I heard you snicker. How might 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 displaying up in U.S. shops. Again 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 material, however it promised to do every little thing in need of cooking me dinner: Buff was a neck gaiter, a hair tie, a brimmed hat, even a wrist sweatband. It appeared like a variety of hype for just a little scrap of fabric.
And but, the primary time I wore my new Buff, whereas snowboarding, I observed how simply I might breathe by the skinny material. This was an enormous enchancment over the thick and fleecy neck-warmers that stifled my air consumption after I pulled them over my cheeks and nostril. It turned out that through the use of the marvelously ethereal and adaptable Buff, I might shield my pores and skin from frostbite and get pleasure from oxygen on the identical time. Wow!
Wherever I wore it, my Buff delivered just-right safety from the chilly, wind and solar. Throughout 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).
Once I now not need its protection round my face and neck, I merely wrap my Buff round my wrist—no must 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 buddy’s injured arm helped gauze keep put whereas she biked dwelling after a bloody fall. One operate that positively wasn’t promoted on Buff’s packaging: A ski buddy discovered that he might 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 really has completed hems on the ends!)—and I haven’t cycled it out of my gear closet but. It’s change into my favourite accent for high-elevation exploration: The pale coloration deflects the solar’s scorching warmth whereas the wool regulates my temperature throughout the entire 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 Vary) in northwest Colorado. It’s most likely the oldest piece of drugs 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 change into an icon. In 2022, the corporate turned 30 years previous, and the neck tube that dirt-biker Joan Rojas invented to protect his face from mud had change into a mainstay of the out of doors world. Imitators abound.
Buff, in the meantime, is bent on differentiating itself by sustainability. The corporate simply earned B Corp certification and is aiming for carbon-neutral standing for its in-house operations, positioned 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 product of PrimaLoft® Bio, an artificial fleece that goals to deal with the issue of PFAS (often known as “ceaselessly plastics”) with a make-up that decomposes again into supplies which can be present in nature.
Whereas these practices and supplies make Buff merchandise dearer than many copycats, they purpose for higher, not cheaper. It could be fairly bold for a easy neck tube, however that’s at all times been the model’s M.O. As I found again in 2007, Buff talks a giant sport—and delivers.
