In the spirit of full disclosure, I am going forewarn you that this entire week will be dedicated to recapping and sharing my Columbia OmniTen adventure with y’all. Luckily, I know you love me so you’re just as excited about it as I am…..right??! Bueller??
Anyway, I wanted to kickoff my Columbia week by sharing the entire purpose of the trip with you: we found out that Project Z stood for Omni-Freeze Zero!
Columbia announced last week that they will be launching a new technology that, quite honestly, is pretty freaking cool. I mean, it is literally cool! This new magic fabric claims to cool your body temperature down while you are working your hardest.
How does Omni-Freeze Zero do this? Let me explain! The fabric has little blue rings of a cooling polymer that cover the surface. When exposed to moisture (like the gallons of sweat that pour from my body every time my heart rate rises!), the rings swell like little goosebumps. This bumpy surface then allows the air to pass around the rings, cooling your body temperature down with a “mechanical” reaction.
My favorite part of Omni-Freeze Zero is that it actually uses your own body sweat to trigger the cooling reaction. As Mick McCormick, Columbia’s executive vice president, claims in the press release, sweat can now be considered a renewable resource. And you know what? I absolutely love that idea! In a world where so many resources are wasted daily and we are always scrambling to find the next great break, why not use something our body produces naturally?
Y’all, I know, this all sounds like an awful lot of the same old BS that companies spout every time they come up with a “new” technology. However, I truly believe that Omni-Freeze Zero is different. I was fortunate enough to test out multiple products over the span of the week by hiking, mountain biking and running in the 100+ degree temps of the Arizona desert….and the stuff worked! I’m typically not someone who exercises in anything other than a tank top because I sweat like a man-beast, but I found myself choosing one of my Omni-Freeze Zero tech tees almost every single day. And this neck gaiter? Saved my life! All you had to do was dip it in a stream to get it wet and the put it on your neck, your head, wherever….best feeling ever in a desert 🙂
 |
| Katie, myself, and Heidi, all wearing Omni-Freeze Zero shirts and neck gaiters. Photo credit to Heidi! |
The catch? The new material is not available until Spring, 2013. This makes me super excited that I was generously provided with so much of it because I cannot wait until next year when I can buy more!
I’ll share more about my adventures in the coming days, but I just wanted to get this out of the way first: Omni-Freeze Zero is legit y’all 🙂