vitamins and minerals rash guard review

As you might already know, I have dealt with www.mmagear.com on many occasions. I have found them to be one of the best if not THE best mma-related merchandise site on the entire web. They are certainly the cheapest, and especially with their free postage sale, which reduces the price of these shorts by $5 straight away! MMAgear have extended their sale a few times, and this is obviously a good thing for us! The stock comes direct from Brazil and for some reason doesn’t attract any import tax or duty from Customs (I received a very annoying letter from Customs after I tried to claim back money from something I got from America recently). I have bought many items from MMAgear, and have never been charged any extra. What you see is what you pay.

I have never normally worn a rash guard, and was very curious when this one came through my door. As I have previously stated, I like Vitamins & Minerals. I think they have good designs, and are pretty good quality. Thrash guard looked beautiful on the net, but when I got it out the packet, it didn’t look as nice unfortunately. Don’t get me wrong, it looks the same, they are not advertising one thing then sending you another, it’s just that for some reason it didn’t look as nice. As far as size and fit goes, this rash guard was a little bigger than other guards, and easier to put on. There was a little more give in it than other ones, and once stretched, it didn’t fall back into place. A quick wash in the machine sorted this out though.

As for the design, this rash guard is mainly a very dark green on the front and back, with the shoulders and sleeves a mustard-yellow colour. The bottom of the sleeves and collar are white, and down the sides of the guard are blue. Each sleeve has the Vitamins & Minerals logo on the top, and the front and back panels have the Vitamins & Minerals writing in red and white. Finally, the collar itself has ‘Vitamins & Minerals’ written on with a small Brazilian flag emblem.

The mats at our gym are the thick ‘Neil Adams’ judo mats…you know, the green ones with the odd red one for competitions? Many times have I hurt my knees, back, and feet on these harsh mats. When I put on my rash guard and rolled, I knew I had not made a mistake. The protection I got was superb. I didn’t feel the mat at all on my back, and when we worked the medicine ball, I still couldn’t feel the harshness on my chest.

As with the Hunter rash guard which I have also reviewed, this rash guard lasted well after an intense 2 hour session. Again, as I took it off, and it was soaked. It really makes you realise how much water you lose when rolling! The guard succeeded in keeping in my body heat, and also soaking up a lot of my sweat. When the moisture gathers in the guard, it makes it easier to move on your back (not that I like being on my back particularly), and therefore can improve your performance potentially. That’s my take on it anyway.

Well, I was happy with the guard to this point. It had passed all the tests, but would it last? I decided to wear this guard at my other training sessions to test the emblem on the back. Unfortunately, the red ‘&’ symbol on the back began to corrode a little. All the writing is still there, but it is coming off a little bit in the centre of my back. Saying that, I have never seen a rash guard that hasn’t peeled, and considering I was training a lot, it wasn’t as bad as it perhaps could have been. I suppose putting a design on the back of a rash guard is asking for trouble, but it would have looked strange with only a design on the front and not the back! To its credit, it wasn’t in as bad condition that the Hunter one was, but still, after only a couple of wears, you imagine it would last a little better.

All in all, this rash guard is very good is every respect. I get comments at every gym I train at saying that it is too good to wear for training, and that it is more for going clubbing in!! I guess they have a point! I do look a little multicoloured in my red boots, black pads, white shorts, and multicoloured rash guard!

Well, to summarise, www.mmagear.com have always given me and my friends absolutely top quality products and service. They are cheap (compare for yourself), and offer excellent customer service. Also, I ordered three t-shirts on a Friday, and received them on the Tuesday. That is two working days and they were from Brazil! I have no connection to these guys, but believe me, I can’t say enough good things about them, so try them and make your own mind up.

I was a little disappointed at the design of the guard (ie the colour coordination), but that’s life. Sometimes you see something you like one day, and then next you hate it! I’m happy with this rash guard, but preferred the Hunter one.

WEIGHT: 9/10

COMFORT: 9.5/10

(EXPECTED) DURABILITY: 8.5/10

AESTHETICS: 8.5/10

VALUE FOR MONEY: 9/10

OVERALL: 8.5/10