Review: MISSION’s Heating Line – As Worn by David Villa and Carli Lloyd

Worn by MLS MVP David Villa (New York City FC) reigning FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Carli Lloyd (USA and Houston Dash), MISSION has followed up their impressive apparel debut from earlier this year with a full range of winter training gear. Here is our World Exclusive look at the collection along with our thoughts on each piece after donning them in recent training and workout sessions. We’ll be rocking them on the soccer pitch once our league resumes in February 2017.

The Details Courtesy of MISSION

MISSION, the sports performance leader in Thermoregulation technologies, has released the launch of their new Heating line of Accessories & Gear powered by game-changing technologies to keep athletes super warm and dry in colder weather conditions.

The new Heating line includes a full range of Accessories & Gear, including High Performance Gloves, Scarves, Headbands, Beanies, Balaclavas, Neck Gaiters and Baselayer Tops and Bottoms.   The ultra-lightweight and breathable Heating collection is entirely constructed to deliver superior warmth without the weight, while keeping athletes dry during training and competition.

As the global leader in Thermoregulation, MISSION is once again setting a new standard for microclimate management and temperature control to enhance performance and comfort for athletes at all levels of play.  From its new Performance Gloves that are carbon-infused and promote 20% greater heat retention than standard fleece, to its new Performance Baselayer Tops & Bottoms that are powered by 37.5® technology and keep you super warm and dry, MISSION’s latest product innovations, further reinforce the company’s focus on cutting edge technologies for enhancing performance through temperature control.

Vaporactive Baselayer Top

The MISSION Baselayer Top sees the firm’s warm wear compression top updated to serve as either a moisture-wicking and dissipating shirt to be worn under your jacket in cold weather or as a training shirt in for mild temperatures.

It is lightweight, extremely comfortable and looks fantastic thanks to its contemporary burnout design. The only major differences between the baselayer and compression shirts is that the former does have meshed underarms and is obviously long sleeved to keep you warmer.

Vaporactive Baselayer Tights

The MISSION VaporActive Baselayer Tights are a great compliment to the Baselayer Top. They use the same thermoregulation fabric technology as the top and function just as well. We wore them under track pants in a pickup soccer match in 30 degree weather, while running outside and in the gym.

They’re so lightweight and comfortable that you have to check that you even have tights on. They live up to their billing in keeping you dry in all the right places while active. Upon stripping out of them we could find very few areas where they had retain any sweat at all.

Radiantactive Outdoor Training and Running Performance Beanie

This is one of our favorite pieces in the MISSION 2016 Heating line! The beanie has a perfect, modern fit that even works well with glasses and sunglasses. It is quite snug, comfortable and lightweight. Like everything else in the collection it is a piece of gear that you can easily forget that you have on until you take it off and find that it has pulled the sweat off of your forehead. We wore the Radiantactive Outdoor Training and Running Performance Beanie in very cold and windy conditions and found it and found it to keep our heads and ears extremely warm.

Radiantactive Outdoor Training and Running Performance Headband

The Radiantactive Outdoor Training and Running Performance Headband is the lightest winter headband that we’ve ever seen. It has a cool burnout design for look but is all function thanks to its soft thermal fleece on its inside and low profile design that provides complete ear coverage from the cold. While the headband protected our cold sensitive ears from frigid winds it absorbed forehead sweat at the same time. Since even professional league allow headbands, these are a must for match play until the weather gets warmer.

Men’s Radiantactive Outdoor Training and Running Performance Gloves

These come in lightweight and midweight versions for the varying degrees of coldness that we experience during the fall and winter. We thought that even the midweight Radiantactive Outdoor Training and Running Performance Gloves did not carry much weight and were lighter than your standard training gloves nowadays. They’re extremely high tech in that they’re carbon infused to retain more heat and moisture resistant for wet conditions.

We are particularly fond of the gloves’ flat Velcro securing mechanism. Its reflective detailing for night training is also a brilliant value add along with the touchscreen-compatible fabric used for its fingers. Who wants to take off their gloves in the cold to change a workout track on their phone? We think that they make great everyday winter gloves as well.

Radiantactive Outdoor Training and Running Performance Scarf

MISSION’s training scarf is good beyond lightweight and enters the ultra-lightweight realm. Throw in thermal fleece fabric to keep you warm and 37.5® technology to dissipate sweat and you’ve got a must-have for those very cold days in which you feel like training outdoors. Its cool soccer manager loop construction makes it a nice accessory for everyday wear too.

Radiantactive Outdoor Training and Running Performance Neck Gaiter

MISSION has brought the snood back with their Radiantactive Outdoor Training and Running Performance Neck Gaiter! A favorite among Manchester City players such as Ilkay Gundogan, Yaya Toure, Bacary Sagna, Kelechi Iheanacho and Nolito, the neck gaiter (its proper name) is a multi-functional winter training item that can keep your neck, lower face and / or whole head warm in cold weather conditions. MISSION has made theirs with soft thermal fleece to retain heat. At the same time it is lightweight and breathable with a flatlock seam construction for comfort and quickly gets rid of sweat. It’s a great alternative to a scarf for extra cold weather training or match play.