Mountain Hardwear Review & Giveaway

~~~THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED~~~

Looking for a line of complete active wear?
Mountain Hardwear offers a complete line of active wear ranging from running & hiking for men, women and children as well as nice variety of tents, sleeping bags, backpacks and other outdoor accessories. Mountain Hardwear products are constructed with a variety of materials to keep you dry, comfortable and odor free as you enjoy the great outdoors. Their products are thoroughly tested  by the companies 20 sponsored professional athletes and are built to last. Mountain Hardwear apparel is also reasonably priced.

About Mountain Hardwear!

Information from website

Mountain Hardwear has always focused on bringing radical thinking to the gear we make. That's why we have a section in our website that talks about the innovation we've built into our products: the Evolution Tension Arch, patented zWeld™ construction, WINDSTOPPER¬ next-to-skin fabric development in partnership with W.L. Gore and the patented Quantum Expander™ for sleeping bags to name just a few. We continually challenge ourselves to bring technical innovation to outdoor gear and to create detail-oriented design features that anticipate users' needs. We combine that innovation and attention to detail with superior product quality—backed with a lifetime warranty that speaks for itself. Mountain Hardwear—Radical Thinking—again and again.

About the Conditioning Tank & Pacer  Run Skort!
Women's Conditioning Tank: Advanced comfort construction, now for runners. MicroClimate Zoning™ maps open knits over high perspiration areas for cooling ventilation. Ultra-high reflective print keeps you visible at night.

•	Wicking, fast drying fabric
•	MicroClimate Zoning construction: open knits wrapped over high perspiration areas for cooling comfort
•	Natural Chitosan antimicrobial finish controls odor
•	Flat-lock seam construction eliminates chafe
•	Highly luminescent reflective print for ultimate visibility
•	Updated fabric, reflectivity, and placement of ventilation

Women's Pacer Run Skort: Lightweight, quick dry fabric with an integrated brief with Chitosan for odor control. Security pocket for keys and essentials.

• Wicking, fast drying, stretch fabric
• Wide low profile waistband for comfort
• Inseam gusset for mobility
• Zipped secure pocket at center back for storage
• Inner short for coverage during active movements
• Highly luminescent reflective print for ultimate visibility
• UPF 30 sun protection
• Soft drawcord at waist for easy fit adjustments

My Mountain Hardwear Experience!
I was sent the Women's Conditioning Tank in Lemon Whip color and the Women's Pacer Run Skort in Fresh Blue for review. I was so excited to try both of these products out for several reasons. First of all, I have learned over the last 4 years when it comes to running you have to make sure you are buying quality clothing. The old saying, "You get what you pay for." is so true when it comes to running. Otherwise you'll pay in multiple blisters and raw skin from rubbing. Proper clothing is especially important during the summer months, you need the correct material to pull away the sweat and help you feel cooler. When I came across Mountain Hardwear I could tell their active wear was high quality. Secondly, I was excited about reviewing the Mountain Hardwear Women's Pacer Run Skort because I have never ran in a skort before! I keep reading about women runners who just love running in skorts that they rarely wear shorts again.

**click on photo to enlarge** 

You'll have to excuse the black sports bra underneath, it's the only color I have at the moment.

When I received my Mountain Hardwear package I was impressed by the look, feel and construction of both the Women's Conditioning Tank and Women's Pacer Run Skort. The Women's Conditioning Tank was very light weight, but not too see through or in the cut around the arms. I really liked how the tank fit in general. It was long enough that it fell to a nice area across my hips and it was not too short. The cut around the arm openings were just right and did not gape open or show my sports bra underneath. The material has a nice stretch to it making it comfortable and easy to move.

Next, was the Women's Pacer Run Skort to try on. I really liked where the skort rested on my hips, not too high or too low. There is a draw cord in the middle of waist to adjust it tighter which will be nice as I lose some more weight. I also liked the skort features an inner short lining to insure complete coverage when running. Overall I think the skort fits very modestly.

I have ran in this outfit both on the treadmill and outside too see how I liked it. I first ran with it on the treadmill one day. I noticed the material was very light and it helped me stay cooler. I am not a big fan of running on the treadmill because I get overheated fast, but this outfit really seemed to keep me cooler. The biggest test was an outdoor run. Since we live out in the country (but in a small addition) it is a wide open space and we get a lot of wind. I was a little worried to see if the skort would stay in place during my run. However, it did excellent! It hardly even moved. Both the tank and the skort did a great job on my outdoor run. I did not experience any rubbing or chaffing with either piece.

I'm now loving my new Mountain Hardwear outfit! I will be adding more pieces to my collection and especially their skorts. I think the skorts are more modest than shorts because they are always bunching up between my legs. Nothing like trying to run and keep adjusting your shorts!

BUY IT! You can purchase Mountain Hardwear products  from  these retailers. You can follow Mountain Hardwear on Facebook to keep updated about new products, etc.

WIN IT! Mountain Hardwear is giving away 1 Women's Conditioning Tank (winners choice of size and color) to a Take Time to Smell the Rose reader!

You have the chance to enter several entries by the doing the following. Each one counts as 1 entry unless otherwise specified. I am now making it a requirement to follow my blog publicly on Google Friend Connect to enter my giveaways.

• MANDATORY ENTRY(You also must be following my blog publicly on Google Friend Connect)-counts as 1: Look around at Mountain Hardwear. Tell me what other item you would like to try out and why. Also, what color of Women's Conditioning Tank would you like if you win?

• Subscribe to my blog via email with Feedburner (on right side bar).
  

• Blog about my giveaway before May 15th, linking back to this giveaway. Leave the URL where you blogged.

• Grab my  Take Time to Smell the Rose button. Leave URL where it is posted.

• Grab my Take Time to Share Your Giveaway Sunday button. Leave URL where it is posted.

• Follow Smell_the_Rose on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. After initial "tweet" you may gain an extra entry each day. Limit 1 tweet a day.  Leave URL where you tweeted in your comment.

• Follow Mountain Hardwear on Twitter.  

• Sign up for the Mountain Hardwear Newsletter. 

• Make a comment on any non-giveaway post. (one comment per post- but unlimited posts)

Please copy and paste this for your tweets:

Win Mountain Hardwear Conditioning Tank from @hardwear and @Smell_the_Rose. Ends 05/22. #giveaways #running http://tiny.cc/MountainHardwear

**Leave your email on each comment. You must do this in order to win!**

Giveaway ends Saturday, May 22, 2010 at 9:00 p.m.(CST) Winner will be drawn by the random number generator at Random.org and will be notified by email. Winner will also be announced on this blog. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn.

This giveaway is open to USA residents ONLY . Must be 18 years old or older to win.

Thank you to Mountain Hardwear  who provided me with the products mentioned in the review. All opinions are my own and no other compensation was received to conduct this review & giveaway.
 

~~~THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED~~~