Quick Take Review

Well I hear “cooling was one of the hottest trends” at the recent Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City. I can’t really comment as I wasn’t there. But I did recently receive a sample of a product from Mission Athletecare that’s one of the first I’ve seen that really delivers on the promise. It’s the EnduraCool Instant Cooling Mesh Towel.

Gear manufacturers started raising the hype level around cooling fabrics a while back. My friends at Columbia promoted their Omni-Freeze ICE fabric last year (an offering that didn’t quite live up to its claims). They upped the ante this year with Omni-Freeze ZERO. I tried an early sample and there did seem to be a difference. But I haven’t had the chance to test a production product. I did test the Enduracool Towel, and I must say, I’m impressed.

Mission Athletecare makes a range of products for athletes of all types. Their line includes anti-chaffing balms, sunscreens, grip enhancers, rehab creams and whole range of apparel and accessories for cooling. There are hoodies, arm sleeves, skull caps, helmet liners and other headwear, in addition to the EnduraCool Towel in the line up.

Specs
Fabric: Coolcore 60% rayon, 40% polyester
Dimensions: 15 in x 36 in (extra large)
Weight: 2 oz

Mission Athletecare manufactures the EnduroCool Towel from Coolcore fabric designed by a company in New Hampshire. It’s a rayon and polyester blend that truly does seem to have cooling properties. We tried it in multiple circumstances and found noticeable temperature differences. In each case, we following the instructions which are imprinted on a corner tag on the towel: get it wet, wring it out, snap to activate. Now, does the snapping really do something chemical? Or does it just start the evaporation process that drives natural cooling? I don’t know, but whatever it does, it works.

The EnduroCool towel comes in five different colors from conservative black to hot pink. MSRP is around $15, but I’ve seen them for as low as $9.99 on Amazon