Between snowboarding, crew, boarding school in New England and backpacking I’ve used a lot of different long underwear in my day. I must say that Helly Hansen LIFA is not only the best damned material I’ve ever worn as a base or mid-layer, but LIFA leaves all other materials miles behind in performance. Coolmax has nothing on it. Capilene has nothing on it. That Ze02 stuff that Mountain Hardwear makes has nothing on it. LIFA dries faster, keeps you warmer, smells less and is more durable than any of the competition’s best efforts. I use it for all my outdoor endeavors and would like to especially recommend its use for rowers. Late fall and early spring rows will never be the same again, this material is UNREAL at keeping you warm in splash rich practices, call JL and tell them to start making stuff out of it. The only complaint I have concerning LIFA is that it is ever so slightly abrasive. My team and I went for an 8 mile ‘fun run’ before practice one morning during mid-winter crew training in Tampa, FL. It was chilly at 5:30 in the morning, so I threw on my LIFA next to skin, after six miles my nipples had gotten a noticeable chafe and were uncomfortable. I’ve put in 45 mile late November AT section hikes using LIFA as a next to skin layer and experienced zero chafing, I think the problem is confined to high movement activities like running and perhaps snow shoeing as well. The next time I went running in my top, I put a silk weight Duofold Coolmax liner on underneath it and was amazed at how well the two tops worked together. Do yourself and your body a favor, buy this garment, it pays for itself in one use. My brother’s even got one.

Customer Service

never needed to contact

Similar Products Used:

Duofold Coolmax, Patagonia Capilene, various polypros and synthetics