Roark Brand Review: What to Know!

What is the Roark brand and is it one you should be looking at for your next adventure shirt, pair of travel shorts, hat or outdoor backpack?

In this review, I’ll get into what Roark is, what I tried from the brand and how it is working out. You’ll get my full perspective on fit, quality, uses and my thoughts.

What is Roark?

Roark is a clothing and accessory brand (hats and bags, mostly) for men and women. I had mostly heard about Roark as a men’s brand, so that is what this review will mostly discuss. At the end, we’ll touch on their women’s line.

Roark is built for adventure. And while I’ve had a lot of “adventure” in my past, frankly, I’m not traveling as hard as I once did, so I’m looking at Roark right now for the styles they offer and how I can wear them in everyday life. But when I do go on a new adventure, I’ll be ready.

Roark has purposeful products that serve multiple uses and can be versatile. That’s one of the reasons I was happy to get to know the company and what they offer. The bread-and-butter products are things like button-down shirts with nice fits (casual styles), travel shorts and pants, activewear, everyday tees and then a few styles of caps and backpacks. Their women’s line actually has good variety, from dresses to jeans, and tees/tanks to shorts and pants.

Back to what Roark is, you’ll find their best-selling items to be muted-color basics that are good for layering and traveling in. For me, my Roark stuff is mostly going to be used on weekend day trips or a regular day when I’m working from home or playing with my kids on the weekend.

Let’s dive in to what I tried.

What I got

I tried a few things from Roark that I knew would get good use in my lifestyle.

• Forever Roaming Premium Tee - Off White - S
• 5 Day Mule 55L Bag - Black
• Layover Traveler Pants - Military Green - 32 waist
• Venture Snapback Hat - Bone - One size
• Layover Traveler Shorts - Black - 32 waist
• Bless Up Breathable Stretch Shirt - Black - M

Shirts: how they fit

I’ll go over how each of the tops fit me. Keep in mind that I’m a bit boxy and athletic, and I’m 5’9”.

Forever Roaming Premium Tee (S)

I’m kind of a boxy type, and lately, I’ve been pickier about how my shirts fit. On any given day, I’m wearing a T-shirt. Sometimes I layer with a windbreaker, crewneck sweatshirt or something like a shacket (shirt-jacket). I rarely wear long-sleeve T-shirts, so I go mostly for a short-sleeve T-shirt at all times of year as my base layer.

I immediately liked the fit with the Roark Premium T-shirt. That says a lot. In the past few months, my size and shape have changed as I altered my diet and how I work out. So at this moment, the Roark shirt provided me with a flattering length and an ideal shoulder-to-shoulder measurement.

I’d recommend it.

Bless Up Breathable Stretch Shirt (M)

I went for a Medium here. And it’s actually a bit shocking that this shirt runs small, but alas: it’s hyper lightweight to the touch and it has quick-drying ability because it’s nylon and polyester. Despite the familiarity of these two materials, this shirt is really smooth and soft with the tiniest little holes for breathability in the weave.

The fit is “fine” on me. I’m not really going to be wearing the Bless Up shirt because I’m not a guy who wears a button-down on a day to day, and I also don’t really wear them on the weekends. I’m also more the type who prefers a cotton chambray long-sleeve button-down on which I roll up the sleeves. I typically don’t love how short-sleeve button-downs make me feel even boxier. I may put this one aside.

Bottoms: how they fit

I like the predictability of how Roark pants seem true to size, based on my experience.

Layover Traveler Pants

When Becca saw these on me, she kind of made a face and got confused, because these pants are different from what I wear on a day-to-day basis. I mostly wear tapered jeans from Mott & Bow and if we’re traveling, I will add in some performance pants like any of the best joggers for men I tend to suggest.

There’s good news here. These pants fit on the first try, so I didn’t have to do any exchanges or returns.

What I did have to do was cuff them, but both Becca and I agree that we like the look. The inseam comes at 31” on the Layover Traveler Pants by default. I’m typically a 32 W x 30 L, so it makes sense that they ran too lengthy.

The cropped cuff is a cool look for them, though, because they’re a straight style, not slim.

Things I like about the Layover Traveler Pants:

• Back flap pockets: good for keeping stuff inside.
• Neat side stash pockets on the front.
• Lightweight and comfortable stretch performance material.
• The zippers felt kind of soft if that makes sense? They’re made out of fine-teeth zippers. So if it’s cold, your hands won’t get too scratched up when reaching into a zippered pocket.

Layover Traveler Shorts

With these shorts being a shorts version of the Layover Traveler pants, there was no shock value to how the waist fit.

The best feature of the Layover Traveler Shorts is actually the gusset crotch. I need a gusset for bending down, as I’m always chasing my toddler or bending down to pick up the baby.

Now that we travel as a family, I’m basically always doing something like bending down, and going back up and down again. Or crouching. Lots of crouching. I won’t be wearing any shorts (nor pants) that don’t have a gusset down there, for flexibility and strength.

Accessories

The only accessory I tried was the baseball cap. It has a snappy and fun design, but it’s nice and beige-y.

