Men's Original Airbase 120 mesh shirt

“If I could choose only one product, it would be my Airbase set. It has served me on sweaty climbs on the glaciers of Svalbard and through cold nights without a sleeping bag in the Vätsäri wilderness. Airbase is the perfect starting point for whatever you wear, in any season.”

Sakke Raappana, wilderness hiker and expedition leader

Airbase – the shirt you forget you're wearing

The men's Original Airbase 120 mesh shirt is a next-to-skin mesh layer that solves one of the toughest challenges of dressing for the outdoors: how to stay dry and comfortable when your body keeps warming up and cooling down. The loops of the 120 g/m² 3D mesh knit breathe and trap air, which cools you when it's warm and insulates you when it's colder. The fabric feels light on your skin, almost as if you weren't wearing a shirt at all, yet it still regulates your temperature.

Airbase wicks moisture away to the layers on top, so you stay dry the whole time. No wet, chilled back, no damp fabric under your arms. Just a dry, light feel that lets you focus on what you're doing.

The 100% polypropylene yarn in Airbase is treated to resist odour during manufacturing. So when you take the shirt off, you're not greeted by that familiar sportswear smell. It feels as fresh as when you set off. The treatment sits in the core of the fibre, so the odour-resistant effect lasts for the whole life of the shirt and doesn't wash out.

The Original Airbase mesh shirt comes with a 100-day satisfaction guarantee. We want to give you time to try it properly: wear it as you normally would for 100 days. If you're not happy with it for any reason, you'll get your money back.

Pro-tested Original Airbase 120 mesh shirt for year-round wear

This close-fitting but stretchy men's mesh shirt moves with you without feeling tight. Raise your arms, reach or lean forward, and the shirt follows your movements instead of pulling or holding you back.

The crew neck makes the shirt comfortable to wear even under several layers. Rib cuffs improve the fit and keep the sleeves in place, so you don't have to pull them back down to your wrists when you put on more layers. The longer back hem keeps your back covered and warm when you bend or reach, so you don't have to keep pulling the shirt back into place or worry about your back getting cold. All seams are flatlock seams that lie flat and won't chafe your skin, even with repeated wear.

Wear the Original Airbase 120 mesh shirt on its own in warmer weather, or as your first layer under everything else. In the Svala AIR System™, this shirt is the Zero Layer: the moisture-wicking layer next to your skin, under all your other layers. In freezing weather, add a Base Layer on top for extra warmth, such as a shirt from the Svala Merino Extreme range. The mesh traps warm air close to your skin and helps the merino wool keep out the cold even more effectively. Pair the mesh shirt with the Original Airbase 120 mesh bottoms to keep your whole body warm and dry.

Thoughts from the designer

“A long-sleeved first layer should be so comfortable that you forget you're wearing it. We wanted to design a men's shirt that becomes a go-to for everyone who spends time outdoors. Rib cuffs, a longer back hem and flat seams: small details that keep it comfortable hour after hour.”

Ninni Pohto, designer at Svala

Polypropylene mesh: a material refined over decades

Polypropylene is a lightweight fibre that doesn't absorb moisture. In practice, this means your skin doesn't stay damp after you've been sweating, the shirt doesn't cling to your back, and a cold wind doesn't chill you to the bone when you stop for a break. You stay dry even when you're pushing hard and, more importantly, afterwards too.

A silver-ion treatment in the core of the fibre prevents bacteria from multiplying, so your shirt stays odour-free and fresh for a long time. That means you can pack one shirt for a trip instead of five. The treatment is applied during manufacturing and lasts for the whole life of the shirt, so it doesn't lose its effect in the wash.

The 3D mesh knit in Airbase is very stretchy and follows the shape of your body. Its structure creates air pockets against your skin, and the trapped air cools you when it's hot and warms you when it's cold. It works like a small regulating system on your skin, running in the background however active you are. During strenuous exercise, Airbase works in temperatures as low as −15 °C. In colder weather, we recommend adding a shirt from the Svala Merino Extreme range on top as a second layer for extra warmth.

The Original Airbase 120 mesh shirt is made from 100% polypropylene, which can be fully recycled into new raw material at the end of its life. Before that, you'll get years of wear out of it. The shirt is made at the Svala factory in Kärsämäki, Finland, with skills refined over decades.

Mesh base layer developed in Finland for Finnish weather

Cycling to work in the rain? Hauling in nets on an icy lake? Hiking through Lapland's autumn colours? Slipping into the changing room at lunch to put on a dry shirt? Airbase is made for moments like these.

Airbase products suit almost any hobby on land, on water and in the air, as well as leisure time outside. Your gear no longer decides how much you enjoy being outdoors.

The Original Airbase 120 mesh shirt is at its best:

• At work
• Hiking and trekking
• Running
• Cycling
• Cross-country skiing
• Canoeing or boating
• Fishing and ice fishing
• Everyday wear

Svala's 3D mesh knit was developed in Finland and has been tested in professional use for decades. In other words, it has proven itself on people who show their clothes no mercy: on long shifts, on week-long wilderness trips, and in wet, cold conditions where your gear decides how comfortable your day is. If the shirt has stood up to them, it'll stand up to you too.