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It's like paper handkerchiefs, nut nougat cream or all-purpose glue. There is also a so-called deonym for the group of seamless knitted and multifunctional tubular scarves: Buff. 25 years ago, the Catalan textile manufacturer Joan Rojas invented the Buff scarf, an innovative manufacturing method, as well as the archetype of the tubular multifunctional scarf, which can be a scarf, hat or headband and thus warm the neck, ears or head and protect against wind or sun. There are now hundreds of variations of the Buff scarf in a wide variety of material and colour combinations.
Great: warmth, fit, recycled materials
New this autumn: the Thermonet Buff. This fibre innovation, developed in collaboration with Primaloft, is said to be four times warmer than conventional microfibre material. Well, we have not yet been able to confirm this exactly. But the increased insulation effect is clearly noticeable and similar to that of the Merino buff.
Depending on their disposition and exertion, bikers can work up a sweat in temperatures of ten degrees and above. It doesn't matter much, because the Thermonet Buff is more windproof than conventional microfibre, but dries just as quickly.
The fit is great. While other tubular scarves tend to dangle loosely around the neck, the 42 cm long and 24 cm wide Thermonet Buff has just the right amount of tension to stay where it should be: At least on the 36 cm neck of our tester, it didn't slip down and remained in position below the helmet strap.
Another plus point: sustainability. Like most functional textiles, the Thermonet Buff is made from polyester. In this case, however, 70% of it is made from old PET bottles, thus reducing the mountain of plastic waste that ends up in the sea every day.
The material feels supple, but makes a robust impression. A few three-day beard stubbles helped to test the fabric's susceptibility to pilling. Conclusion after around four weeks of continuous use: good resistance to stubble, somewhat less so to Velcro fasteners. A few millimetre-long white fibres were pulled out of the otherwise beautifully colourful shimmering fabric. Nevertheless, this fabric should guarantee a long service life.
And are there any drawbacks? With a weight of (self-weighed) 62 grams, the Thermonet Buff weighs a good 20 grams more than models made of conventional microfibre. So not really worth mentioning. And the fact that the new Buff, although it says "multifunctional" on the packaging, can neither inflate tyres nor tighten loose screws after 25 years of evolution, is not to be taken as serious criticism. Rather, it can do what it is supposed to do quite well. And demonstrates that Buff rightly joins the list of brands that have managed to give their name to an entire product category.
The Thermonet Buff is now available at a price of 23.95 euros in three design variants, e.g. at Mountain time available. Also new with the Thermonet fibre: colour-matching hat (€21.95) and the Balaclava balaclava for €29.95.
Sebastian Brust
Editor
