Why would you be on the lookout for the best athletic headband? Well let me tell you. I’ve recently been trying to grow my hair out a bit. This always fails because I get sick of it and cut it all off. The primary reason for my hair being annoying is that it gets in my face at the gym. If you are a guy with mid-length hair, this article is most certainly for you.
If you have ever tried to grow your hair out to any length that you can actually style you have probably experienced the awkward mid-length stage. This is the stage where you cannot quite pull your hair back and tie it up, yet you can’t really style your hair or maybe you don’t want to go through all that effort just to go lift some weights.
Usually my solution has been to just throw on a hat and roll. However, the biggest issue with hats is the impending breakout that will come right after. No matter how many times I was washing my face or showering right after the gym I would end up with a full on breakout after wearing a hat to the gym for a couple days.
I don’t know about you, but splotchy bumpy skin on my forehead is not ideal. I don’t think I can say I know a single person who is happy when their face is broken out.
The solution is simple. Wear a headband. Now you may be saying this will cause the same issue, but I sort of found this specific headband by accident. Quite frankly, it’s the best 9 bucks I ever spent.
Also, to all of you that think you might look funny wearing a headband, relax. The gym is not a fashion show…more on that at a later date.
Negatives of Most Headbands
So a headband is sort of something obscure to wear to the gym for dudes. But what is the primary purpose of the hat you are probably wearing already? To keep your hair out of your face, and avoid the sweat that comes with that hair.
I’m not saying all headbands are great. I’ve had some before that have not done the job at all. The standard thin headband used to be my go to but to be honest it wasn’t strong enough to keep my hair out of my face. This was especially true once my hair got longer. So with half my hair pulled back into the headband and half still hanging in my face I would resort back to the ball cap.
The Nike basketball style sweatband was another option at one point. I’ve worn that one quite a bit actually. The problem I have with it is how hot it still makes my head. It’s absorbent sure, but it also starts to stink pretty quickly. You maybe see two days out of this thing before you have to wash it. In addition, the elasticity has suffered in mine as it’s been washed so many times.
Same problem comes to light with the 89 cent no brand cotton headbands. These things are great because of the price, but your head still gets hot, and these are actually pretty feminine. So dudes, I’d say this one is a no go.
My Recent Discovery
I’ll tell you my recent story of impulsive buying. I was at the gym one day, wearing a hat, which is pretty annoying because of the reasons I talked about above, in addition to the bill getting in the way of the bar when overhead pressing and then hitting the bench when you try and lay down with it on backwards.
As I got more and more annoyed I finally said screw it, I’m switching back to a headband, but I’ll pay whatever I have to for a halfway decent, at least semi masculine headband. That evening I was scrolling through Amazon PrimeNow because I order way too many things from their instant service (first world problems I know).
I suddenly wondered if there was a headband on there that I could get within the next couple hours. Sure enough, I searched for headbands, sorted by rating, and saw a black tapered Bondiband headband.
I want to point out something HUGE here and the absolute first thing I noticed. This headband is LYCRA. For any of you that were swimmers in the past, you might recognize this material. It is the same material that was used for your speedos, jammers, and back in the day, full body speed suits.
Lycra is great for repelling moisture. As Bondiband says it… the headband is “moisture wicking”. This was probably my biggest reason for going after this option, besides the attractive price of under 10 bucks for the band in black, which is really the only color you need guys. No, fluorescent orange on your head does not bring out your eyes.
I Bought It…
Okay so I immediately went for it thinking this has to be a good buy. Well as soon as I got the thing I realized what I had inferred was true. This was indeed a good buy.
I personally went for the tapered 4″ that way there was a guarantee it would be wide enough to keep all the hair out of my face. They also have the option for a 3″ or a non-tapered headband. Both of which I’m guessing could work out just as well.
The first time I wore it was for running, it kept my hair out of my face even when sprinting.
In addition, I was sweating like crazy as it was a sunny day here in SF (these are rare). To my surprise my head was still nice and cool, and all the moisture that I usually sweat out was being absorbed by the headband.
Here’s the awesome part, the headband wasn’t even soaked like most of the headbands I’ve tried before. The lycra was repelling the moisture, and while I have no idea where this moisture was going… evaporating?… it wasn’t on my head or my face and that was all I cared about.
I still wasn’t completely convinced. I wore it to the gym this entire last week. There was one particular day when I didn’t even have the chance to wash my face directly after the gym. Instead I went to the grocery store, came home, cooked dinner, and finally got around to washing my face before bed.
The next day, you would usually expect to at least be a bit broken out after wearing around a headband all day that you had gone to the gym in. This was not the case. That was another reason to be stoked on this thing.
Lastly, I haven’t had to even wash it yet. I don’t think that throwing it in the washer would be the best idea as I never threw my lycra swim gear in the washer, but a quick hand wash and a dunk in some soapy water would be easy enough once every couple weeks.
The best part of the whole thing is that it still doesn’t smell like sweat. This is by far the best thing I’ve worn on my head. No more T-shirt sleeves cut into headbands, no more ball cap, no more Nike basketball headbands, and no more feminine cotton headbands.
If you are a dude with mid length hair that hates all the same stuff I’ve had to deal with, then this is the solution guaranteed. It’s also super flexible so it will fit all you big headed people out there, and it’s made in the good ol’ US of A so you’ll be supporting your local mom n’ pop shop perhaps right around the corner!
What are you waiting for? If it isn’t worth the $9 please let me know. I will drive to your house and personally let you smack me. If you buy it and dig it, comment below about how I solved all your problems as usual.
But really, buy it here: