We are leading up to official summer time here in Ontario. Â The weather has been amazing this week and really inviting for the active people to get out and skate, ride bikes, SUP and wakeboard. Â With summer comes the sun and the sun brings some pretty gnarly UV radiation that can hurt the unprepared.
Growing up my mom constantly had to nag to get me to put my sunscreen on. Â I hated being greasy from sunscreen; it felt like smearing butter all over delicious corn on the cob. Â This distain of sunscreen lead to a lot of sunburns and a lot more freckles (especially in my mid to late 20′s). Â Looking back on my sometimes un-ruly teen years I wish someone had explained UPF to myself and to my parents.
UPF stands for Ultraviolet Protection Factor and just like sunscreen’s SPF it measures protection from nasty UV radiation, only UPF refers specifically to protection provided by fabric. Â So, a UPF rating of 50 means 1/50th of UV radiation falling on garment is actually penetrating the fabric. Â For all you percentage people out there, that means 98% of yucky UV radiation is BLOCKED. Â I like those odds!
So what does all this UPF stuff mean to the water sports aficionado? Â Well super companies like Roxy and Quiksilver (and many others) use specially treated fabric in the making of their rashguards that provide protection from UV radiation. Â Though you’ll still need sunscreen for your face (nose, cheeks and ears especially), wearing a Surf Shirt or Rashguard can really prevent you from burns and cancer causing UV rays AS WELL as eliminate that greased up feeling of so much sunscreen.
Because being happy and comfortable is so important to enjoying an active life we have selected our favourites for this summer that have a 50 or higher UPF rating. Â Please note the amazing pink and black colour ways 
