Under Armour coldGear...does it work? How about heatGear?

Masteroffajitas

Masteroffajitas

BANNED
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
2,412
Hey, I got a pair of $10 thermals to wear during a trip up North and never used them because it was pretty hot during the day. I've tried using them here in Minnesota now, but it's kind of scratchy and does't help keep me warm at all. I've seen under armour and just thought of them as some spandex company, but then I see the military using them and I start getting more intrested in them.

I just wanted to know how your experiance with underarmour as a base layor has been? Right now I'd probably get coldgear of course, but it would have been nice to be cooler up North this summer so I'd also like input on heatgear as well. Since it's tight, does it move everywhere, say if you bend down? Does it stay put. Is it suffacating?
 
Cold gear is great! I use it all the time. If you don't like the tight fit, go a size larger. It stays put and wicks well. Surprisingly warm despite weight.
 
If you have a lot of body hair the compression stuff can be painful. Other than that, if you treat it right it's good stuff. I've tried 4-5 other brands and none of them last as long.
 
Under Armour is great stuff! I've used the Heat Gear and the Cold Gear and both work really well. I used them primarily in sports, but have in the outdoors as well. The Cold Gear kept me warm and semi-dry even when sweating playing soccer in Novermber, and the Heat Gear kept me relatively cool and dry in the summer months.
 
I was very skeptical of the Under Armour until I tried a long sleeve. It provides a lot of warmth in a thin layer and packs small.
 
One thing I grew up with is long underwear ;)
My favorite configuration is the union suit. It makes taking a poop more difficult, but for equivalent materials, the configuration of a union suit is far warmer than standard two piece long johns.

I have two that I use separately or together depending on the conditions. The first is a polyester base layer that I bought from MEC. It's job is more a wicking fabric than providing insulation. The thing is kind of amazing. You drop a spot of water on your leg and the spot quickly wicks over most of your leg in seconds. This works particularly good with fleece over layers and prevents the build up of sweat on your body. The second one I have is made of 100 weight fleece suit. This one is a bib-type of suit, lacking arms. Paired with the polyester one it makes a very warm combo well suited to activities that involve sweating. When choosing long underwear make sure the seams are very flat as they can be particularly annoying. Also cut out the tags.

My son has under armour that he uses for football and seems to like it. If I were to buy a suit today, I would be looking at the more pricey WoolPower suits made of merino wool. The union suits are also treated to be flame proof, a nice feature for the woods and addresses on of the big downers about synthetic fabrics.
 
Cold gear works very well for the weight ad mentioned. Going with your proper size will def. make you feel like a human sausage. I take medium shirts, so I am more like a breakfast link...

I have also used the heat gear on a dove hunt in some very hot weather. It fely like I had on an air conditioned shirt.:thumbup:

I should also add,I have zero experience with the bottoms.

Paul
 
For bottoms I use UA Heat Gear during the Summer and then Smartwool longjohns on top of that for Winter.
I haven't found anything to beat those 2 brands.
For tops, I am still experimenting since I sweat profusely.
 
A heat gear alternative...I wear the Heat Gear "Loose Fit" and 5.11 version all the time. But for $40 a wack and it snags easily in the wild so I now buy the "knock off" same stuff at Target for $9 each! It is the same poly material and wears exactly the same but substantially cheaper.

I'm a 5.11 dealer and can order their equivilant of Under Armorer at dealer cost and still buy the knock off at Target.

The 5.11 poly tee shirts are just as good as UA and a bit cheaper.
 
I have found that the coldgear works great, but the heatgear does nothing for me except make me hotter!
 
I like the UA gear.

One thing i have noticed is that if you sweat like a pig (heavy exertion, too many beers the night before) or wear a pack, that the area where the pack sits on the back will stay damp, as will the armpits.That being said it does dry fairly quickly.
 
Quirt said:
A heat gear alternative...I wear the Heat Gear "Loose Fit" and 5.11 version all the time. But for $40 a wack and it snags easily in the wild so I now buy the "knock off" same stuff at Target for $9 each! It is the same poly material and wears exactly the same but substantially cheaper.

I'm a 5.11 dealer and can order their equivilant of Under Armorer at dealer cost and still buy the knock off at Target.

The 5.11 poly tee shirts are just as good as UA and a bit cheaper.
Click to expand...

I just went to Target's web site.
The long underwear bottoms were 50% cotton, more or less.
Did you find something different in the store?
 
I have used UA for years for sports and really like it. I have tried a lot of the knock off brands and most of them feel much less comfortable and less stretchy than the UA. The only brand I have found that is comparable to the UA is a brand called BCG which, I believe is the Academy knock off brand. It is much cheaper and very similar if not the same.
 
My local military surplus store carries UA shirts in colors like foliage green, od and koyote. I'll have to pick up one and try it.
 
Masteroffajitas said:
My local military surplus store carries UA shirts in colors like foliage green, od and koyote. I'll have to pick up one and try it.
Click to expand...

The military did issue UA to the troops but I think they stopped because it has a low combustion point. I have used UA for a few years now, its been a life saver and without it I would have been very cold on many occasions. It keeps you warmer without making you sweat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top