BUFFS - The Review

Having run into Henry from Buffs at the start of the Mongol Rally '09, who very generously gave me and the kids some Buffs I've had the opportunity to test them afield and learn a little bit more about them.
What's a BUFF bushwacker?

A Buff is a seamless tube of very stretchy material that I would wear around my neck or stretched over my head, [yes THAT stretchy!] If you're young and hot [or in middle youth and still hot] you could also wear it as a dress or boob tube type top. Or If you're folliclly challenged [ in the common parlance - a slap-head] you could wear one as a Do-Rag.

You wouldn't be telling us about it if it didn't do something more than that, surely bushwacker?

Glad you asked, you know me so well, here's the clever bit.

Because of the way the material is knitted Buffs offer a very high grade of protection against UV light, in fact 95% which is better than many sunglasses. So when spending the day fishing, near snow covered slopes, or on the water they offer the kind of UV protection that we'd usually have to resort to environmentally questionable and expensive sun creams to obtain. They also do a range of Angler Buffs in all kinds of fish skin prints which are pretty cool.

OK so that's fishing, snow and water sports covered, anything else?

Yes, for lots of hunting applications, Rabbits, and Turkeys for instance, face camo can be a real help. Henry didn't have a any of the types of 'Camu Buffs' to hand when we met but there's a match for pretty much any pattern you might choose. Obviously my first question was 'do the dies contain optical brighteners?' i.e the chemicals in washing powders and cloth dyes that make clothes look bright, clean and vibrant to the human eye, but which literally make us GLOW to the eyes of a deer. Henry didn't know but was good enough to pass my question on to Sarah at Buffs HQ who passed word back telling me she thinks not.

Cool, so great for Summer, late Spring and early Autumn [Fall] then?

The Buff folks are keen outdoors people too and they've long stocked a Polar Buff which is basically a regular buff stitched to a fleece tube. Not bad, I wore a fleece tube while commuting by scooter all winter and it was a godsend, but the latest development is what's got me exited - the new 100% Merino Buff.

The color I want wasn't in stock yet but as soon as it arrives I'll be doing an 'unboxing' review. I'm expecting great things, as regular readers will know, after receiving that Merino Icebreaker top for swagmas last year I'm a total convert to Merino wool. Its almost water and windproof, it combines the super insulative qualities (wet or dry) of wool, with the stretchy comfort of a cotton lycra mix. It's now my default choice for all but outer wear.

Warning to potential buff owners - The Littlest Bushwacker has already had her Buff misappropriated by EX Mrs SBW who is now wearing it as an Alice band, and she would have taken Bushwacker Jnr's too if he hadn't caught her in the act. Keep 'em close or lose 'em.

More soon

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