A 980 yen mesh innerwear "Asion Crater Mesh" is a popular item for mountain lovers who know the true comfort of the product in winter.
ATION Crater Mesh is a mesh innerwear from Kajimake, which has received a great response on our site for its incredible value for money
As mentioned in the article at the time, this innerwear is actually just perfect for wearing every day, from everyday life in the cold winter to active activities in low temperatures such as sports.
Of course, as I own a large number of high-performance innerwear for mountain climbing, it is certainly more comfortable to wear those "starting" players when entering the mountain. However, if you can realistically wear these high-quality, expensive innerwear "everyday", then the price, concerns about deterioration, and the hassle of maintenance can be a little uneasy.
For this reason, in my daily life, I have compromised to some extent and wore the classic cold-weather innerwear. Since I discovered this crater mesh, I have been wearing it in the winter when I don't know it, not only in my daily life, but also in running and training, especially in winter, where I come into contact with my skin. Of course, I layered shirts, middle-wear, outerwear, etc. on top of that.
This itself does not have a magical effect such as "heating" or something like that. However, wearing this on your skin and then wearing regular clothes will help relieve the discomfort that is common in winter, such as not too cold outdoors under low temperatures, not too cold indoors or too hot indoors due to intense exercise. In a nutshell, it's just right.
When I told the manufacturer this story, I received a direct consultation on how it would be convenient, and now I would like to review this shirt again in winter, citing the common cold-weather underwear that is common in the same price range.
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Thin, light and gentle warm
Many of you may know that many of the so-called cold-weather innerwear that has been popular for the past few years are warmed by a mechanism called "moisture absorption and heat generation," which
However, in this system, although it certainly warms for a while after you start absorbing moisture due to sweat, the heat effect does not last, or on the other hand, you suddenly enter a warm room and start sweating, or even if you want to lower the temperature, you may not actually get the warmth just right when you want it .
Furthermore, in order to improve heat retention, the fabric is currently tend to be thicker, and in winter, it is easy to wear thick innerwear.
The warmth and heavy nature of these classic cold-weather innerwear do not apply to crater meshes.
The secret is the difference in how it warms: Instead of thickening the fabric, it warms it by incorporating plenty of air.
The materials used in crater meshes do not have any particular moisture absorption and heat generation effects. Furthermore, it is light at about 90 grams and is so thin that you can see through the back. Despite this, the reason why this shirt offers just the right amount of warmth, which is comparable to winter cold-weather innerwear is the mechanism that creates warmth.
First of all, the fabric used in crater mesh is not as the name suggests, but rather has a "crater"-like mesh structure that looks like it creates unevenness between the thick and thin parts of the fabric.
Furthermore, the fabric has a certain degree of elasticity, so it adheres perfectly to the skin and the shirt so that it does not allow air to pass through.
The air warmed by body temperature then stays in the dents of the fabric and acts as an insulating layer, maintaining the heat near the surface of the body. Of course, this is not just a single piece, but rather a layered one. In other words, it is not the "adsorption heat" of the moisture-absorbing and heat-generating inner layer, but rather the heat retention is simply made by a layer of non-moving air (dead air), so it does not matter whether it is sustainable or heat generated due to sudden changes in temperature and humidity.
By the way, to see how warm it was, we compared five short-sleeved, thinnest models from Uniqlo's Heattech, Shimamura's Fiber Heat, Gunze's Hot Magic, and Senshukai's Hot Cot, as well as the Crater Mesh, under the same conditions, actually wearing them under the same intermediate clothing. The results are almost impossible to notice in terms of physical dissimilarity. Of course, compared to the thick types of these series, crater meshes do not have the heat retention properties, but considering their lightness and thickness, it can be said that they are sufficient.
It dries quickly even when sweating, making it comfortable to avoid getting cold from sweat
Another major reason why crater mesh is "just right" than other cheap cold-weather innerwear is its high overall comfort, reducing discomfort even if you sweat.
