New Activskins

by Geraden

These 'new' Activskins are not all that new any more, but I have not reviewed them properly here, so here goes.

I took delivery of a pair of A2019 Full Support, and a pair of A577 medium support shortly before my holiday in Devon in August. They were bought online from Legwear4men.com, and cost £9.49 and £8.99 respectively.

Previous to these, the best sheers that Activskin produced were the 1760s sheer to waist for £7.49, and these are still a very good choice if you want stw with a light support feel to them. If you want a bit more support, and particularly if you want a silkier feel, you might want to try one of the new lines that I am reviewing here.

Activskin went out of their way to obtain the right yarns to give these tights a silkier feel, more like good quality European tights. The yarn quality is good, and appears to be durable, probably more so than you would get in high class women's tights, but the Activskins still do not have the same silkiness. There is a trade off between the two; these are probably at the right place on the spectrum for the male market, which has always demanded durability, and has now started to appreciate feel as well.

Unfortunately Activskin were not able to offer flat seams, which is a mark of quality in European tights. The technology to produce flat seams is not available in the USA where these are manufactured. Both varieties have reinforced toe and brief, conventional gusset (no fly or male comfort panel) and a high waistband, broader on the 2019s.

Activskin use generic packaging, which can bee seen in the images above.

Both lines come out of the packet looking rather shrunk, but that is because there is a lot of built-in stretch. I had no sizing problems with the XL size: they stretched to fit me, and my legs are 36". I was pleased to find in both lines that the reinforced toe section was designed with men's feet in mind. Too often support tights are made to fit women's smaller, slimmer feet, and I have found my toes cramped.

The tights do give the legs a nice level of support, but maybe a bit less that you might expect. The full support A2019s feel more like the medium support tights that I am used to – the feel is factor 8 rather than factor 10. The medium support A577s feel more like light support – factor 6 rather than factor 8. This is not a criticism, just advice for potential buyers. They fit quite snugly around the body – maybe a warning for wearers who are more than a bit overweight.

The denier quoted by the makers gives a misleading impression. The full support A2019s are described as 110 denier, but the appearance is more like 30 denier. The medium support A577s are said to be 40 denier, but, again, they look more like 20 denier at most. Lycra content is 36% for the full support, 25% for the medium support.

The A2019 full support cost £9.49 for Legwear4men.com, $9.99 from Activskin.com; the A577 medium support cost £8.99 / $9.99.

These are the best sheer tights that Activskin have yet produced.

My only real criticism is with the colour – I have both of these in beige and the colour is MUCH more tanny than other Activskin products, and in the UK these would definitely be classed as 'tan'. Activskin have recently introduced an even darker colour called 'tan'. This may suit the American taste, but Europeans tend to prefer more subtle colours. I would welcome a true beige to suit the natural skin tone of fair skinned people.

links: technorati