Planet Earth Shirt

Name: Planet Earth Shirt. Lightweight Navy edition
Brand: Vollebak
SKU: TPS055SLBXSM
Price: 345 GBP
Availability: InStock

The most technical shirt on Earth just got lighter.

£345

Planet Earth Shirt. Lightweight Navy edition

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Model is 6ft 2 / 189cm with a 40 inch / 101cm chest, and wears size Large.

Made with silk-like cotton from the Nile Delta
Over 35,000 stitches in each shirt
Anti-mosquito collar for the jungle and rainforest

There are over 510 million square kilometres on the surface of Earth, and the Planet Earth Shirt is designed to work in every single one of them. Over the last 5 years it’s seen our customers safely through deserts, mega-cities, rainforests, and mountains around the world. And for one guy, it’s his go-to gear for wrestling snakes in the Amazon River.

The Lightweight edition is built from one of the lightest and softest fabrics on the planet, a rare, silk-like cotton from the Nile Delta. Highly breathable, stretchy and fast-drying it comes with a reinforced anti-mosquito collar for the jungle, 7 concealed air vents that work like in-built air-con for the desert, a hidden passport pocket for hostile environments, 9 gadget loops for the mountains, over 62 metres of reinforced stitching.

Technical Details

Material made in Italy: 72% cotton, 24% polyamide, 4% elastane

Shirt weighs 290 grams

Highly breathable and fast drying

Two way stretch throughout the shirt

5 concealed and reinforced air vents at the spine, shoulders and hem, plus 2 zipped air vents either side of the chest pockets

Air vents constructed with a high-stretch Italian mesh fabric: 80% polyester, 20% elastane

High double collar with reinforced zig zag stitching and 2 snap fasteners

Right chest bellows pocket with a hidden passport pocket behind it with a concealed zip entrance

Left chest gadget pocket with 8 internal gadget loops made from reinforced twill tape, and two tunnels for pens or tools

Bellows pocket on the left upper arm

62 metres of stitching with over 35,000 stitches in each shirt

All seams are twin needle stitched with two lines of stitching to double the strength

19 stitched bartacks reinforce the stitching and reduce the chance of failure

17 bioresin buttons anchored on their own heavy duty woven polyester military tape with reinforced stitching

Reinforced hanging loop at the back neck, and two internal hanging loops with snap fastenings at the hem

Two-piece sleeves engineered for movement

A 20cm strap inside each sleeve holds rolled-up sleeves in place

Machine wash 30°C

Constructed in Portugal

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One shirt, built for anywhere on Earth

Our Planet Earth Shirt is one of our most iconic and trusted pieces of gear. Over the last 5 years it’s seen our customers safely through deserts, mega-cities, rainforests, and mountains around the world. And for one guy, it’s his go-to gear for wrestling snakes in the Amazon River.

There are over 510 million square kilometres on the surface of Earth, and the Planet Earth Shirt is designed to work in every single one of them.

The same engineering, but lighter weight

The Lightweight edition is built from one of the lightest and softest fabrics on the planet, a rare, silk-like cotton from the Nile Delta. Highly breathable, stretchy and fast drying it comes with a reinforced anti-mosquito collar for the jungle, 7 concealed air vents that work like in-built air-con for the desert, a hidden passport pocket for hostile environments, 9 gadget loops for the mountains, over 62 metres of reinforced stitching.

How building a Planet Earth Shirt works

Designing and building a shirt that can truly thrive in any terrain on earth has to be an exercise in no expense spared craftsmanship. Hundreds of separate construction processes, over 35,000 stitches, and more man hours than almost anything else in your wardrobe go into making this shirt a technical masterpiece. With materials starting their journey on the banks of the Nile Delta, before being woven at a cutting-edge fabric mill in Italy, each shirt is then assembled in one of the most advanced factories in the world.

An anti-mosquito collar for the jungle and rainforest

Starting from the top, the collar can be worn in 4 different configurations. In jungle mode, you’ll want to use all the features of the collar – which means turned up high and fastened tight. It’s a reinforced double collar which means you can fold it right up to meet your hairline at the back and jawline at the front. This keeps the sun and mosquitos off the back of your neck, and helps stop any bugs getting down your shirt.
The collar is built to withstand intense humidity

You’ll find two strong, lightweight snap fasteners that secure the collar in place. It creates a completely different shape to a standard collar as it double fastens across your throat to keep mosquitos out. Both poppers are attached with reinforced stitching. We avoided Velcro as it’s too noisy and also unreliable in the most humid climates. We’ve used heavy duty zig zag stitching and reinforced material to strengthen the collar, so it will hold its shape even if drenched.

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Venting that works like air-con for the desert

Working down from the collar you’ll find a giant hidden air vent that runs almost the entire length of your spine. Designed for hot, humid, or arid environments it’s one of 7 concealed air vents in the shirt that work together like in-built air-con. Each vent opens and closes either with body movement or with zip closures. And we’ve built them in the places you’re likely to sweat most – down the centre of your spine, your armpits, down the centre of your chest, and around your waist.

