what's better than a Snuggie? →[More:]

dear Northern Hemisphere bunnies, on this shivery cold late November day, I bring you the Buff. It's kind of like the Snuggie's skinny fitness-crazed cousin or something.

I recently picked up the same red merino one as is in the title link.

I have a lot of outdoor gear. Like, really a lot. Nordic ski gear, alpine ski gear, running gear, hiking gear and a double metric shitload of cycling gear. On any given laundry day, our utility room resembles the aftermath of an orgy between an REI and a pro cycling team bus.

That plain old red merino wool tube is quite possibly the single best piece of allpurpose outdoor gear I've bought in 2 decades of being a crunchy granola funhog.

even if the only outdoor activity you ever do is smoke, wait for the bus, or scrape off your car, I guarantee you'll appreciate having one of these things if you live anywhere there's cold wind. better than a scarf because it won't come untied, tangle in your shoulder bag, or dangle in your latte.

They apparenly come in coolmax too if you can't wear wool, although merino is amazingly non-itchy (I refuse to wear wear wool sweaters). The wool one is slightly longer than the coolmax variety and a perfect weight for 3 seasons; it's easy to double over for colder temps. It's nice and thin so it doesn't add any bulk under my ski or bike helmets. Also, regardless of how cold it is, I tend to sweat waterfalls at the slightest exertion, and this thing does a great job of staying just-the-right-level of warm and not-soggy whilst preventing the flood from running down my face / the insides of my sunglasses, etc.

Bonus for trail running on cold, windy days is that it works as a combo sort of turban-scarf / ear warmer device to keep my snarly, grouchy, frizzy, static-filled, feral mane of hair under control better than any combination of pomades, bandannas, ponytails, clips or related bondage gear ever managed to. Yea okay so it looks like hippie ass, but when I'm out on the trail I'm past caring about that.

disclaimer: I have no ties to the manufacturer, and expect no kickbacks from posting this here. I simply think these are awesome. I also get that they're expensive for what they are, however I don't personally know anyone with the skill or patience to hand knit something seamless in that fine of a yarn.