Apparel & Accessories reviews

Budget Merino Athletic Wear (Category Check)

Merino wool at prices the heritage brands refuse to say out loud — and a fabric-and-fit lottery that explains how. When the shirt that arrives is good, it's the bargain of your training wardrobe; when it isn't, it's thin, oddly cut, or pilled by spring. Buy one piece before you believe in it.

Protein Powder: Reading the Tub Instead of the Front

A convenience food sold as a performance product. The useful version of this purchase is a plain powder judged on protein per serving and cost per serving — everything else on the tub is marketing, and some of it is arithmetic designed to flatter.

Alpine Hearing Protection

Alpine Hearing Protection Earplugs

The Dutch specialist that treats earplugs as a designed product rather than a foam pellet: filtered, reusable, purpose-split by scenario, and tuned to turn the world down without smearing it into mud. The gym-and-concert crowd is exactly who it suits. The catch list is short: fit is personal, and tiny things get lost.