Are they the real deal?

Bill

Yes, I love them. They beat sunscreen in the eye!

Never fish without a Buff lightweight UV mask anymore. Have several in fact. I'll also be trying out the Columbia Omni-Freeze face masks this summer.

Wish I had been able to use them years ago. Beat the heck out of sunscreen, they aren't uncomfortable, and you'll forget you have it on after a while.

Every time I go.

^^ this ^^

yeppers

Yes, and I make it look gooooood.


I sunscreen my nose and forehead because wearing the Buff stagecoach-robbery style causes my sunglasses to fog up and the reflective qualities of water causing my forehead to get sunburned, respectively.

I also think I stay cooler once the sun is high.

I just got one of the SWC stalker mask and I really like it over my buff so far

Buff does what it says. Only drawback for me is aforementioned fogging of sunglasses. Really like it for travel fishing. Cap on while flying, buff in luggage is a lot easier than packing a wide bream sun hat. Oops...wish I were chasing some wide bream today ;-)

I've got a few...my favorite is their merino wool buff. It's super soft and comfortable. Essential for chilly morning boat rides.

I have the carp one, totally ninja.

Just don't wear it during the spawn. That could get weird, even for you carp-folk.

Always, beats the heck out of sunscreen. They do tend to fog up my costas sometimes though

I find my buff to be a little too tight, do you get different sizes in these things or are different makes better. I got mine from Bass Pro a couple of years ago, they are camo blue.

+1 on the fogging issue. They also seem to blow my hot breath back on my face at times, which is not really preferable in the summer, but maybe it's just me with that problem. haha

I just wear it on saltwater trips, if you've ever been sunburned on your neck under your chin, you'll never forget it.

check out Breath like a fish and gatorlayer for fogging up issues

I like mine a lot.

One of the things not mentioned, what color?
After talking with several dedicated users who sightfish, they always use darker colors, if not black, so it will not reflect light off their cheeks and cause additional glare.

Jimbo

Glad so many are on board for good sun coverage! One thing I am hearing from manufacturers, and mentioned at the little talk I gave at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries a few weeks ago is: Manufacturers are hedging a bit when it comes to protection as these types of protection (Buff, etc...) get older and have been washed some. I have read recommended replacement at 2-3 years.
(me talking here) - Also, think in terms of protection "lessening" (my words) as these things are stretched across your melon. All anyone has to do is look at fabric as it gets stretched (think tube top if you want), and you know it blocks less ... of everything.
All I know is, on my mug, where the fabric stretches the most, I have real damage. I'LL be adding SmartShield to the arsenal, and since it's distributed by TFO, you will already like it too, right?

No way

I use mine as much to reflect heat as I do sunlight, but then I also sunscreen my forehead and nose as I mentioned above.

I have both the warm weather and the cold weather Buff's as well as Buff gloves. I love them.

When I surf fish - I used to just wear cap and sunglasses. When morning overcast burns off, I would forget to put sunscreen (too busy trying to catch fish... lol).
Recently I started to purchase face masks. I'm not a huge fan of skulls or clowns (too loud for me). Came across a site that has a decent collection of fishing face masks https://www.solmask.com/collections/fishing

I use the salt armor buffs. I kept looking for wide brimmed hats to cover my neck and ears. They worked ok but if it was windy the brim would beat me up or get blown up which exposed my neck. I like the buffs because they stay put. They are also good at keeping bugs off of your face/neck.

He revived a 4 yr old post to advertise his website.

Wowza, this is from 2013. Talk about blowing the dust off. Most of these poster vacated TFF years ago.

I'm yelling shinanigans

I have a beard. I can not imagine wearing one of those with a beard. Actually I have a hard time imagining it being comfortable in the summer with or without a beard. My beard and my pith helmet seem to be getting me by pretty well.

But then I don't use sun screen either, I just let my skin get tanned. Like nature figured out for us a long time ago. I imagine some day that we're going to find out that sunscreen has bad effects of some kind - putting chemicals all over the body just has an anti-intuitive feel to it. So I'd wear that mask before using sunscreen. If I just had to.

Go fishing sometime in the southern latitudes near the equator, anywhere in the World, and see how the locals use the face masks. In fact, try to find one who is on the water every day without it, LOL. They never leave without them. There may be a message there.

It isn't about style, its about function and they are an essential part of my gear no matter where I'm fishing.

ALWAYS Get a Simms or Magellan is now making one with the breath holes so your glasses don't fog up.

I just bought a Buffs face mask, sleeves & gloves.......I don't plan on getting done in by the sun this summer!!

+1 on this.

Additionally, I firmly believe it adds to the stealth factor for fair skinned folks like me. I think our skin is pretty reflective.

As far as the fogging, pay attention to the "base curve" when picking out your sunglasses. Most Costa and Smith or any higher end frame that can take prescription lenses will list the base curve specification. The higher the number, the greater the curve or more "wrap around" type of frame. It's a trade off. The more wrap around the frame, the more outside light it will block from reaching the lense, but also the tighter the fit to your face which generally increases the fogging potential. If you go with a lower base curve you should see less fogging as it will allow more air to flow behind the lens.

https://www.backcountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/base-curve.jpg