"Ation Crater Mesh" is a 980 yen mesh innerwear that mountain lovers who know true comfort love to wear every day in winter
ATION Crater Mesh , a mesh innerwear from Kajimake has received a lot of attention on our site due to its incredible cost performance
As mentioned in the introductory article at the time, this innerwear is actually perfect for everyday wear, from cold winter days to active activities in low temperatures such as sports
Of course, as someone who owns a number of high-performance innerwear for mountain climbing, I certainly feel more comfortable wearing my "starting lineup" when I go into the mountains. However, when it comes to whether I can actually wear these high-quality, expensive innerwear "every day," the price, worries about deterioration, and the hassle of maintenance are obstacles, and frankly, it makes me a little hesitant
For this reason, I had to compromise to some extent and wear standard winter innerwear in my daily life. However, since I discovered Crater Mesh, I have started wearing it not only in my daily life but also in winter, especially when running or training, on parts of my body that come into direct contact with my skin. Of course, I layer shirts, mid-layers, and outerwear on top of it
It's not that this product itself "generates heat" or has any magical properties, but if you wear it on your skin and your regular clothes, it will help ease the discomfort that winter often causes, keeping you neither too cold in low temperatures outdoors nor too hot in high temperatures indoors or during strenuous exercise. In short, it's just right
When I mentioned this to the manufacturer, they directly contacted me and said they wanted to spread the word about how convenient it is. So, I thought I'd take this opportunity to review the usability of this shirt in winter, comparing it with other common winter innerwear in the same price range
table of contents
Thin, light, and gently warm
As many people may know , many of the so-called thermal innerwear that has been popular for the past few years works by absorbing moisture from the human body to generate heat a process known as "moisture absorption and heat generation."
However, with this system, although it does indeed become warm for a while after it starts to absorb moisture from sweat, etc., the heat-generating effect does not last, or conversely, if you suddenly enter a warm room and start sweating, it may become hot even in situations where you actually want to lower the temperature.It is said .
Furthermore, in order to improve heat retention, there is currently a trend towards thicker fabrics, which means that people tend to end up bulking up in thick innerwear in the winter
Crater Mesh does not have the warmth issues or inconveniences of being thick and heavy that are common with standard winter innerwear
The secret is in the way it's heated: it's heated not by making the dough thicker, but by incorporating plenty of air
The material used for Crater Mesh does not have any particular moisture-wicking or heat-generating properties. It's also light, weighing just 90 grams, and so thin that you can see through the back. Despite this, the shirt provides just the right amount of warmth, comparable to winter thermal underwear, thanks to the way it creates that warmth
First of all, the fabric used in Crater Mesh is not a complete net (mesh) as the name suggests, but rather has a "crater" shaped mesh structure with thick and thin parts of the fabric creating unevenness
Furthermore, the fabric has a certain degree of stretch, so it fits snugly between your skin and the shirt without letting in any wind
The air warmed by body heat then becomes trapped in the recesses of the fabric, acting as an insulating layer and keeping the heat near the surface of the body. Of course, this layer alone won't keep you warm, so you need to wear layers on top. In other words, it's not the "heat absorbed" by moisture-wicking, heat-generating innerwear, but rather the warmth provided by a simple, still layer of air (dead air), so it's not a matter of durability or heat generation due to sudden changes in temperature or humidity
Incidentally, to check how warm they are, we actually wore five items under the same mid-layer under the same conditions to compare them: Uniqlo's Heattech, Shimamura's Fiber Heat, Gunze's Hot Magic, Senshukai's Hotcot's short-sleeved thinnest models, and this Crater Mesh. The results showed that there was almost no perceptible difference. Of course, compared to the thicker types in these series, Crater Mesh does not offer as much warmth, but considering its lightness and thinness, it is more than enough
Quick drying and comfortable even when sweating
Another major reason why Crater Mesh is "just right" compared to other cheap winter innerwear is that it reduces discomfort even if you sweat, providing high levels of overall comfort
Cheap winter innerwear designed for everyday wear isn't designed to be drenched in sweat in low temperatures, so once the clothing gets wet, it's hard to dry, and while it's drying, it doesn't retain heat and is cold. Many articles have already talked about , but Crater Mesh avoids these inconveniences through both the composition of the material and the construction of the fabric.
