Windows Phone Thoughts: Perform With Your Technology: SCOTTEVEST Performance Polo and Pullover Reviewed!

Moisture-Loving Fabric
As I mentioned in my previous review, the performance products in SCOTTEVEST's line include a fabric that "wicks" moisture away from the wearer. This feature is very interesting to experience. As you sweat, the moisture is absorbed by the fabric. The fabric, however, does not keep the moisture locked in (thus weighing down the shirt) but leaves it on the surface of the fabric. As you move, you can feel the moisture land back on your skin which, in my case, caused a cooling sensation (as the moisture had cooled from laying on the fabric rather than on my skin - the fabric is very breathable, so the outside air caused the cooling action in this case). At the end of my activities, I pulled off the shirt and was surprisingly dry.

Usage Scenarios
If there is a fault in the Performance Polo and Pullover it is that you probably can't get away with using them for more than just athletics or exercise. While the polo does look very nice, I suspect it may be a bit more form-fitting than many of us would like for "business-casual" dress. However, if you're coming from the gym to an informal meeting with colleagues and you wear the polo, you'll probably only get compliments. Still, with the word "performance" in the title, you're probably shouldn't buy with the impression that this is casual wear!

Keeping Technology Safe
I figured that ending this review with a few exercise-technology safety tips might not be a bad idea. Obviously your own safety comes first whenever exercising, but if at all possible, I'm pretty sure you want your device to remain in one operating piece at the end of the workout session as well. In talking with people and in my own experience, I've found the following 2 problems are common to technology exercisers:

Shaking The Hard Drive To Death
A friend of mine who works at a major retailer in their service center (think large price tag logo) told me a few years ago that he was seeing quite a few college-aged girls coming in with broken iPods. The iPods would be recognized by iTunes but showed a "frowny-face", and wouldn't sync, play, or charge. The cause? Jogging with the iPod in the palm of the hand. As the girl jogged, she would pump her arms (as most of us do) causing a jarring sensation to the internal hard drive. Repeat this a few times and the iPod dies.

A solution? Well for conventional users an upper-arm strap and case can help. However, these can easily start slipping forcing you to stop and re-adjust periodically. With the internal breast pocket and PAN of the Performance Polo and Pullover, the movement is minimized (thanks to the anchoring of the pocket) and the device is considerably safer.

Moisture Kills!
Another friend of mine recently told me that she killed the LCD display of her MP3 player in a rather interesting way. As she jogged, she would place the MP3 player inside her sports bra to keep it safe. However, after a few months the moisture build-up had caused her LCD to stop displaying (however, the device still worked). In other cases that I've heard of, the moisture didn't stop at the LCD, and the device was toast. If she had a SeV performance pullover, the device could have sat nicely within a pocket made of fabric that didn't absorb sweat, so the device would have been safe.

Conclusions
In conclusion, I am very enthusiastic about the possibilities that the SCOTTEVEST Performance Polo and Performance Pullover 1/4 Zip offer to mobile enthusiasts that are or should be more active. The superb material and innovative design are sure to help keep your device safe while you get into shape. While they aren't exactly every-day or every-where wear, they do their job well. The products aren't exactly low-priced, but I feel they are worth their price tag - especially if they help prevent the need to replace a device costing 5 or 6 times their price!

Jon Westfall does a lot of things in his life. Recently finishing his Master's thesis, he now looks forward to trying to figure out what to write a doctoral dissertation on. In his spare time he updates JonWestfall.Com and relaxes in Marblehead, Ohio with his family.