PackingLight Travel Clothing Philosophy

Here at PackingLight.com, performance is the cornerstone of our travel clothing offerings.  For each garment we present to our customers we ask: what is it Made To Do?

The answer leads to fabric choice.  Each garment possesses technology to optimize it for a particular type of activity.  If your adventure takes you to a river in the tropics, you need protection from the sun and insects. If you are headed to the mountains, fabric strength is priority. And if you are exploring a foreign city, stylish packability is key.

We are on the forefront of fabric technology to bring you the most functional apparel possible. We were among the first to sell the concept of travel clothing over 15 years ago and we pride ourselves in outfitting our customers with one focus in mind: Get our customers traveling lighter and easier.  By offering some of the world's most technical apparel from proven companies such as Columbia, Ex Officio, Royal Robbins, Woolrich, Habitat, Indira, Tilley, Fox River, Scotte Vests, Mycra Pac Rainwear, and many others who have established themselves for decades, we can offer what catalog companies cannot: expert textile manufacturers who first introduced technical apparel and didn't copy or try to emulate others.  We don't go to Asia and ask apparel manufacturers who are not a proven entity to make our clothing for less money and to copy design originators.  Instead, we go to proven apparel companies who specialize in outfitting those who demand the best: travelers, outdoor enthusiasts, trekkers, backpackers, hikers, fisherman, etc.

For these type of demanding people who expect the most out of their apparel, we turn to people who pride themselves in making innovative textiles that offer sun-protection, moisture management systems such as Dri-release material to keep you dryer and cooler, Freshguard anti-microbial treatments to keep you fresher, cooling designs such as Columbia's Omni-Freeze material to keep you cooler, Insect Shield bug protection to keep you protected from insect borne diseases, just to name a few.

Progress in offering lightweight, wrinkle-resistant travel clothing is always the goal, and adding features is the next step.  Most of the features of our apparel are in direct response to problems travelers have that aren't being addressed by other catalogs and online sites. Convertible performance clothing, multi-tasking vests, climate control venting, hidden security pockets, light travel clothing weighing a few ounces a square yard, are just a sample of the highly functional elements we incorporate into our travel clothing offerings.

Performance is the sum of quality fabric and inventive features.  Whether you're going around the corner or around the world, you can be confident that your PackingLight.com Travel Clothing will be comfortable, functional, and durable.  Ultimately, we hope our clothes make someone feel excited about the next trip they will be taking, because they are Made to Adventure.

Check out our travel clothing product pages for more in-depth feature explanations that include how many ounces a square yard a garment weighs, what kind of pocketing, vents, stitching, treatments and other features are available on every single garment.  We pride ourselves in presenting more than bullet points and fancy imagery.  We make the effort to write several paragraphs of explanation on every garment because we believe our customers deserve to receive their hard-earned, money's worth.

Take for example our perception of the importance of sun-protection to all of our clients, young and old alike.  Here is a vital chart on sun-protective ratings and what the numbers mean for UPF ratings: