Buffs

Camping & Outdoors
1

The first time I saw a Buff was when my son attended the last National Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A. P. Hill about ten years ago. I saw them in the registration tent, but did not pay much attention to them. Later standing in line at food tent, a Scout in line next to us had one, and kept playing around with different ways to wear them, and the usefulness became apparent.

Now days, summer or winter, I always carry one or two of them. It’s as easy as carrying along a couple of handkerchiefs.

In just a few seconds I can turn one into a neck gaiter, toboggan, balaclava, sweat band, or other function. I prefer the merino wool ones in preference to the microfiber ones, because I like merino wool, and the the merino wool versions are just a little longer than the microfiber models.

It’s amazing that in summer time if you hike to the top of a mountain were it’s much cooler than where you started, drop a buff around your neck and you feel five ~ 10˚ warmer even if all you’re wearing are shorts, a tee-shirt and shoes. After dropping 36# over the past eight months, I’ve lost a lot of inbuilt insulation and appreciate having a buff handy more than before.

But they also come in versions that block uv, or are supposed to repel insects. I also like the Polar Reversible models for winter, but they are to bulky to carry in your pocket, fleece on one side, normal material on the other side. Which is different from the Polar buff versions, which is a normal buff with a fleece extension.

http://www.buffwear.com/buff-adult-headwear/original-buff

It pays to look around at different Buff websites to find the model you want. I have found the site in the UK often carries different models, than the sites in the USA, and delivery time and cost are about the same. But the USA sites often have models the UK site does not have.

2

Of the approximately 45 times I went fishing last year, I only didn’t wear a Buff once and that’s because I forgot it at home in the laundry basket. Unfortunately, I have a family history of melanoma and as I have gotten older have been more thoughtful in my outdoor activities in how I protect myself.

I have one of the UV buffs. Does it do anymore than a regular one? I don’t really know, but for $2 more I didn’t honestly care either. I’ve thought about getting one of the merino ones too, but haven’t as of yet. I agree, it does seem the company makes different ones for different countries. I was going to get a second one last summer so I could switch them out; one in the laundry and one I’m using. However, most of the ones I wanted here in the US had sold out and there were (IMO) only some hideous ones left. My local outdoor shop has both the Buff brand name and some copy and in this instance, I think the name brand name one was considerably nicer and certainly worth the extra $5-6 to me.

I did not buy the bug repellent one and I hate wearing bug repellent. I have found the Buff to work extremely well at keeping insects off of my neck and face. I have only noticed large horseflies are capable of biting through it.

3

If it is allowed I would love a link for the merino wool ones.

4

A google search will find several, But here is one:

http://www.kitshack.com/new-aw1617-adult-sport-collection/merino-wool

afaik, the kitshack , is same as buffwear co.uk. , which is the same as buffwear com as in the first post. But that is often the site you get from the USA. If you’re internet is slow, as mine is, as the kitshack page loads, you can see little banners saying the image is loading from there.

See, same page, different url.

http://www.buffwear.com/new-aw1617-adult-sport-collection/merino-wool

microfiber buffs are 52cm x 24.5cm
merino buffs are 66cm x 24.5cm (14 cm / 5.5 inches longer)

The buffusa site, has a few different models, and higher prices.

5

Thanks! I did Google but figured I would see which was your favorite. I will for sure be ordering a couple.

6

My apology, urging you to do a google search in hindsight looked rude, and that was not my intent.

I was only trying to point out that many outdoor gear suppliers also carry Buffs, and sometimes they will either have stock from last year’s models that you may like better than what is currently available on Buff only websites. And companies, or clubs can have custom made Buffs that are only available on those websites. And you might like those colors or patterns better.

If this forum grows in membership it would be cool to have a custom made Tenkara themed Buff made, though I don’t now recall what the process is or how many would be a minimum run. I think you just send them the art work and they figure out how to make it. I know a few years ago Hammock Forums had custom made Buffs made in microfiber, and they were kind of fun to own.

Ah, here is the link to BuffUSA custom order page. Of course they submit the order to Buff in Spain who created them. Minimum order is 25, but probably lower pricing with a larger order. Merino wool doesn’t appear to be offered for custom patterns.

http://buffusa.com/custom/

7

I wear Buffs quite often. Actually, I’ve been wearing a competitor’s version called Hoorag. They are Florida based (that’s where I live) and sometimes less expensive than the standard Buff buff when they run promotions. :grin:

In any event, I sent them an inquiry through their custom program today about what the cost would be on a 25 or 50 unit custom order just out of curiosity. If there’s enough interest (& it is cost effective enough), maybe we could look to crowdsource an order…

If not, something good to know I suppose, it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for Tenkara Angler since the Tenkara Jam (somebody brought it up to me there as well).

Keep you all looped in when I hear back.

8

I have a cheap Chinese one from amazon that I bought to try out.
I’ve used it twice. I get so gross and sweaty under in there in Alabama and GA my two main fishing areas.
Also most of the places I fish are not in open sun or even close to it, in fact it’s normally too dark to wear my sunglasses.

9

Cool.

10

Heard back this AM…
24-99 units are $10 each cost from vendor (assume it doesn’t include bulk shipment).
Production time is up to 30 days.
Not sure if we have the interest/people to crowdsource a 24 unit order, but that’s the basic deal.

Big price break when you get over 300 units.

11

$10 is impulse buy. Count me in lol.

12

I’d be in for two if you go forward with the idea & you come up with some cool art work. Something other than a shower of sakasa kebari, which I think is over done as an icon of tenkara. I’m sure there are several creative artist in the tenkara community that could help come up with something fun, not to busy looking, reduced to the essence of tenkara. Might be fun to run a contest for art work ideas in the next issue of Tenkara Angler. It would be cool to see them offered either here, or via Tenkara Angler. :grin: Where ever it would be most appropriate.

13

Yeah Michael, sounds good.

Dig buffs, I have about a dozen, must have in the brutal alpine sun.

14

I’d likely get a couple, maybe more at that price.

15

I would probably be in for one at that price as well!

16

Count me in for at least two.
Just let me know when and where to send the money. :sunglasses:
!0 colors swag.

17

I am in for 2

18

Cool, sounds like there’s enough interest. @Peder & crew, what do you think of the 10 Colors Tenkara logo, the oval with the fish, maybe as a repeating pattern on a black or maybe grey buff?

1 Like
19

That works for me. I’d vote for grey. The person who designed the logo for me wanted to make a few minor changes (which we’ve been working and likely people have noticed). Let me look into that. She could also design the buff if we knew the dimensions. If that’s alright, I’ll ask her.

20

If you’d like her to, I can loop you into the email conversation with them. They are offering “complimentary design service and waive setup (up through 4 colors and for one design)” so sounds like they’d do all the work for us if we hand off the logo and give them some general direction, like “make it a repeating pattern on a gray background.” Let me know what you’d like to do and we can get the conversation going.