7 concealed air vents can cool you rapidly

When you open up each vent you’ll find it’s lined internally with a super soft, lightweight Italian mesh fabric. The mesh is fast drying and incredibly breathable which means sweat can escape easily and air can flow into your shirt to cool you rapidly. The three vents at the back are engineered like joints, creating extra flex in the shirt down your spine and across your shoulders. The two front vents hidden either side of the chest pockets are zipped so you decide when to open them up to air. And there are two slit vents along the hem. Every vent is reinforced for strength.

A secret passport pocket designed for hostile environments

Either side of the concealed air vents on the chest you’ll find two deep pockets. They concertina out to fit a phone or GPS inside them, and have reinforced stitching so you won’t tear them if you’re rushing. Built directly behind the right chest pocket is an even larger hidden pocket designed to hold things you might want to conceal in a hostile environment. With a concealed zip entrance, it’s large enough to hold your passport, money, maps or documents without any danger of them falling out.
A reinforced gadget pocket for the mountains

Together the pockets are designed to make your shirt more like a utility belt, so the left chest pocket is a very different beast. Instead of a hidden passport pocket you’ll find a series of 8 stitched gadget loops made from a reinforced twill tape for attaching carabiners, compasses or any clip-on gear. Two tunnels on the front of the pocket will hold mini tools, pens or penknives, depending on your plans. On the bottom of the pocket is a reinforced hanging loop for tying off. Both chest pockets fasten with two hidden slip buttons concealed on a tough woven tape.

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Built with the softest cotton from the Nile Delta

The Lightweight edition of the Planet Earth Shirt is designed to keep you cool in extreme heat. So each shirt starts with a rare cotton called Karnak Menoufi. One of the lightest, softest fabrics on the planet, Karnak Menoufi is a silk-like cotton that’s only found in the Nile Delta, and only grows in the years when the rain, soil and wind conditions are perfect.

We turn cotton into a high performance fabric

While Karnak Menoufi is already extremely soft and robust, we’ve added durability and stretch by combining the cotton with elastane and an ultrafine nylon in Italy. Together the combination is so soft and lightweight that it has to be spun and woven with the same techniques and on the same looms that are used for silk. The result is an advanced, abrasion resistant material which feels almost silk-like next to your skin.

Ultra lightweight and packable

At 290 grams the shirt is ultra lightweight, and more than 100 grams lighter than the original. When you consider the number of technical features in the shirt – 7 vents, 17 buttons, 3 zippers, 4 pockets, a high collar, 2 sleeve straps, 3 hanging loops and 8 gadget loops – 290 grams is an astonishingly low weight. Highly packable it folds down small enough to fit it into any backpack, meaning it’s perfect for any journey or adventure.

Highly breathable, fast drying and stretchy

The shirt’s ultra lightweight material is incredibly breathable and dries out quickly even if you get soaked – making the shirt as at home in a rainforest as it is in a city. And its two way horizontal stretch allows you to stretch, pull or turn in any direction without feeling restricted.

Free-floating buttons anchored on military tapes

Even the way the shirt buttons up has been engineered to withstand sweating hands and hostile vegetation. Rather than being sewn onto the shirt, the buttons on the front of the shirt have all been threaded onto a heavy duty woven polyester tape that runs the shirt’s entire length. The tape is then stitched onto reinforced panels above and below each button. The construction allows the shirt to flex incredibly and withstand any tearing forces, as each button is free to slide 2 centimetres up and down its section of military tape. All 17 buttons are attached in the same way.
Buttons made from plants and vegetables

Each button is made of buffalo imitation bioresin – a natural, non-toxic and water-based material we’ve produced by combining plant and vegetable waste with a polyester resin used by the aerospace industry. Lightweight and heat resistant, all the buttons are sculpted with a highly polished 30 degree taper towards the edges to make them extremely easy to slip into place.

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Works as well in the office as it does in a mangrove swamp

The Planet Earth Shirt adapts to life in the city as easily as it thrives in the jungle. The collar can be worn turned down and unfastened just like a regular collar. The cuffs button up with two slip bioresin buttons to look like regular cuffs. Both chest pockets will fit your phone. The hidden passport pocket holds your keys. And a fourth bellows pocket on the left arm will keep your credit cards to hand. The front air vents zip up. And when you’ve washed it, you’ll find two internal hanging loops with snap fastenings, so you can hang your shirt up to dry off anything from a jungle creeper to a washing line.

Made with 62 metres of reinforced stitching and welding

Stitching remains a phenomenally durable way to build clothes when it’s executed with patience and skill. Even if one stitch snags, in every shirt there are over 35,000 more to take the strain. Of course, as this is a Planet Earth Shirt, even our stitching is reinforced. Every seam is twin needle stitched, which means two lines of stitching instead of one to double the strength. And at every critical stress point you’ll find one of the shirt’s 19 reinforced bartacks stitched on to reduce the chance of failure.
Engineered sleeves that stay rolled up in any condition

Once you roll up the shirt’s sleeves, they stay rolled. They’re engineered in the shape of a moving arm, and the material has enough weight to hold its position. But if you’re moving seriously hard or fast, you can also button them in place. On the inside of each sleeve you’ll find a 20cm long reinforced strap that you can pull out, up and over the rolled sleeve and fasten to a small slip button on the outside of the arm that’s secured on its own reinforced patch and military tape.

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