Review: Underarmour Heat Gear Long Sleeve Rashguard

Front chest logo

Well, a few years back I'd ordered and recieved my Sprawl shorts for starting no gi grappling.  Everything in my world was getting more awesome and jiu-jitsuy . . . but after a couple classes I realized that cotton t-shirts just don't cut it.  They get drenched, uncomfortable, and I was getting my (and my partner's) hands caught in their wet billowy folds (gross).  That and they were ripping/stretching out of shape pretty easily.  It was time to embark on a quest to find a decent rashguard.  Not wanting to try and order something online I went to the nearest sporting goods store and asked for 'one of those stupid shirts that joggers wear to look like superman'.  The clerk immediately knew what I was looking for and came back with a longsleeve Underarmour Heat Gear shirt.

Stitching that I had to add to the seam at the waist

Stitching that I had to add to the sleeve seam

For something that's not designed for grappling, this shirt has held up pretty well.  I did notice after the first few classes that both sleeves had the stitching start to come loose though . . . so I had to bust out the ole sewing needle and thread to fix that up.  As you can see from the pictures, apparently I didn't have any black thread.  :S  Whatever.  Aside from my sewing modification, this shirt has stood up pretty well to weekly use in grappling, (and occasional use as an undershirt while snowboarding).  I'll add some pics later so you can see where it's starting to get frayed/tattered along the sleeves and back, but I'm hoping to squeeze another year or so out of her.  We'll see what happens.


So, what do I like about this rashguard?  Well, the logo is small and inoffensive (the training bling / billboard effect that so many like just isn't for me).  It's very light weight - you barely know that you're wearing the shirt.  It breathes well and wicks away your sweat to keep you cool/dry.  It works well under a gi to keep you from getting all scratched up (and trust me, my HCK double loves to chew up skin).  Also, the arms are a decent length (more on this later in a review of my HCK rashguard).  Chafing isn't a problem even when rolling for hours at a time.  It's also pretty easily available at just about any sporting goods store.  My main beef with this thing is that (unless you get some kind of special deal on them somewhere) they're just too expensive (45$) up here in Canada.  The stitching coming loose was a bit of a pain, but hasn't been a problem again since my second week of using it.

The Underarmour Heat Gear gets a thumbs up from me if you're in a pinch and need a rashgaurd, or if you can find them for a reasonable price.

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