What's the Best Shirt to Wear Under Body Armor to Prevent Itching, Sweat and Rash?

If you've ever worn body armor for any extended period of time, you know one thing...it is HOT. What makes it hot is more than the fact that it weighs anywhere from 7-15 pounds. In fact, the weight of your armor is really secondary to the fact that is does not breathe.

Most body armor today is made from Dyneema or polyethylene. And as one might imagine, these materials are not breathable at all. This leaves you with wearing something on your body for anywhere from 8-12 hours that's heavy and doesn't breathe. So it's no wonder that the second you put it on you almost immediately start over-heating and sweating.

Since the early 2000s most police officers and soldiers wearing body armor, IOTV and now MSV have worn Under Armour compression shirts under their body armor. And although many feel that this is a better alternative to wearing regular cotton t-shirts, there's more to these moisture wicking compression shirts than meets the eye. How do I know? Because I found out the hard way.

Early in my career, while wearing Under Armour Heat Gear moisture wicking compression shirts under by body armor, I began to break out in a painful, itchy rash. I had bumps along my abdomen, ribs and back. Of course I assumed it was from sweating in my body armor for hours on end. But I did notice that the bumps and rash weren't quite as bad on the days I wore a regular cotton t-shirt. But how could this be. I had paid around $40.00 for these fancy, moisture wicking compression shirts that were being worn by professional and college athletes across the country. There's no way they don't work as well as my $2.00 Hanes cotton t-shirt. And that's when I started to do a little research.

I studied bio-chemistry in university and those who know me know I'm a closet science nerd. So, to not bore you with scientific mumbo jumbo, I'll keep it simple. These expensive moisture wicking shirts you see athletes wearing on the field during pre-game warm-ups and after the game after they take their shoulder pads off for their post-game interview are truly meant to be worn just as you see them in those moments...without any pads (or body armor) on top. The second you throw body armor or, in their case football, hockey or lacrosse pads, over these shirts they essentially become sponges. By doing this you are taking away the ability for the shirt to do what it was meant to do; wick moisture away from the skin and into the atmosphere.

Think of it this way... Imagine someone opening a window to let air into a room and then someone comes along and pulls a solid shade down, completely covering the window. Would make no sense, right? So how in the world do you solve this? Although the answer was simple, coming up with the solution was anything but. It took nearly 2 years before the shirt that would come to change the game for those wearing body armor, plate carriers, football pads, hockey pads and lacrosse pads was developed. 

The Maxx-Dri Silver Elite Shirt is like nothing anyone in the law enforcement or sports athletic world had ever seen before. The material looked different, felt different and even fit different than anything most had ever worn before. However after just one use while wearing body armor or sports pads and people were instant believers. Why? Because for once they were removing their body armor and football/hockey pads and not itching and stinking.

But how could this be? What was it about this new material that was so different from the compression gear that has been out since the early 2000s? The secret lies in material and how it allows air to pass through it while under pressure. Making this happen was the key to changing the game for law enforcement police officers who wear base layers under armor and athletes who wear moisture wicking base layers under their shoulder pads to sweat less.

To learn more about this incredible new innovation and read what actual users around the world are saying about it, click the button below...