Cloudveil Highball Tee : Ready for Action

"Lightweight" has become the standard rather than the norm these days when it comes to high-performance fitness apparel. Cloudveil obviously had this concept in mind when they designed their High Ball shirt, a fantastic moisture-wicking top that is suitable for workouts of many varieties.

I wanted to put the shirt through its paces, so I started with a challenge designed to test the mettle of any quality piece of apparel--a 20-mile trail run on the hottest day of the year.

The shirt performed like a champ. Areas of my torso that are often prone to chafing (namely, my nipples and the area behind my armpits) came out unscathed. Excess sweat wasn't a problem; the shirt wicked it away so quickly that the only moisture I needed to be concerned about was on my forehead and inside my water bottle.

Next test: An intense weightlifting session in the gym. At the risk of forfeiting my club membership (something about an intensely offensive odor, according to the club rules), I decided not to launder the shirt between the trail run and the gym session. Surprisingly, the stench was imperceptible, another bonus point for this shirt.

During the weight workout, the High Ball shirt gave me a freedom of motion that I'm unaccustomed to while wearing a t-shirt. Never sticky or clammy, the shirt always retained an "airy" feel. Somewhere, Cloudveil's shirt designers must have been smiling. Their mission to design a practical, lightweight garment had been successful.

The final chapter in the shirt's test came at the hands of my washing machine. If I'm going to test it, let's really TEST it, right? I figured that four straight washer to dryer cycles ought to do the trick, and threw in an old shoe to provide a little company in an otherwise lonely set of appliances. The verdict? In a word: Remarkable. The shirt not only survived intact, it looked as though it had never seen a dryer much less been cooked to death at the hands of a product tester hell bent on destruction.

NOTE: This shirt is also available in women's sizes.

Bottom LIne: Cloudveil's High Ball shirt sets a new standard for quality in fitness apparel, and it's appropriate for just about any activity. The only rub, discovered late in the testing game, was a section of the seam on the inside of the shirt that has the potential to chafe along the side of the torso. Wearers with sensitive skin might want to ensure that their shirt has no exposed seams.--G.P. (Oct '05)

Price: $34.99

Manufacturer's Site: www.cloudveil.com

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