Venture Snapback Hat

These are actually a series of hats, and Roark rotates them as they come out with new ones. The back is adjustable, so, that probably will explain how it fits me.

What I like is that this hat is 100% cotton so we can throw it in the wash if I get it sweaty or dirty.

Bags

Roark doesn’t make too many bags, at the end of the day. I tried the Mule 55L (it also comes in a smaller volume, at 27L).

The main event of this review is the Roark 55L Mule Bag. It’s a rugged and versatile bag that I use typically for the following things:

• 1-day overnight trip
• Long weekend away (think: the beach, upstate, visiting family)
• Duffel-style for a trip like a week long.

I’m not doing much adventure travel anymore - being honest - but when I was younger (and more rugged!) I would’ve used the 55L Mule as a long-haul rucksack because it’s slightly bigger than some of my favorite bags, the Peak Design 45L Travel Backpack and my Tom Bihn Techonaut 45L backpack.

It is the same volume as my Patagonia 55L Black Hole Duffel, so I’m very familiar with the surprisingly large amount of volume that a bag like this can store, and for a long trip, too.

The interesting thing about the Mule Bag in the 55L size is that it looks like a tall bag. For that reason, shorter guys may not like it. For me, it’s fine, and it also feels supportive because of all the compression straps, chest/sternum straps and waist straps available.

For more on this, you’ll have to see the rest of the features at my Roark 5 Day Mule 55L Bag review.

Overall impression of the goods

I’ll rate them in order of how often I think I’ll wear and use my Roark products here.

1. Layover Traveler Pants - Military Green - 32 waist (everyday pants for me)
2. Forever Roaming Premium Tee - Off White - S (everyday summer shirt or base layer for me when I’m wearing sweatshirts in winter)
3. 5 Day Mule 55L Bag - Black (using for travel longer than two days)
4. Venture Snapback Hat - Bone - One size (I wear a hat every single day, so this one is already in my hat rotation)
5. Layover Traveler Shorts - Black - 32 waist (I like them, but they run a dab wide in the legs)
6. Bless Up Breathable Stretch Shirt - Black - M (This one is generally not my vibe, so I’m glad I gave it a shot, but it is not for me)

Roark: for women

In addition to men’s clothes, outerwear, travel gear and accessories like hats and bags, Roark makes women’s adventure gear.

I asked Becca how she’d describe Roark for women and this is what she said:

“Roark for women is like some timeless and chilled-out stuff I’ll take on a woodsy trip. I like the look of the fun products like rompers and shirt-jackets (”Shackets”) and I am enjoying the styles of Roark’s pants and shorts for women.

There are things Roark makes for women that are not my style, like button-down collared shirts. But for everything else, the cropped tees are cute and I look forward to getting into their jeans!”

One thing to know that Becca would like to tell you is that Roark does not make any petite, tall or plus sizing for women. The sizes are pretty “regular” as in what you’d find from many travel brands out there: XS, S, M, L, XL.

Roark at a discount

Whenever I get to know a brand, I’m always curious as to if they run a sale page. Some brands do not do this! But luckily, Roark does.

On the Roark sale page, you will find both men’s and women’s products on sale at great prices. While some people scoff at buying last season’s stuff for next year, I don’t see anything wrong with it. Also, things like T-shirts are all-year-round clothing items for me. I wear short-sleeve T-shirts all winter, as well as in summer.

The sale page tends to fill up with deals on products from the prior season before the next season starts. And this is where you’ll be able to get Roark clothes and accessories at a discount: everything from shirts and pants, to hats, laid-back overalls and more.

Overall, do I recommend Roark?

Here’s the thing: I have a lot of pants and shirts, as well as backpacks. I certainly have a lot of backpacks.

By this point, I’m looking for unique stuff. I’m looking for styles I haven’t worn before, fabrics that make me comfier, and fits that I can rely on. I also want to be exploring less-traditional backpack gear.

The two Roark products that are winners for me are the 5-Day Mule 55L Bag and the Layover Traveler Pants.

Does Roark care about sustainability?

I was happy to find the Roark Sustainability page (although I had to go to the Explore menu on their website to find it, and that was something I only found after some searching). It shows how they use a responsible supply chain, use recycled cotton in their materials, are Fair Trade Certified and work with “give back” initiatives like environmental organizations.

I had been wanting to find if any of this was the case, given that they are an outdoors brand, and it is my hope that outdoors-adjacent brands want to do good for our environment while also providing quality products to their consumers. Anyway, this is what I found and you can read more here.

Where to shop for Roark products

Online, of course! The Roark website is fun to shop, and like I mentioned above, I recommend checking out the sale to find your next deal on a Roark product.

This was news to me: I didn’t know Roark had their own stores. They’re all on the West Coast, so if I’m out there, I’ll stop by.

For everyone else who’s not in California, Utah or Colorado, you’ll be like me, going to your local REI or other adventure retailer to see what’s in stock from Roark.

If you find what you like in a Roark store, use their store locator to get to the nearest one.