How do you BUFF®? – Product Review

Disclaimer: I received a UV Reflective Half BUFF to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

I know what you all are thinking. What the hell is a buff? Well, in short, a buff is a tube of lightweight, stretch material (pictured below). 

Because it’s lightweight and stretchable, it can be used for a variety of purposes. A lot of people wear them when they hike because it captures sweat really well and also protects their face from the harsh conditions that is nature. There are multiple ways you can wear them and I’ve highlighted a few of the ways I’ve worn my BibRave Buff®.

Note that this is not the buff I’m reviewing. 

BUFF®, the original company that sells these, has a wide assortment of buffs. The one I got to try this time around is the UV Reflective Half Buff®. Like the name implies, the Half buff is shorter than the Original Buff® and also has a reflective strip that will allow you to be seen at night by cars. I’ve been able to test this out for a few weeks now and I actually wore it in my last half marathon to see how it’d fare in race conditions and I have got to say that I like it quite a bit.

Pros

Shorter than the Original Buff® – Because I live in Southern California, I don’t really need all the extra material that comes with the full length buff. It is nice to have when it gets cold out, but for running purposes, the UV Reflective Half Buff® does the job just fine.

Wicks away sweat – The material wicks away your sweat really well. I unfortunately sweat a lot when I have a hard workout (Who doesn’t?) and this particular buff was able to absorb all of it. In my last half marathon, I wore it around my neck and I was able to use it to wipe all the sweat off my face. Bonus effect – the wet buff was able to keep my neck cool while I ran.

Reflective – The strip is a nice touch for when you run at night. I’m usually a night runner so I feel a little safer knowing that I have some reflective gear on me. As an aside, I am extremely terrible about wearing reflective strips/bringing lights with me on runs. I’m working on that though!

Versatility – I really like the versatility of these buffs. It’s stretchable meaning you can wear it multiple ways (like I demonstrated in the above and below photo) and there isn’t a sizing issue. With the half version, it’s a lot easier to wear it underneath a hat or a helmet (for cyclists) without it bunching. Also, like all of their buffs, they’re really useful in keeping you warm. I used mine to cover my ears and neck when it got cold out. It’s also surprisingly good at keeping your headphones in too. 🙂

The UV Reflective Half buff

Cons

Not the original length – This again is me being extremely nitpicky, but I found that the original BUFF® snuggly fits around my head a lot more than the half version. I have bangs and need the buff to keep the baby hairs out of my face and this one doesn’t quite do it. This can be easily remedied by using bobby pins to secure it though or just ordering a different type of buff. They have LOTS. They even have an UV Insect Shield version, which I may end up picking up if I decide to ever go back to a mosquito infested area. 🙂

Have you ever tried BUFF® products? If so, which ones and how do you like them? Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this product. I’d be happy to answer them. 🙂 

Also, here’s what other Bib Rave Pros had to say about the product:

Haley, Tedrick, Jeannine , Jessica, Frank , Janelle