I Spent 25 Years Testing Flannels. These 12 Are Worth Your Money.
What to know: After testing 20 men’s flannels in scenarios ranging from chilly fall mountain bike rides to crisp afternoon yard work, the best flannel shirt overall is the DUER Performance Flannel Button Down for its unmatched stretch and fleece-like softness. We also highly recommend the budget-friendly Royal Robbins Lost Coast Flannel for seamless trail-to-office transitions, while the Outdoor Research Ravenna Flannel Shirt takes top honors for versatility.
Fall is the time of year when my wardrobe shows just how basic of a mountain-town outdoor dude I am. Read: I am always wearing flannels. I am not mad about this fact, though, because flannels really are the ultimate utility player during the chilly months of the year. On a cold fall day, a well-built performance flannel is the ideal top for everything from grabbing drinks with friends to hammering on a mountain bike. The flannels that dominate my closet don’t look terribly different than they did two decades ago, but the classic patterns and styling hide a significant evolution in the genre. Brands have turned a historically low-tech category into genuine performance pieces by weaving stretchy synthetics in with natural cotton and wool fibers and cutting and sewing the shirts to move.
My first challenge in writing this update was identifying the sheer number of flannels I have tested over the course of my 25-plus years working in the outdoor industry. There are the dozens that I have tested in my role as a gear tester for Outside, but flannels have been a uniform of mine since the ’90s, so that number is certainly over one hundred. Even with that breadth of pieces, the flannels below still impressed thanks to how brilliantly their creators blended performance with style and comfort. Below are the best flannels to support your chilly morning coffee on the porch and crisp afternoon rides for the shoulder season ahead.
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