[bobs1066]

Do the Underarmor T-shirts really offer a significant comfort advantage when used under a cover shirt when wearing a shoulder holster?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[KMKeller]

Underarmor is top notch undies. Highly recommended for my part.

[SapperLeader]

I dont know how they are with a shoulder holster, but my friend wore them under his bodyarmor on our deployment last year, adn swore by them. He says that they absorb all his sweat, and increased his comfort level.

[jthuang]

Dunno about shoulder holster, but I have a good amount of UA gear (four each of Heat Gear shirts/shorts and four Loose Gear shooter shirts). I am not an "operator", just a guy who works out 3-5x per week and likes to go hiking and camping.

The Heat Gear works well for keeping you comfortable when you are active or in hot/humid weather. The polyester material wicks moisture away from your skin, which keeps you drier. It does not work particularly well in cold weather where you are not active (i.e. if you're not moving around a lot, wear a regular cotton t-shirt because the UA Heat Gear shirt will make you feel colder).

Some UA gear is made in the USA (yay) but a lot of it is made overseas (e.g. Haiti). Nike Dri-Fit, by comparison, is similar -- most of it is made in Mexico but some of it is made in the USA.

I do not have a conclusive opinion on durability of UA gear long term (yet). Most of my UA gear is relatively new (about 6-8 months) because I was using Nike Dri-Fit gear before I got my UA gear. I have noticed that one of my UA Heat Gear shorts is starting to show signs of wear (small holes). Then again, my Heat Gear shorts are used 3-5x per week for workouts and they get washed every week.

You can find UA gear at almost any popular sporting good store. If you prefer the Tactical line (suppressed logo) you can find them at Lightfighter.com. The Tactical line is also discounted from the regular line, at least at Lightfighter (you'll save about $5 per garment). Keep in mind there is a long wait for UA gear at Lightfighter, due to the war effort. I had a relatively small order of UA gear, and I had to cancel the remaining part of the order and have them ship what they had on hand after a three month wait.

[Mikul]

I have a similar product put out by Russel Athletic. I bought it because I hate the summer. The heat just destroys me, but that Russel shirt is the coolest shirt I own. When worn by itself, it feels like I'm not wearing a shirt at all.

[clubsoda22]

they work well under my body armor. Just beware if you're extraordinarily hairy.

[Series 70]

I wear UA under my chest protector as a baseball umpire. I've done games in 90+ degrees with and without UA. UA makes a big difference in comfort. I've not seen any wear from the gear. Last year was my first using UA. My one UA shirt got worn for at least 40 games. Picked up two more of the shirts for this season. Great product.

[bobs1066]

Thanks for the info. I'll look around & see what's available locally.

[vertigo7]

I bought an UnderArmor T-shirt yesterday at the local Sports Authority ($25+tax, ouch.) and then went out hiking. I love this thing! It kept me feeling cool and dry all day long. I'll be buying a few more as funds permit.

[VaughnT]

Where can you get them cheaply? At around $25 per, a week's worth of shirts is mighty hard on the wallet.

Can you wash them in plain water, like in the shower, and then hang them to dry?

Do they work well for keeping you cool under a polyester uniform shirt? Do they come in fat sizes? I usually wear a 2x tall undershirt and I don't want some skin-tight leotardesque fit.

What about the boxer briefs? Will they help keep you cool and prevent crotch rot?

And what's this about being excessively hairy? Like most middle-aged men, I have more hair on my butt and back than I do on my head. I definitely don't want some sort of velcro effect when I try to take the shirt off.

I'm getting curiouser and curiouser....

[vertigo7]

VaughnT,

UA has a product line called LooseGear that has all the properties of their normal line, but is loose-fitting for those that don't care for the spandex-effect.
Cleaning: I just looked at the tag from my t-shirt and then looked at their website and haven't found any cleaning directions yet.
Being rough on the hairy folk: I'm follically-enhanced as well and I had no trouble wearing or removing the t-shirt.
Other stuff: I just picked up a pair of UA's boxer briefs and some of the socks, and I'll let you know how it works out when I go hiking again this coming weekend.

[bobs1066]

I wandered over to Topeka & found Dick's Sporting goods has Under Armor out the whazoo. Picked up a couple of the Loose Wear T shirts & will see how they work out. BTW, they were $24.99. Some Nike Dri Fit T's were $40.00!