Cheap cold-weather innerwear, which is only intended for everyday wear, is not often expected to get soaked in sweat under low temperatures, so once your clothes get wet due to sweat, it is difficult to dry out, and even when they are dry, they do not provide heat retention, making them cold. Many articles have already mentioned how dangerous it is when sweating under low temperatures is , but in this respect, crater mesh avoids the inconvenience in both the composition of the material and fabric construction.
Material composition: Sweat-absorbing and quick-drying material, so it dries quickly
Crater meshes are made to withstand use in field work or sports. Therefore, the material is 79% polyester, and 21% polyurethane, which creates elasticity. This is similar to the quick-drying T-shirt that is typical of sportswear. This allows the sweat on the skin to be quickly absorbed into the fabric, making it easier to spread to the outer layer.
On the other hand, looking at other cheap cold-weather innerwear, it is almost always woven with materials such as rayon that are not easy to dry. The purpose is probably to emphasize the moisture absorption and heat generation effect and feel of the skin. For example, in Heattech (2018), 34% were rayon, and 38% were "Shimamura Fiber Heat." Also, "Senshukai's Hot Cot" uses 95% cotton, which dries slowly.
Due to the differences in material composition, there was a significant difference in how easy it dries. Also, for reference only, when we used a shirt that was squeezed to the point where it was not dripped in the shade, 100% moisture content, and compared the amount of moisture that dries over time, we found that the crater mesh dries faster than any cheap, cold-weather innerwear (see below).
In summary, cheap cold-wet innerwear dries relatively slowly and is wet with sweat and is uncomfortable for a long time, making it unsuitable for activities that require a lot of sweat in the winter, while crater mesh has excellent quick-drying properties similar to sports T-shirts, making it safe to wear in a wide range of situations, from people who enjoy sports in the winter to people who often travel between the heated trains and indoors and outside.
Fabric structure: The whole fabric does not adhere to the skin, so it is not sticky and does not get cold from sweat
I'm sure there are quite a few people who have experienced chills after a while having their shirts wet with sweat.
Water has a higher thermal conductivity than air, so if the skin remains covered in moisture, the heat from the skin will be taken away and the body will be cooled down. This is what is known as "cold sweat," and in the mountains, hypothermia occurs even in the summer, which is a life-threatening and dangerous condition. In everyday life, if you stay in a low temperature with a lot of sweat, no matter how thick you wear, you will still feel cold and feel uncomfortable.
The first thing you need to do to prevent sweating and cold is to dry it quickly. And it's great to keep moisture away from your skin as much as possible even when it's dry. The slow-drying innerwear mentioned above will keep wet clothing in contact with the skin for longer, so if you sweat a lot at low temperatures, you won't be able to escape the discomfort of sticky and cold sweat.
In this regard, as mentioned above, the surface of the crater mesh has a uneven structure, so there are fewer parts that come into contact with the skin than other fabrics. This makes it less likely to cause sweating and coldness, and even if you sweat in the cold winter, there is less unpleasant condition than other cheap cold-weather underwear.
Summary: Thin and quick-drying yet slightly warm, and can be worn over every day for work, sports, and more.
For the above reasons, it is perfect for keeping you warm as an inner layer in winter and functionalities that quickly respond to intense activities and temperature changes (although not as much as a full-fledged outdoor inner layer), and is available at such a low price. Crater Mesh can be used vigorously as an inner layer not only in spring and summer, but also in autumn and winter. It's especially good to use everyday in winter. My favorite uses for now are wearing them under a shirt or sweater on a daily basis, and during training, I wear them under sweat-absorbing and quick-drying clothing such as thick Polartech Power Dry.
Now that it's getting colder now, I would especially recommend this to people like me who know the high quality of outdoor innerwear but are troubled by the inconvenience of cheap innerwear. According to the manufacturer, will also be released from the spring 2019 model If you realize this ease of use, you will surely want to buy multiple copies and rotate them every day.
