It is more and more common to see my fishing brethren bundled up like it’s a cool winter’s morning while stalking their prey… In the summertime. Yes it has been said that the sun causes cancer, but alas, so does everything else. I being the product of 5 generations of Floridian, and with a substantial amount of Cherokee in my blood from my biological mother’s side of the family I tend to handle the sun better than most. Don’t get me wrong, with thirty something…err I mean twenty something years of being in the sun and on the water; my skin is showing signs of too much sun. Sun damage can be as minimal as freckles, to as deadly as melanoma. Luckily I have freckles, which add to my uber good looks and awesomeness.

I am not much on the “catalogue” looks while fishing, in fact I seem to uphold the image of “white trash” while on the water. For me, a t-shirt minus the sleeves, a pair of shorts and flip flops (with the bottle opener of course) makes my fishing ensemble. Folks tend to expect to see me dressed as such even at fishing shows I sometimes work. Hey, it fits me, what can I say?

Back to the damage sun can cause. I know many friends whom have had to endure painful treatments to reduce the damage the sun can cause, and I for one do not want to experience. When offered an opportunity to try out some new fishing apparel I jumped at the chance. I Hunt Fish (www.ihuntfish.net) was kind enough to let me take a couple shirts out for a spin so to speak.

My first thought when opening the package was Hot. The shirts are made with heavy prewashed cotton. The specs according to the designer and owner of I Hunt Fish states that his garments weigh 11 oz compared to typical long sleeve t-shirts at 4-8 oz. That is substantial when considering the heat of summer. The key to his product isn’t in the weight of the garment but the benefits. The shirts provide UPF +50 protection from the rays that hurt! UPF, SPF, I don’t know. I took the liberty to look it up. Here it what I found:

The Ultraviolet Protection Factor (or “UPF”) rating system measures the UV protection provided by fabric. It is very similar to the SPF rating system used for sunscreens. A garment with a UPF of 50 only allows 1/50th of the UV radiation falling on the surface of the garment to pass through it. In other words, it blocks 49/50ths or 98% of the UV radiation.

Ok, that helped. SPF is for sunscreen… I don’t use it, but I should. I would very much like to retain my stunning good looks for a while longer. UPF is for fabric, which I tend to use less of, yet again, I should use more of to retain said good looks.

After getting the shirts out of the package as well as a couple decals with the company logo I noticed a really simple yet cool design on the shirts. With the words “I HUNT FISH” on the front with a redfish inside the letters as well as one with the snook inside the letters. Really subtle, yet speaks volumes on this guys love for fishing. The logo on the back as well struck me as cool. A simple all black shadow of a man on a poling platform with his boat underneath. It is quite apparent that these were designed for us skinny water guys! So now for my testing. I can not lie. The shirts were hot, however a little extra sweat to ensure I wouldn’t have to endure some sort of treatment at a hospital isn’t going to hurt me. The first day on the water the temps topped out around 92° and not a cloud nor a breeze to cool you down. I used no sunscreen and didn’t cut the sleeves out of my new shirt. I spent nearly 6 hours out and surprisingly my hands and neck showed significantly darker than my already tanned and muscular arms. Not bad I thought, however I needed to test out another long sleeve shirt to see if the UPF +50 really made a difference.

The next test was with a Brandon Thomas Benefit Redfish Tournament shirt. (One of the coolest shirts EVER) This is just your standard Haynes Beefy Tee, long sleeve in white. The weather this day was not much different than the previous other than a little more cloud cover, and breeze. Still, I was hot; regardless I must push forward in the interest of science. After about 5.5 hours my neck was fairly red, as where my hands. Keep in mind my skin tends to have a red hue due to the Indian. After removing the shirt to see if I had the Hank Hill tan, I realized that I did, however my stripes only appeared to be where the collar and cuffs of the shirt were. Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t burned, but it was noticeable.

Now, what did I prove? Did I prove that the I Hunt Fish line was the superior choice in sun protection? I don’t think so; however I did prove that other t-shirts tend to let a lot of the harmful rays through. I Hunt Fish’s line tends to do a good job or reflecting theses rays and it does so with a pretty cool design too!

Now as always I have a pros and cons list for anything I may review. Me being a regular guy, hopefully these points help you decide whether a product is good or not. I do not get paid for these, and I do not get more freebies for a “good” report. I try to be hard on anything I review much like I am on the things I don’t review. You know a real honest review for the real average guy.