REVIEW: ClawGear Lycra Shirt

Claw Gear Lycra Shirt

Its a boiling hot day in the middle of a summer operation. You are soaked with sweat and your body feels like its suffocating. Every part of your body is chaffing and its starting to cause unbearable pain. Yeah, we’ve all been there. But what if there is a way to pull the moisture away from the body so that it can evaporate? Well, in reality this technology has been around for a long time by the common name of Lycra. Lycra which is just a fancier name for Spandex was invented in the late 1950′s. It is incredibly flexible offering a form fit, while offering excellent moisture wicking and drying properties. What this means for you is that when the material is in contact with your skin, it will pull the moisture (sweat) off of you and force it to the outside of the material. From here the moisture can evaporate to the outside air, you in turn will feel a cooling sensation while this happens. Pretty cool stuff eh?

Claw Gear Lycra Shirt

The ClawGear Lycra shirt falls in the classing as a compression shirt, it is designed to fit tight on the skin for the best moisture absorption. This is the point where I state that if you lack self confidence, this will probably make it worse. Much like compression shirts from popular brands like Under Armor, these shirts are going to show every nook, cranny, fold and flap. But who cares, they are damn comfortable. I have owned many compression shirts and there are a few key elements of this particular shirt that have impressed the hell out of me, I am in fact amazed that I have not seen design ideas like this used in the past.

Claw Gear Lycra Shirt

To start off, the waist of the shirt is elasticized. The elastic band is also coated with a tacky rubber liner to promote grip under the belt line. This just means that your shirt wont slide up on you over time. Anyone who has worn a compression shirt before has likely experienced the constant adjustment required to ensure that the shirt doesn’t slide up on you every 15 minutes. This alone has me sold but there is more fun to be had too. Instead of the shirt being entirely the same material the arm pits are stitched with an open mesh to promote even more breathability.

Claw Gear Lycra Shirt

The not so nice par that came about during testing was that some of the stitching around the base began to come apart after only one wash. As you can see in the picture, it appears that their serger stitch may not have been up to par. The nice part and one of my favourite is customer service, without even contacting the manufacturer the dealer offered an immediate replacement at no cost (way to go Crypsis!) and I was assured this was an isolated incident. Lets hope so because the features of this shirt have me sold.

Shirts like this are a great compliment to whatever over shirt you are wearing. If you feel it necessary, you can wear it on its own too. You can find these shirts for less than $30 at our sponsor Crypsis. Remember to stay cool and stay hydrated in these warm months!

Tags: base layer, Cool, featured, heat, kit, Lycra, Moister, Moisture, Moisture wicking, Summer, Under Armor, Under Armour

Category: Soft Goods