I am backing a new project at Kickstarter called “THE 10-YEAR HOODIE: Built for Life, Backed for a Decade!” The company making the hoodie is called Flint & Tender, an excellent American company that makes all of its products in the United States.
Any of my workout partners will tell you, I love a thick, durable hoodie. Of all the clothing I wear, I probably get the most use out of my hooded sweatshirts.
When I do squats, I wear a hoodie so that I can put the hood down and get a little extra padding between the bar and my neck. Of course, that only applies for warm ups because I switch over to one of these for real weight.
I go jogging in my hoodies. As a 40-year-old dude with a shaved head, the hood keeps my head warm without me having to carry around an extra hat. Heck, Rocky wore a hoodie when he went jogging.
I bench press in my hoodies, especially now with my shaved head. No one likes a guy who sweats all over the bench. A hoodie keeps your sweat to yourself and keeps your head out of the sweat of others.
When I was a competing bodybuilder, the hoodie was the costume de riguer as it helps shield your body from your competitors and keeps them wondering if the physique inside the sweatshirt will destroy them on stage. I blame Arnold Schwarzenegger for bringing psychological warfare to the sport.
I sometimes travel with a hoodie since they make great thermal layers for cold airports and planes. If it’s too warm, a hoodie can be rolled up into a pretty decent pillow, larger than most because of the bulk of the hood. Alternatively, if you want a nap, you can put the hood up and pull it down in front over your eyes for a little shade.
Clearly, a good hooded sweatshirt is the greatest piece of clothing you could ever own. It’s even Mark Zuckerberg’s preferred attire for board meetings. The real question is: why buy one from Flint & Tender?
The answer to that question is: underwear.
A few months ago I was in need of new pajamas. Well, something to wear to bed, anyway, as I don’t technically wear pajamas. Instead, I wear boxers. Initially, I tried buying boxers from the usual suspects of Calvin Klein, Fruit of the Loom, Hane’s, and some others. Every single pair was defective or poorly designed in some minor (some not so minor) way. For example, the elastic waistband in the CK boxers is not sewn into the waist so after a washing or so, the frakking elastic twisted up. Other boxers ripped or shrank far too much. The stupid threading comes loose such that you have this thread and you pull on it and the elastic bunches and you keep pulling and then pull some more until the thread breaks and the stupid elastic is all stupid. Very frustrating. Everything I tried was utter junk. I personally hold those companies responsible for all the poor nights of sleep I had while wearing their pathetic boxers.
Then I found Flint & Tender on a Fab.com sale, I think, not sure. Anyway, I ordered some of their boxers. They fit perfectly and there were zero design flaws and zero construction defects. After several months, they are as good as new. They are quite a bit more expensive than the inferior boxers I had been purchasing but, in this case, you definitely get what you pay for. As my wife’s mother always said, “I’m not rich enough to buy cheap things!” And made in the USA, baby, I love it! I’m ordering more soon.
In short, if the Flint & Tender hoodie is anywhere near as good as the boxers they make, I’ll be exceptionally pleased and I know you will be too. I backed the project by buying two.
Currently, it looks like the anticipated ship date for the new hoodies is in August - just in time for the cool months of fall.
