As I promised earlier I have purchased the XFGear Long Sleeve Gorilla Rashgaurd and will over time try to complete a review of it.
The item is available from both XFGear direct and SSF
http://ssfgear.com/shopsite_sc/product56.html
http://xfgear.com/index.php?page=sho...mart&Itemid=37
My wife actually placed my order for me late on Feb 18 through
www.ssfgear.com. I have made several purchases from Ron and have been happy with each. I found that I received the merchandise quickly and it all was as advertised. Although the same item was available through
www.xfgear.com for the same price, I decided to stick with SSF based on my previous experience. In the past I have received items from SSF as quickly as 2 days so the following Monday Feb 26 I dropped a quick email back to SSF in regards to the order. I had received an email acceptance of the order but had not received any notice of shipping or if the item had been back ordered.(I couldn’t remember if had received shipping notices in the past so I figured I’d just ask politely where my rashgaurd was.)
On 03/01 I dropped another quick email to SSF inquiring about the rashgaurds, as it still hadn’t arrived. I wasn’t sure about SSF receiving the first as I was having computer trouble (time to upgrade). Well in the mail that day the rashgaurd arrived. I quickly dropped another email to SSF telling them I had received the item. The package was postmarked 02/26 and came directly from XFGear in North Carolina. I thought this odd but can only assume that maybe SSF was out of stock and Ron went out of his way to get me one or he may simply drop ship the things from XFGear. I like to think I’m special though.
The first thing I noticed was how soft the fabric was, it wasn’t as stretchy as underarmour but had a better feel (sorry no better way to describe it.) The graphics were clean and crisp and were also softer than normal screen-printing. They seemed to flex with the garment.
The fabric was thinner than I expected but it felt very strong. But I don't have any other tight fit purpose made rashies to compare it too. The white stitching looks good against the shiny black(to use a term I heard my wife use once it "POPS" and matches the gorilla and lettering. Now was the time I was not looking forward to. The putting on of the tight fit rashgaurd. First let me state that I am not a fan of anything-tight fit (on me at least). I always feel like a sausage.
Anyway after figuring out the easiest way to pull thing on. My first impression was that the sleeves were very tight at the wrists, which appears to be a good thing as they would be less likely to ride up. The other two tight areas were the waist (either due to the above mentioned reason or simply my girth) and under the arms. Now by no way I am rock hard body type and at first this bothered me (see above comment about tight fit clothing) But I decided to wear the rashgaurd around the house for a while before condemning it. The more I wore it the more I forgot about the fit and just noticed that the rashgaurd seemed to move well. I didn’t notice any bunching or shifting. The next moment of dread I decided to look in the mirror. Now again I am not a rock hard body type I never had been even when I was boxing at LHW. Much less not as an older wiser, rounder person. The rashgaurd made me realize one thing I need to lift more weights. Not that it was bad or I looked too portly but simply how much better it would look with just a couple more pounds of solid mass.
Since I bought this tight fit almost soley based on the gorilla(some people like pink I like big dumb animals) I will coment on it. I can only recomend a less kick ass monkey. I don't know whether I can properly represent the gorilla in the gym. Maybe a older more peaceful out of shape and past his prime gorilla would be more like it.(I feel special edition coming on) Actually the gorilla looks good standing there in his xfgear gi. Altough the I don't play well with others may be over the top to some it suits me just fine.
The lettering and graphics along with the stitching looked great in the mirror as well as up close. I would have liked a higher neck line to proctect against gi burn and to make my head and neck look smaller. The cut of the neck combined with my giant head made it look just that much bigger in my opinion. However the neckline was supper comfortable and I didn't mind it soley on the fit alone. Just my giant head.(US hat size 8 if you were curious.)
My final first impression was that the rashgaurd was well made and I feel like I got what I paid for.
I will attempt over the next few weeks to update this review to include what its like to roll and do stand up in and how it holds up. I am most interested in how the graphics and lettering hold up to the mats and washing machine and how the fabric is about snagging and pilling.