Material composition: Sweat-absorbing and quick-drying material, so it dries quickly
Crater Mesh is designed to withstand use in field work and sports. That's why it's made of 79% polyester and 21% polyurethane, which gives it elasticity. This is similar to the quick-drying T-shirts commonly found in sportswear. This allows sweat on the skin to be quickly absorbed into the fabric, which then easily spreads to the outer layer
On the other hand, if you look at other cheap winter innerwear, you'll almost always see materials with low quick-drying properties, such as rayon, woven into them. This is likely intended to emphasize their moisture-wicking and heat-generating properties and soft feel. For example, Heattech (2018) is 34% rayon, while Shimamura's Fiber Heat is 38%. Senshukai's Hotcot is also made with 95% slow-drying cotton
This difference in material composition made a big difference in how quickly the shirts dried. Also, just for reference, we compared how quickly they dried over time by wringing out the shirts until they were no longer dripping and drying them in the shade, which is 100% moisture. As expected, Crater Mesh dried faster than any of the cheap thermal innerwear (see the figure below)
In summary, cheap winter innerwear dries relatively slowly, leaving you soaked with sweat and uncomfortable for long periods of time, making it unsuitable for activities that cause a lot of sweating in winter. On the other hand, Crater Mesh has excellent quick-drying properties similar to sports T-shirts, so it can be worn safely in a wide range of situations, from people who enjoy sports in winter to those who often travel on heated trains or move between indoors and outdoors
Fabric structure: The entire fabric does not adhere to the skin, so it does not stick to the skin and does not cause cold sweat
I'm sure there are many people who have experienced feeling cold after leaving their shirt wet with sweat for a while
Water has a higher thermal conductivity than air, so if moisture remains on your skin, heat from the surface of your skin will be steadily lost, causing your body to cool down. This is what's known as "chilling from sweat," and it can be so dangerous that it can even cause hypothermia in the mountains, even in summer, and can be life-threatening if not treated properly. In everyday life, if you're in a cold place and you're sweating profusely, you'll still feel cold and uncomfortable, no matter how thickly you're dressed
The first thing you need to do to prevent sweat from chilling is to dry as quickly as possible. And even while it's drying, it's best to keep moisture away from your skin as much as possible. As mentioned above, slow-drying thermal innerwear keeps wet clothing in contact with your skin for longer, so if you sweat a lot in low temperatures, you can't escape the discomfort of stickiness and chills from sweat
In this regard, Crater Mesh, as mentioned above, has an uneven surface, so the area that comes into contact with the skin is smaller than other fabrics. This means that sweat is less likely to cause chills, and even if you sweat in the cold winter, you will feel less uncomfortable than with other cheap thermal innerwear
Summary: Thin, quick-drying, yet slightly warm, this innerwear is perfect for everyday wear, from work to sports
For these reasons, the Ation Crater Mesh offers just the right amount of warmth for winter innerwear, and the functionality to quickly adapt to intense activities and temperature changes (although not as much as full-fledged outdoor innerwear), all at a low price. It can be used as an inner layer not only in spring and summer, but also in fall and winter. It's especially great for everyday use in winter. My current favorite ways to wear it are under a dress shirt or sweater, and under thick, quick-drying, sweat-wicking clothing like Polartec Power Dry during training
Now that the weather is really starting to get cold, I would especially recommend this to people like me who know the quality of outdoor innerwear but have been troubled by the inconvenience of cheap innerwear. According to the manufacturer, the long -awaited V-neck series will be released with the spring 2019 model . Once you realize how convenient this is, you'll probably want to buy multiple pieces and wear them every day.
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