Under Armour Cold Gear - LS Olive
[UA-CGLSO]

I have to say, I’m thoroughly impressed with the top. Normally, I’d expect a synthetic top to stink to high heaven after a few days’ use. After about two weeks continual use (including on a six mile march), my Under Armour top doesn’t have that lovely B.O. smell and I’d happily carry on wearing it!

Something that I want to mention early on is that UA base layers are not flame resistant. Whilst this may seem somewhat obvious, I think it needs to be said. Therefore, I wouldn’t have said that this top is suitable for being worn ‘outside the wire’ on ops where there is an IED threat. However, UA don’t claim that their base layers are supposed to be flame retardant. This doesn’t detract from the performance of the top though.

Knowing that the tops are designed to be worn next to the skin, I opted to go for a ‘small’ size (normally I wear a medium or large t-shirt). The top isn’t uncomfortable to wear though, despite it being so close-fitting.

The ‘Cold Gear’ series of products from UA are designed to keep you warm in the cold and wick sweat away from the body. The recent cold spell has been ideal to test the top out in. Normally, I’d find that wearing the top, a t-shirt and my Haglöfs Fang Jacket would be plenty enough to keep me warm around town. When it got really cold, I’d add a jumper to the above layers and be comfortable.

Wearing the UA top under a Cbt95 shirt and my smock kept me toasty warm, even when it was below 0C. The blurb from UA says that the top is supposed to wick sweat away. I found that this actually occurred. On the six mile march the other week, I wore the top under my smock. It was a few degrees above 0 and I was neither too hot nor too cold. After the cool down, I noticed that there was some sweat on the top but not a large amount and my skin was dry – it does work!

One of the things that I like about the UA top is how stretchy it is. I have a Merino wool thermal top and it doesn’t quite reach my waistline. With the UA top, I can pull it down to stop a draught getting in. The sleeves are a good length as well. When you first put the top on, they need to be pulled back up your arm a bit. This is much better than losing heat because they’re too short! When I pushed the sleeves back up my arms, the top didn’t dig into my arms at all.

One thing that they could have added to the sleeves are thumb loops. Not a major issue though, as you can stretch the sleeves to your wrists very easily.

All in all, if you’re looking for a thermal top for the winter, you could do a lot worse than get the Under Armour ‘Cold Gear’ long sleeved top. It won’t break the bank, it adds a good deal of warmth and unlike some synthetic tops, it will remain odourless for a good amount of time.

Date Added: 13/12/2010 by Arrse Reviews