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I do some of my best thinking on my longest runs …and apparently I’m not alone !

Blood splatter pattern clothing, an indestructible hoodie that is guaranteed to outlive you and a coat that is so hardcore it slices rock not the other way round…these products all come from a brand called Vollebak who are looking to dominate the high end , high quality outdoor clothing with the sort of gear I would dream up on a long run . When I found out about them I bought one of their Condition Black Baselayer tops to try out from here

A lot of my outdoor adventures take their toll on kit , and I have a long list of gripes with gear and brands that I don’t think are up to the job so I’m always very enthusiastic when I find a brand that I cant break, tear , rip or destroy on my first week of use. With me branching out into Obstacle Course Racing this year I needed clothing that would survive hours of running and sweating , rain …and the rough and tumble of climbing walls and abuse like  crawling under barbed wire and climbing ropes.  With me attending the  World OCR championships in Canada in October on the long 15km course I was very pleased to discover the brand Vollebak and their virtually indestructable outdoor gear. 

The two founders of the company Vollebak,  Steve and Nick Tidball  are Adventure racers themselves and launched Vollebak in 2015 to create “the toughest,” “the most visible,” and the most unusual gear and apparel on the planet. The idea for the company was dreamt up on one of their long multi day runs through the Namib desert, I’ve always said I do my best thinking on long runs !

Vollebaks testers comprise a team of athletes adventurers, and scientists who between them have rowed solo across the Pacific and Atlantic, run across entire continents, surfed 100-foot waves, climbed and base-jumped the Eiger’s North Face, ski traversed Greenland, and traveled the Yukon on foot.

These sounded like my kind of people ! 
I’m more than happy to spend £140 on a pair of decent trainers like Altra , or a well made bag by Ultimate Direction so spending £120 on a baselayer that was ‘ basically bulletproof’ wasn’t a big decision for me.

The baselayer arrived super quick and I was impressed the moment I got it out.  The first thing that strikes you is how soft the interior is for comfort and how stretchy and tactile the garment is which all adds up to high comfort when doing extreme exercise like running and obstacles.   The Condition Black range ( which my baselayer is from ) contains some of Vollebak’s most hardcore and technologically advanced gear. It uses the same ceramic nanotechnology found in supercar brakes. 

The baselayer is massively resistant to wear and tear due to the ceramic coating on the outside.  When I used this top in Canada at the World Obstacle Course Race Championships there were multiple ground crawling points where you had to crawl under real barbed wire. On two occasions my top got badly snagged on the barbed wire , enough for any normal top to get shredded….but on both occasions when I carelessly yanked the garment free I still expected some damage like I usually get on my leggings , shorts or tops. After the race I was amazed to find the garment looked like new.  5 hours of jumping over walls, under barbed wire , sliding down muddy hills and running …and it still looked like new.  

Vollebak claim this kind of ceramic coating will be standard in years to come and I can see why.   Not only is the Vollebak baselayer  VERY hardwearing it is also very comfortable to wear , and one or two layers are enough to keep me warm or cool in most conditions people encounter on ultra races , obstacle courses , biking etc.  I’ve run in two layers in the USA in temperatures as low a minus 10C in comfort. 

There are a number of features on the top that make a lot of sense. The zip is rubberised and locks off at any point on the zip so it doesn’t undo.  The neck section when zipped up is comfy . I like a quarter zip on a long sleeve top because it allows you to vary your temperature when doing exercise , when I’m hot i can zip it down and cool from my chest , as well as rolling the sleeves up….and when I’m cold zip the top up to keep my neck warm .  Ultra Running and Obstacle Course Racing can involve a lot of speeding up and slowing down , stopping and starting so to be able to regulate your body temp quickly is helpful. 

Each Condition Black Ceramic T shirt is embedded with over 100,000 ceramic particles bound together in a honeycomb formation. While every one of the particles is smooth, flat and soft to the touch, the only material on earth that’s tougher than ceramics is diamonds, making the baselayer highly abrasion resistant. The particles can’t be scratched off or washed out.

I’ve worn this top for many months now through all seasons and weather and it still looks brand new.  I often run with a rucksack , and its common that my jackets and tops have a large amount of bobbling and even wear through on my lower back and shoulders from the friction with the bag. This has simply not been the case with the Vollebak gear. There is absolutely no wear and tear showing after many months of abuse. 

The Vollebak baselayer has a high amount of elastane in it … and it is as well fitting and comfortable to wear as the high end Lululemon mens tops I’m also fond of.  The 4 way stretch means that reaching , stretching etc are more comfortable and you can see that even the stitching is also elastic to avoid the garment coming apart. With brands like X-Bionic you often have highly stretchy material combined with normal non stretchy stitching and it is always the failure point on the clothing when the stitching ‘doesnt budge’ when you stretch the fabric and it tears or gets holes in it.  

The stitching also has two seamless side panels running from the bottom hem, up the side of the body, then down the inside of the sleeve to the cuff – give you complete freedom of movement, with no seams to prevent the fabric stretching as you move your arms and upper body. They also make you more comfortable by removing the chance of seams chafing your armpit. I found the arms to be slightly too long …but i suspect this is on purpose so that you have the option to tuck your hands into the sleeves on cold days if you’ve forgotten to bring gloves. 

The Condition Black Vollebak Ceramic Baselayer is breathable and hydrophilic, which means it will soak up any sweat and get rid of it fast, so I  stay comfortable and dry. While the outside is super-resilient, the underside has a soft, silky feel, making it easy to wear all day. The baselayer is lightweight, so you’re not paying for the abrasion resistance by having to carry extra weight

This baselayer is part of a wearable system which also includes a ceramic impregnated t shirt and midlayer. I plan to get my hands on these too for my next trip to Mongolia where the temperatures will be below 40C . You can wear them separately, two at a time, or all three together.    For a company that claims many of its items will outlive the owner its going to be tough for me to disprove their claim.

Verdict

I love their gear and ethos and suspect 2018 will be the year their clothing becomes my default outdoor wear.  I just hope they do some long runs soon and dream up some indestructible shorts and trousers next .  You can find out more and purchase exclusively from the link below.  https://www.vollebak.com/product/condition-black-ceramic-baselayer/