Originally Posted by
Lazyass
Dude. I have thousands of miles wearing a mesh summer baselayer in hot humid weather. Low humidity I wouldn't need it because I don't sweat bad. I'm speaking from actual experience. It does not trap air pockets, man. It doesn't get soaked and glued to your body. It doesn't insulate. It does none of that. If it did those things I obviously would not continue wearing it. It wicks the moisture off your skin. That's a fact, not an uneducated opinion or a theory I came up with from something I learned in a classroom at college. If they did not work they would not exist.
Okay, my friend, but I am not alone here. If you search the internet on this topic, you will see a very even split between our two positions. Here is one example of entries from another forum:
Does a Base layer shirt really work in hot tropical weather? - BikeRadar Forum
Unfortunately I can't find any experimental studies, but as you would expect, there are a lot of these kinds of forum posts.
As long as you and I are both happy with what we are doing, that is all that matters.