merino I don’t you’ll like the bamboo.

Yes I have xhbx, ta, it’s kept special for summer touring holidays, so pristine!

Does bamboo hold water like merino?

And then some – soaks up and holds more water than cotton. Its a nice alternative to a cotton tshirt in that ‘bamboo’ is as soft-feeling as cotton but much more elastic, but when I do my laundry the ‘bamboo’ stuff takes the longest time to dry by a long chalk, it just gets wet and stays wet – nice as a tshirt, not really something I’d wear as a base layer for exercise.

I know nothing about the ethical considerations though

Its just good old fashion Rayon / viscose – a man made fibre spun from material extracted from vegetable cellulose using good old fashioned environmentally polluting, gender-bending chemicals. Calling rayon ‘bamboo’ is just a way of making blokes pay significantly over the odds for one of the cheapest materials that clothes can be made of.

I bought an Alpaca wool baselayer once, supposedly better than merino. It wasn’t, horribly rough and itchy and shrunk to barbie doll proportions the first time it was washed and was stupidly expensive. Alpaca wool though, “I needed it.”

Dutch army half wool Base layers on flea bay

I’m a big fan of Patagonia capilene. Wicks much better than my merinos and seems more robust. Slightly more casual styling then HH Lifa tops.

Silk?

My favourite and most enduring base layer is silk. A bit diaphanous so you wouldn’t wear it to the pub but it wicks superbly, doesn’t smell and, although it’s got a few holes in it, is still going strong after about 17 years.

No idea where it came from as it was a present, and I haven’t ever seen the brand – Silking – for sale anywhere else.