2Toms Sportshield Review

 Adios Body Glide!

                In running (ultrarunning?) circles, it seems that Body Glide is the quintessential anti-chafe product, and with good reason, the stuff works pretty well.  At least, that’s what I thought until I tried out a product in a similar market niche’ made by 2Toms:  Sportshield.  Now I wonder if I will ever use up my extra stock of Glide. 

                Last year, several of my running buddies succumbed to horrendous chaffing at Mohican, and I was sufficiently notified that I should make sure to avoid chaffing as much as possible as I made my attempt at the race.  Being given a stick of Sportshield to test out, 2 weeks before Mohican, must have been the running gods telling me to use this product.  And so I did, pretty much without having the opportunity to test it on a long run before the big one.  

                My usual chaffing areas are between my thighs, aka chub rub.  I applied a decent amount of Sportshield to the inside of my legs, and then also decided to put some on my ummm, nipples.  Friends know I can frequently be caught with duct tape covering my nipples to avoid chaffing/bleeding, but it’s kind of a strange thing to do, so I am always looking for alternatives.  Sportshield is a very viscous lube, unlike the slightly-firmer-than-peteroleum-jelly feeling that Body Glide has, Sportshield feels like a liquid.  Once applied, there is little evidence of its presence, except for the exceptionally slick feeling.  Apparently and uniquely, silicone is used in Sportshield and this makes it waterproof and very friction resistant.  Another thing I noticed was that it doesn’t seem to have that initial sticky feeling that I associate with having Body Glide between my thighs. 

                I survived Mohican, with absolutely no chaffing and I never had to reapply Sportshield, even after peeing on myself a little bit, on accident (TMI?).  I really liked the fact that I pretty much forgot it was there, and then never had to worry about it again all race.  It smells much better than Body Glide, in my opinion.  I also really like the roll-on application, reducing messiness.  I think the only downsides to Sportshield is that it can be difficult to tell how much you have left in your bottle, which I think could be remedied with the addition of a clear viewing port along the side of the product. It is also slightly more expensive than Body Glide, but I have been using my 1.5oz bottle for almost 2 months and it still sounds like there is liquid inside.  

 I have since tried it on my feet, and it also seems to help prevent hotspots.  2Toms makes another product, specifically for blister prevention, but I usually don’t run into blister problems, making it difficult for me to evaluate this product. 

**  I was given a free sample of Sportshield to test and evaluate**