how is odor an issue for you?
I live in a tropical country, just north of the equator, and there isn't a day that goes by when I don't have to deal with the problem of sweating, especially since I love outdoor sports of all kinds! Lately I've taken up running marathons and it's nearly impossible to smell good after a few hours of pounding the tropical pavements. I also enjoy camping and budget travel and there hasn't yet been a time when I haven't had to deal with strong odors after a few days of less-than-ideal bath facilities.
do you have any funny odor stories from your past?
I went for 3 camps back to back once when I was working as a camp counsellor and it rained nearly throughout. Didn't notice much when I was in camp, because I think everyone pretty much smelled of the damp and mud and so forth. But because there were so many camps and my working clothes were seriously limited, I ended up having to wear a set of clothes that I had previously worn, though I tried to air it out for a day or so before going home in it. All the way home, people were giving me a huge berth... I had adjacent seats empty on both the subway and bus - no small feat in a densely packed country like mine!
how did you test the shirt?
So far it's my second layer on my 3 month backpacking trip to Japan. We've been to Choshi, Sendai and now Nagoya, and it's still on my back. When I sleep, I make it my base layer so my other stuff can get a wash and airing overnight.
how did the shirt perform?
4/26/ UPDATE - From Kagoshima, the shirt was worn to the Takayama Spring Festival, spent a day in Toyama and Takaoka, survived a 24 hour layover in an Internet Cafe, then went across the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route. The treated side held up really well throughout, though I managed to reduce the untreated side to sad whiffyness with the crowds at the Spring Festival and the layover at the 'net cafe. That half of the shirt also worked like a charm during 3 days as base layer in Tokyo afterwards, where it was quite warm (around 25 deg while we were there), and we are back to pushing the bar on just how much it can take before giving in to bad smells. We have since flown over to Hokkaido and it was part of my sickbed outfit - great for a person trying to sweat out a flu bug! - in Hakodate. Am now fully recovered and wandering once more, so far the tee is buried under five layers of snow-proof outfit. Verdict upon unpeeling the upper layers at night, from my travel mate: "Half of you needs to take a bath!" I wish I had a whole treated shirt for this trip! Incidentally, my towel had to be stored damp in a hurry and came out smelling of mildew after. My first thought after: If this had Agion Active on it, wouldn't it be wonderful? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4/13 UPDATE - We spent the last couple of days in Kagoshima, the furthest south we have been in Japan. This meant that the ambient temperature became quite a bit warmer than we have been used to so far, so the Agion tee got promoted to base layer. For the most part, it was actually the only layer - first time on this trip I actually got to run around wearing just tee and berms! It did mean that the shirt got a good workout right after it was washed though, and I have to say that the shirt seems to be working better now. ---------------------------------------------------------- 3/29 UPDATE - We have added Nagano, Yamanouchi and Kyoto to the list of the places that the shirt has been, and are headed out to Nara next. I will update you on how it holds out against hanging out a whole day with deer when we get a net connection (likely in Osaka, a couple days later). ----------------------------------------------------- It has survived a week of non-washing (half of it, anyway), and I was pretty happy that the treated area didn't smell of anything after days of being soaked in sweat and buried under 3 more layers of heavy clothing. My thermal base layers have had to be washed every couple days and they always smell really awful by then. I just pop it right back after my odd-day baths and it even keeps the layers on top from smelling, on the treated side!
What other products would you like to see Agion Active in?
Socks, definitely in socks. Underwear is also great, basically anything that has to come into contact with especially stinky bodyparts...
other content:
Kimberly will be blogging about the Agion Active shirt throughout her trip. Keep up with her latest adventures with updates on StinkatNothing.com and on her blog: zsup.blogspot.com
