Gone are the days of wearing sweaty T-shirts or button-down BDU blouses under your body armor. If you wear heavy armor for a living odds are you've suffered through more than one range event wearing this stuff. Thankfully someone decided to put an end to that misery and invented the trusty "combat shirt." With a moisture-wicking torso and ruggedized sleeves, these shirts keep you cool and dry under your vest while protecting your extremities. Vertx has thrown its hat in the ring as well with its 37.5 Combat Shirt, and it only took me a few hours with it tucked under my heavy armor to know Vertx had gotten it right.
The new combat shirt features Vertx and Fechheimer's proprietary dual fabric blend they call "37.5 Active Particle Technology." The "37.5" stands for the optimal point of humidity and body temperature (in Celsius of course) and means no matter the conditions, the form-fitting torso fabric regulates both to keep you cool, dry, and comfortable. Heat exhaustion and dehydration are common amongst hard-working tactical teams and anything that helps keep the medic and his IV away is a good thing. Although I tested this shirt in the wintertime it felt noticeably different than my other combat shirts and really did a nice job of keeping me comfortable even after a few hours in my armor.
