Taranaki merino long sleeve T-shirts
...thought I'd mention here that my Taranaki long-sleeved crew-necked merino tops from Chocolate Fish were wonderful. Most outdoor gear looks pretty horrible, even if it works very well (prime example), but this stuff is both elegant and highly functional. Even La Belle Femme, who is allergic to the outdoors and especially to outdoor gear, thought this looked nice. I was able to wear it on the slopes and out in the evening to some very smart restaurants, and be comfortable-in all senses-in both milieux. The Choco Fish people are jolly nice too. Amanda was travelling in EnZed when I emailed to see if I could get the tops in time for my trip. I had a reply within 20 minutes (i.e. at about 5.30pm NZ time on a Saturday) to confirm the order and then the tops themselves arrived on the Monday morning. Bodacious. Top kit, and definitely to be recommended. A steal at GBP38.95, too. Go buy one.

From: mike@northpole2006.org.uk Date: Tue, 2 May 2006 20:00:17 +0100 Subject: north pole 2006

Hi guys - We did it!!
I just wanted to say thank you for the equipment you supplied..... the Merino vests and longjohns were amazing. We regularly skied in just the merino underwear and windproof outers with no problems even at temperatures as low as -20 centigrade. The benefit of the merino became most apparent when we finished the race and switched to Helly Hanson thermals we had at the finish line as spares. The Helly Hansons smelt horrible after 2 days in the tent waiting for an aircraft compared to the Merinos which smelt a great deal better after 18 days of continuous use! I am a Merino convert. Many thanks for your support and the brilliant clothing. Mike Dann, Team ATP

Posted on NNTP Italy sport-montagna Forum Uli posts:

La fonte migliore per il merino e' questa: www.chocolatefishmerino.co.uk E' la distribuzione di sottovestiti e midshell in merino, non solo fatti di lana merino neozelandese (ma poi prodotti in Cina come fa la Icebreaker per es.) ma anche prodotti in Nuova Zelanda (nella ex-fabbrica e con gli ex-operai della Icebreaker. Hanno anche i prezzi migliori e la qualita' e' ineccipibile. :-)

Posted on Bushcraft Forum

Another thumbs up to Chocolatefish. Nice new beanie. They are also doing a Merino baselayer T-shirt in a light olive colour - sort of Spanish Queen olive colour. Must of spent around an hour chatting to Amanda - loads of info about wool and wool care. They also have some interesting projects in the pipeline - keep an eye out. No connection etc, just very satified and happy to deal with a customer based company. :-) No connection etc, just very satified and happy to deal with a customer based company. :-)

PTC* World blog

Couldn't leave the word "pants" at the top of the page overnight. It might leave the wrong impression on new listeners. So I'd like to talk about the underwear I've been wearing today instead. An odd combination, both lightweight merino though. A Howies long sleeve crew and a pair of Chocolate Fish's Taranaki boxers. The Howies top I've had for a year I think and it's the stretchiest merino top I own, slim fit at 0730, right now it looks like that woolly cardigan Starsky's wearing when he climbs out of the swimming pool in the opening credits... The [Chocolate Fish] boxers are much better, the fabric is more like the current Icebreaker closer knit fabric, or Smartwool maybe. The style is somewhere between the two manufactureres as well. So less stretch through the day and consequently less wrinkly discomfiture. Well made, looking good so far. And merino is the soft hand of nature upon our fevered brow through each difficult day of course. I try every now and again, but I don't like synthetic base layers these days. :-)