[jthuang]

Where can you get them cheaply? At around $25 per, a week's worth of shirts is mighty hard on the wallet.

From what I have seen, no one discounts UA. It may be that UA has a pricing policy, but I have never seen UA selling below list ... except for their Tactical line. If you go to lightfighter.com, you will see that the UA Tactical line generally is priced $5-6 below list. Doesn't sound like much but if you're going to buy a week's worth of shirts, then it tends to add up.

NB: see my post above about possible extended wait times for ordering UA Tactical from Lightfighter.

Can you wash them in plain water, like in the shower, and then hang them to dry?

Dunno about washing them in the shower. My UA gear says they are machine washable (warm water) and you can also use a dryer (tumble, low). I throw mine in the washing machine at warm water but air dry.

Do they work well for keeping you cool under a polyester uniform shirt? Do they come in fat sizes? I usually wear a 2x tall undershirt and I don't want some skin-tight leotardesque fit.

Yes, they are wonderfully comfortable as an undershirt in warm weather. Dunno about larger sizes.

Most UA gear is "skin-tight" for that second-skin effect. However, you can check out the Loose Gear as mentioned by vertigo7 and see if they fit your bill. I have four Loose Gear shooter shirts and they work well as outerwear for workouts, but not as undergarments. The Loose Gear is really ... well, loose. Much more so than my Nike Dri-Fit shooter shirts. For this reason, I don't think Loose Gear would work well as an undergarment.

What about the boxer briefs? Will they help keep you cool and prevent crotch rot?

I've only recently started wearing their boxer briefs so I don't have a solid opinion on these yet. I have found that they are nice in warm weather; the sizing is a bit larger than their Heat Gear compression shorts (for good reason). Dunno about the crotch rot part. :D

[goalie]

I have worn UA tights and heat gear long-sleaved shirts when playing hockey for the last 2 years. As a goalie, you get hot, then stand there, then get hot again....... The stuff greatly increases comfort and also has stood up to 3x a week washings for two years. Now I even buy the boxer shorts. The stuff is spendy, but worth the money.

[Series 70]

The only thing to remember about washing UA is to absolutely NOT use fabric softener. Softener ruins the fabric's ability to wick moisture away from the skin.

[johnc522]

I have found that the best way to do washing with synthetics is to do a gentle cycle, cold water, and then air dry. I think that the dryer wears out stuff more than the washer does. Synthetics airdry pretty fast anyway.

[Sportcat]

I e-mailed UA off of their website 5 months ago with a question - site said I should have a response within 3 working days.

To this day I have never heard from them.:rolleyes:

[VaughnT]

FYI, I was in the local police supply shop the other week and picked up a UA LooseGear t-shirt to try out. The fit was excellent right off the hanger, and I was really surprised. Normally, I wear a 2x t-shirt, but this XL UA LG TS fit me loose enough to not be spandexish but tight enough to act well as an undershirt. It's not tighter than my Hanes or FTL undershirts.

Thermo-regulation factor is definitely noticeable. From what I can gather, the polyester material acts like a french drain in that it doesn't so much "wick" moisture away (implying that the fabric actually does something) as it does provide a nonabsorbant channel for the sweat to pass through as gravity pulls it to the earth.

Quality is great but I liked how you don't have to wash the shirt every day. I gave it a thorough examination after the first wearing and decided that a second wearing was possible before washing might be required. I think I made it for four days before I felt that washing was mandatory, on general principles if nothing else. Good to know.

Downside #1: The shirts at the store were't many and a tall version wasn't available. As such, this shirt is just long enough to catch in the waistband, but it does like to ride up and out. Not a serious problem.

Downside #2: Dang things are slicker 'n goose crap! Aint no lie, it feels like silk and I'm hard-pressed to keep my uniform shirt tucked in.

Overall: I'll be buying a whole bunch of UA gear. I'm still interested in the boxer-briefs and the compression shorts (one and the same?) for work and gym use. The upside is that one of our crewmen knows a mgr at Sports Authority that might give us a 25% discount on the gear (he's done it once before, but not on a large order like this would be). If that pans out, I'm going to spend a lot of money.:D