That's my #1. Completely solved my issues with breast chafing (female).
My #2 is a wide, lightweight fuzzy headband. It's the best way to get a lot of warmth with almost no weight, and if I get too warm it's easy to just pull off and wrap around my forearm and forget about. It's my favorite piece of gear when the temperature is below about 45 F.
That's my #1. Completely solved my issues with breast chafing (female).
My #2 is a wide, lightweight fuzzy headband. It's the best way to get a lot of warmth with almost no weight, and if I get too warm it's easy to just pull off and wrap around my forearm and forget about. It's my favorite piece of gear when the temperature is below about 45 F.
I just solve my nipple chafing with electrical tape. Far cheaper than expensive body glide. A roll is like a pound and lasts seasons.
I wouldn't agree that shoes are more important. Apparel lasts way longer, even something you wear all the time would likely outlive your meh shoes you use once per week at most. So if it offers some perks, you'd get more bang out of it.
Merino wool longsleeves and tshirts are game changers. Maybe not so much in warmer regions but in Berlin they are useful like 7-8 months per year and it's not even that cold here. They work both as a single top piece and as a layer. They perform great under most conditions. If there's a heavy rain or if it's too warm and you sweat too much, they become a bit heavy but still work decently. I can run daily in the same top for a week provided it dries out, and sometimes when my wash schedule was off I used them for longer, still not too disgusting. Some people who sweat less than I do can allegedly doubles in the same top.
I have pieces from 3 different brands and the best ones are those which have 5-10% synthetic components to help keep shape after washing. 100% wool are too finicky, look like rags pretty soon. Those with higher polymer content are kinda cool in a hi-tech way but only usable like 3 times before starting to stink.
Also, I'm a fan of 'run cannonball run' shorts from Tracksmith. They totally do what is promised: you can run to the lake, swim, get out, run back and there's no chafing. There's also no chafing if you don't swim, and my nuts and thighs are quite picky when it comes to shorts. So I now have 2 pairs and run mostly in these. I even raced last year's Berlin Marathon in these despite them being so heavy. A bit expensive though but I find normal colored balls worth it, and they are not the most expensive shorts out there, not by a long shot.
That's my #1. Completely solved my issues with breast chafing (female).
My #2 is a wide, lightweight fuzzy headband. It's the best way to get a lot of warmth with almost no weight, and if I get too warm it's easy to just pull off and wrap around my forearm and forget about. It's my favorite piece of gear when the temperature is below about 45 F.
I just solve my nipple chafing with electrical tape. Far cheaper than expensive body glide. A roll is like a pound and lasts seasons.
Taping is the way to go. Lubricants can also be super cheap, like vaseline, but they don't work that well against nipple chafing. And stain your clothes.
I'm usually a cheapskate when it comes to running clothes, but I have a merino LS that was well worth the price tag- the temperature range that thing is comfortable to run in is insane. Way cheaper than buying a bunch of layers for different conditions, and less stuff to carry around on those weird in-between days when the trail is frosty AF for like an hour in the early morning before the sun comes out.
What piece of running gear is your current favorite? All-time favorite? Obviously, shoes are the most important but let's not talk about shoes on this thread, that is already the focus of the "Better Shoes" page here on Letsrun.
For me, it has to be my ancient but reliable iPod Shuffle. It is the size of a postage stamp, holds 500 songs and 8 hours of podcasts. Thanks to that thing, I have probably run 50% more mileage the last couple years. After 35 years of running, it is great to be able to listen to podcasts (or music) while grinding out the mileage.
What is your go-to, favorite running related piece of equipment or apparel?
p.s My all-time favorite has to be my trusty Timex Ironman watch. I think I took a million splits on that thing. I still love it even though I run with a Garmin now.
It’s not even close: T8 Commando running underwear. I like them MORE than running shoes. website: T8.run (size up, they run small); you’ll thank me.
I'll nominate my shoe dryer (Dry Guy boot dryer maybe?). For 2-3 months out of the year my shoes are squelching and soaking wet by the time I finish my run. I pop in the shoe dryers, which run at low power with a very weak heating element and fan, and the shoes are dry by the next morning. Amazing!! So much better than the days of stuffing in balled up newspaper pages.
Good call! Dry Guy boot dryer from Amazon is a Top 10 item for me. Absolute winner for getting the shoes dry and ready between crappy wet rain runs.
That's my #1. Completely solved my issues with breast chafing (female).
My #2 is a wide, lightweight fuzzy headband. It's the best way to get a lot of warmth with almost no weight, and if I get too warm it's easy to just pull off and wrap around my forearm and forget about. It's my favorite piece of gear when the temperature is below about 45 F.
I ditched Body Glide when I discovered Squirrel’s Nut Butter. It’s at least as effective, if not better, and doesn’t stink up/trash my clothes like Body Glide. Highly recommend.
I'm usually a cheapskate when it comes to running clothes, but I have a merino LS that was well worth the price tag- the temperature range that thing is comfortable to run in is insane. Way cheaper than buying a bunch of layers for different conditions, and less stuff to carry around on those weird in-between days when the trail is frosty AF for like an hour in the early morning before the sun comes out.
Sorry I’m posting a ton, but as I see these during scrolling, gotta comment...
Been running for decades and just discovery merino long sleeves (Icebreaker and REI versions). As someone noted, they’re a little heavy when wet, but great temperature range and (for me) much warmer when wet than the Under Armour base layers I typically use.
OP here, can we also flip the question around. What is the piece of running gear that you bought but you basically never use anymore? You wanted to give it a try, it seemed like a good idea, but nah, you never bother (or you just plain don't like it).
For me, that is my heart rate monitor. The idea is great but the data (at my age) is close to useless. I run the "same" every day and unless I am doing intervals, it is what it is. When I run all-out during an interval, I already know it is high! There is no point for me to know if it is 174 or 178 or 170 because I don't do intervals consistently enough to be able to compared date from day to day.