After working in hockey retail for quite some time and retaining my firm level of skepticism about the possible value in over-priced polyester looking underwear, I finally parted with my cynicism and purchased some Under Armour. The first item that I bought was a pair of long underwear (more like tights, but goalies don’t wear tights, figure skaters do).

The first time on the ice in the Under Armour tights . . . er pants, I hated them. They had this odd slick feeling that was much different from the old style cotton I was used to. It was almost as if I knew I was sweating but my legs were somehow disturbingly not sweaty. I almost took Under Armour up on their no questions asked money back guarantee. However, having no other long underwear without large holes in it and not terribly inclined to play bare legged under my goalie pads, I decided to try them once more. After three or four games I decided that while the feeling was pronouncedly different, it really was an improvement.

After a few more months I decided that it was time to pick up a shirt as well. The one thing that is confusing about Under Armor is the multitude of different styles they make – Heat Gear, Cold Gear, Turf Gear . . . The list goes on and even working in a shop that sold the stuff and having ordered it on occasion, I still get confused.

It took me about three days of slow times in the shop to finally decide on the heat gear T-shirt. It isn’t that I am indecisive it was just that the colors we had left were less than perfect; I’m not a big fan of purple (also a color more suitable for figure skaters in my opinion). Anyway the Heat Gear Tee was actually my second choice to the Loose Gear, but black won out over purple in the end.

Now if I thought the tights . . . er long underwear felt odd, the tight fitting short was even a little stranger. These shirts fit really tight, not painfully so, just different to what most people are used to wearing. Again, the feel of Under Armour took a little bit of getting used to, but after a few hours it was far better than wearing a cotton tee. I don’t know where all the perspiration goes, because the Under Armour doesn’t weigh five pounds at the end of a game like cotton always did. Nonetheless, it definitely keeps the sweat off and is comfortable even at the end of a game where I would have normally had a soaking wet tee cold and sticking to me.

The only negatives I had with using Under Armour are that it tends to ride up if I don’t get it tucked in tight. Unlike the sweaty tee shirt, gravity isn’t enough to hold it down and once in a while it gets a bit drafty in the spare tire area. Also as I mentioned it does take a little getting used to for those of us who have always worn cotton.

As far as durability, the Under Armour has outlasted any cotton items I have ever worn. The initial investment is pretty high on their products when comparing them to more conventional materials, but the durability will more than make up for the increased cost. My leggings are going on two years old and are near perfect still, cotton was lasting about 6 months tops before losing elasticity and or wearing thin. The shirt is about a year and a half old and is in perfect shape as well. Tee shirts had a life span of three to six months for me.

So in all, I highly recommend Under Armour to anyone playing sports where you sweat profusely. To anyone playing sports where you don’t sweat profusely, maybe you need to try harder.

© Scott Noble – Unauthorized use prohibited

Also See: Fitting and Selecting Hockey Protective Gear
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