Fly Product: TLTFF Review of Blue Coast Company Apparel

We've recently started doing product reviews on the blog and have had some great stuff show up at our doorsteps lately. With my wife and I buying our new house and moving in this past weekend/week, things have been cray. Z and I finally got out a few times in the past 2 weeks to try out these products and are really excited to share our opinions with you guys to not only help promote some AWESOME gear, but tell you how it is. If something sucks, we'll let you know. If its rad, we'll let you know, ya dig?

Our first product comes from Blue Coast Company. Blue Coast is an apparel company focused on living "Life...On the Edge". Kent, an Annapolis native, is an awesome guy. I've had the privilege of talking to him via email and telephone and he's been totally cool with keeping us in the loop about what the next step is. Here's a little message from owner/founder Kent Krebeck via their "About" section.

For our business this means delivering apparel with “the edge” of quality and great design.

To us the phrase “Life... on the Edge” relates to both our business and personal lives. 

Personally “the edge” represents the incredible experiences found where water meets the land. Some of our favorite times in life have been fishing, surfing, sailing, boating, wind surfing, scuba diving and exploring towns along coasts throughout the world.

For me it is also a phrase specific to fishing. Whether it is catching sailfish on the edge of the reef, waiting for a tarpon to roll on the edge of a channel, luring a snook out of a shady mangrove or enticing a largemouth bass along the side of a quiet lake, “the edge” has always proved to be a hot spot to hook up!

Coastal living is in our blood and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Our family has lived on the East Coast for five generations. Creative artist Wesley Carter has worked extensively with conservation organizations such as The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Water Fowl Festival. She has developed complete collections of wildlife paintings to help raise public interest and awareness on preserving wildlife and their habitats.

Along with this fine art history, our team has years of experience working on graphic design, and product manufacturing for many of the top corporations in the world such as AT&T, Lockheed Martin, and Pfizer. This unique combination of expertise and experience is the creative difference you will find in our products and the excellence we strive for as a company.

Thank you for your business.

Founder, Kent Krebeck

The coolest part about Blue Coast and Kent is that he keeps it in the family. His mom designs the shirts and does some AMAZING art.

Product-wise Blue Coast has a decent variety. There are four different products for Men: The performance shirt in both short sleeve and long sleeve, standard short and long sleeve t-shirts, and hoodies. For Women they have: The standard short sleeve and long sleeve, hoodies, long sleeve fitted t-shits, Razorback Burnout Tanks, and cotton shorts. Z and I tried the performance shirts and we were more than impressed. We really had no idea what to expect except what we had read on the website:

"No matter what day of the week it is, whenever you wear this tee, you'll be reminded of the weekend. Blue Coast’s Pro-techt performance tees are super soft, cool, dry and comfortable. Dri-Balance™ lifestyle moisture transport technology provides moisture wicking, superior breathability & UV protection. Offering a classic fit, ultra soft fabric, moisture wicking and solar shell technology, this shirt will keep you on top of your game both on the boat and around town. Shoulder seams are covered and stitched flat for comfort. Shoulder-to-shoulder taping. Single-stitch finish on collar. 5.6 oz. 70% Combed Cotton/30% Microfiber."

Z got the Graphic Sailfish Long Sleeve Performance shirt and I got the Sailfish Short Sleeve Performance shirt...

The price is great for their stuff: 

• Men's short sleeve performance t's - $29.95
• Men's long sleeve performance t's - $34.95
• Men's short sleeve standard shirt - $22.00
• Men's long sleeve standard shirt - $29.95
• Men's hoodie - $49.95
• Women's short sleeve shirt - $22.95
• Women's long sleeve shirt - $29.95
• Women's hoodie's - $49.95
• Women's cotton shorts - $22.00
• Women's Razorback Burnout Tanks - $24.95

We threw out shirts on right away and put them to the test. First impression was that it was similar to an Under Armour or Nike feel in that it was lightweight, comfortable, and had that perspiration-evaporating microfiber feel. We wore them first out with friends to get that "social" feel and ask what people thought of both the designs and texture. Positive feedback came from 100% of our friends. Then we wore them the next day to the Patapsco under our waders/jackets to see how they held heat and sweat. Crushed it, they were comfortable, lightweight, and did an excellent job of keeping us warm. The following day, we wore them to help me move (which it happened to be a beautiful 60 degrees outside) and it wicked away moisture like a champ. The performance shirts use Dri-Balance technology to wick away the moisture to keep it from soaking you in your own sweat or giving that sweat the opportunity to cool down and give your pneumonia or something gnarly (in the bad sense of the word).

Overall, Blue Coast gets 4.5 Stars ( I would give them 5 Stars but the selection of clothing right now is minimal for men). This is based off the fact that they survived our tests with amazing performance, sit at a perfect price point, and just look awesome. If you compare Blue Coast to Nike, Under Armour price and comfort-wise in a blind study, you wouldn't be able to tell a difference. Blue Coast clothing features some of the most amazing artwork and the best part is, you get to wear it! We at TLTFF believe that if you look good, you'll feel good, and if you feel good, you'll fish good. If your wearing Blue Coast, you look pretty darn good...just sayin'.

I wore my shirt to Boatyard Bar & Grill here in Annapolis, its really where all the fishermen and boaters in the area meet for beer, great food, and a place to tell some stories and I must say, I got more compliments on my shirt than I could imagine. Blue Coast has some awesome stuff going on right now and its only going to get better. Kent and his crew are working on some mondo stuff right now so expect some more awesomeness soon. Keep your eyes on TLTFF for updates.

Kent is in a sailfishing tournament down in Ft. Lauderdale this week/weekend, keep your eyes peeled also for a trip report from the founder himself.

A big thanks goes out to Blue Coast Company and Kent, keep it up man, great stuff!

Now go out you little minions and buy some Blue Coast!

Boom...Morgan