I heard you snicker. How may a humble neck tube encourage affection? I sneered too, as soon as.
In 2007, Backpacker journal requested me to check this new “multifunctional headwear” out of Barcelona, Spain, that had began exhibiting up in U.S. shops. Back then, I assumed the Buff neck/head/no matter gaiter (herewith referred to easily as a Buff) was an inexpensive gimmick—it didn’t even have correct seams to complete the ends. It was only a rough-cut tube of light-weight artificial knit cloth, but it surely promised to do all the things wanting cooking me dinner: Buff was a neck gaiter, a hair tie, a brimmed hat, even a wrist sweatband. It appeared like a number of hype for a bit scrap of fabric.
And but, the primary time I wore my new Buff, whereas snowboarding, I seen how simply I may breathe via the skinny cloth. This was an enormous enchancment over the thick and fleecy neck-warmers that stifled my air consumption once I pulled them over my cheeks and nostril. It turned out that by utilizing the marvelously ethereal and adaptable Buff, I may shield my pores and skin from frostbite and take pleasure in oxygen on the identical time. Wow!
Wherever I wore it, my Buff delivered just-right safety from the chilly, wind and solar. During spring ski excursions, when intense UV rays assaulted me from above and beneath, my Buff shielded my face higher than sunscreen and ended my unlucky behavior of burning my columella. (Google it.) Come summer time, I wore my Buff paddling, fly-fishing, biking and backpacking (it obligingly saved my pack straps from chafing my neck and shoulders).
When I now not need its protection round my face and neck, I merely wrap my Buff round my wrist—no have to discover a pocket or stash it in a backpack. I’ve used it to display pine needles and different particles out of backcountry water sources. Tying my Buff round my pal’s injured arm helped gauze keep put whereas she biked residence after a bloody fall. One perform that positively wasn’t promoted on Buff’s packaging: A ski buddy discovered that he may sip whiskey from his flask with out bothering to decrease his Buff from his mouth.
In 2009, I purchased an oatmeal-colored merino wool Buff (that truly has completed hems on the ends!)—and I haven’t cycled it out of my gear closet but. It’s grow to be my favourite accent for high-elevation exploration: The pale shade deflects the solar’s scorching warmth whereas the wool regulates my temperature throughout all the mountains’ local weather moods. This Buff has cinched my cap to my head in gusty Patagonia and warmed my ears all through my yard (aka Park Range) in northwest Colorado. It’s in all probability the oldest piece of substances that I nonetheless use, which makes it one thing of a landmark; if my gear closet was a city, my Buff can be its oldest regularly working saloon.
Buff itself has additionally grow to be an icon. In 2022, the corporate turned 30 years previous, and the neck tube that dirt-biker Joan Rojas invented to defend his face from mud had grow to be a mainstay of the out of doors world. Imitators abound.
Buff, in the meantime, is bent on differentiating itself via sustainability. The firm simply earned B Corp certification and is aiming for carbon-neutral standing for its in-house operations, situated close to Barcelona, Spain, which account for about 90 p.c of its manufacturing. And after a few years of utilizing recycled postconsumer synthetics and cruelty-free merino wool, it simply launched biodegradable Buffs fabricated from PrimaLoft® Bio, an artificial fleece that goals to handle the issue of PFAS (also referred to as “forever plastics”) with a make-up that decomposes again into supplies which can be present in nature.
While these practices and supplies make Buff merchandise dearer than many copycats, they goal for higher, not cheaper. It could also be fairly formidable for a easy neck tube, however that’s all the time been the model’s M.O. As I found again in 2007, Buff talks an enormous sport—and delivers.