Gear Reviews
Review: MISSION VaporActive – Worn by David Villa and Carli Lloyd
Worn by former Spain and current New York City FC forward David Villa and USA women’s captain Carli Lloyd, the new MISSION VaporActive collection features 37.5’s cutting edge thermoregulation technology. Here’s our world exclusive look at the new range!
What is MISSION VaporActive?
The new MISSION VaporActive line employs a smart dry-to-cool technology platform, powered by 37.5, for the products that athletes specifically say they want dry and cool – like underwear, socks and baselayer.
Patented 37.5 technology is permanently embedded at the fiber level, and dramatically increases the surface area of traditional fibers by over 300%, creating a hyper drying environment that helps efficiently manage temperature and humidity by capturing and releasing moisture vapor. T
his enables the athlete to spend less metabolic energy on cooling their body, and more energy on peak performance. By helping athletes enhance peak performance, 37.5 technology makes the MISSION VaporActive line an immediate leader in the dry cool category, and continues to demonstrate MISSION’s commitment to delivering best-in-class technologies for thermoregulation.
Design
MISSION created true eye-catchers with their launch VaporActive launch range. Their shirt and briefs both use a current burnout look and use a relatively wide and low neck. The latter is now a regular feature in men’s training gear because of its proven cooling effect and comfort. Underarm and upper back mesh ventilation provide additional cooling in two of the areas of the body that heat up the most. The briefs are ventilated at the front and at the inner thighs for a cooling effect that all men will appreciate.
The MISSION logo is subtly placed on the front left breast and upper back of the VaporActive shirt. The branding much bolder on the briefs and runs along the front and back waistband. This stands out and looks pretty cool if you’re fit enough to wear the briefs with no shirt.
Fit
We tried out the main items from the MISSION VaporActive line – the VaporActive compression shirt and boxer briefs (which come is a two pack). Both fit true to size is a quite admirable manner. However, since they are compression gear they are formfitting and leave no room for hiding any unwanted weight that you may be carrying. This is particularly so with the shirt which shows off your hard earned definition or lack thereof. If you in shape the shirt will give a good view of your abs, chest, back, arm and shoulder muscles. If not then we suggest going a size up for a looser fit. You’ll get a little more coverage while enjoying its cooling effects.
Performance
We tried out a couple of the MISSION VaporActive compression shirts and briefs during both soccer and gym training. We found them to live up to their promise of creating rapid drying and keeping us cool even in temperatures above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike even the latest compression gear from sportswear giants such as Nike and adidas, this upstart gear barely had a chance to get wet from sweat before quickly dissipating the moisture that we generated from intense physical activity. The end result was that we remained dry and cool (in part because of the well-placed ventilated strips) when wearing our MISSION VaporActive apparel.
The other performance related factor that struck us about MISSION VaporActive was the feeling of light weight that both their compression shirts and boxer briefs provided. They don’t feel lighter than your normal compression gear coming straight out of the box but upon putting them on you feel like you’re wearing next to nothing. The only thing that we can attribute this to is the fiber-level 37.5 thermoregulation technology used for MISSION VaporActive. It is a brilliant feeling regardless of its source.
Final Thoughts
With big name endorsees such as Villa and Lloyd in the world of soccer and sports royalty such as Serena Williams, Dwayne Wade and Dree Brees elsewhere, MISSION VaporActive is sure to be in the limelight soon. Their products a top of the line compression gear that live up to their claims and are a welcome addition to any athletes training or match baselayer collection. MISSION VaporActive also has relatively low price points ($40 for a shirt and $30 for a pair of briefs). This makes for an additional reason to have a look at what they have of off.
