This week we take a moment to review PR Wraps.
Item: PR Wraps
Price: US $30.00
Manufacturer: PR Wraps
Purchase: PR Wraps Website
I have been an avid fan of strength wraps since I first started CrossFit. Like many girls I have petite wrists that don’t enjoy huge amounts of pressure being put on them without support.
In fact – my body is fantastic and likes to develop Ganglions (a weird fluid build up) on the back of my wrist if I put any unsupported pressure on my wrists. It’s therefore pretty crucial that any wraps or straps I use provide adequate support for the joint.
While I have briefly experimented with other cloth wrist wraps, my experience with PR Wraps has been by far my best. This is partially because of the fact that they don’t smell! Yes, you read that right. On their website they advertise their wraps as anti-microbial and therefore they don’t get smelly.
Now, while my wrists are very petite and feminine, I tend to be worse than many of the boys at my box for washing my CrossFit gear so the fact that they’re stink-free was a huge attraction.
The Good
Stink free: I was sceptical at first. I have been a hockey goalkeeper for many years and am well acquainted with the heinous smell sweat gives garments so when I first heard about these wraps I was curious to see if they’d live up to their claims. Good news? They do! I wore the wraps every day, sometimes twice a day, for two weeks and – to live up to my reputation – they weren’t aired out or washed at all. They lived rolled up in my Olympic lifting shoes in my WOD bag. Definitely not the most smell free place I could have found and yet they still smell brand new. Not even a hint of stink!
Fabric: The material that PR Wraps are made out of seems slightly thicker than other cloth wrist wraps I’ve used which meant they felt more supportive. This was hugely important for me. (Note: PR Wraps also come in lighter weight fabric).
Easy to Wear: Like most wrist wraps, PR Wraps were hard to put on at first, but once I got the hang of the tension I needed they were super easy to put on before a WOD. Mid workout they were easy to adjust as well – a simple twist to tighten or loosen.
Great Design: The nerd in me was practically giddy when I looked at their website and saw the different designs with names like “Zombie Green”, “The Joker” and “Convict”. Being able to have a little fun while you shop is a huge tick in my book.
Clean: We all hate that moment when you’re wearing something new and you get your sweat on and end up with an interesting new skin colour. I am the sweat queen and these wraps didn’t run at all.
The Bad
Constantly need adjusting: While I appreciated being able to easily adjust the wraps when I needed a different level of tension, it quickly became frustrating having to fiddle with them during every WOD. I found I lost some valuable seconds in workouts while I tried to get my wrists comfortable.
Price: For what is essentially two lengths of fabric and some stitching, $30 plus a whopping $25 postage seems a bit excessive; however, if you’re someone who leaves an unbearable sweat stench on every bit of WOD gear you own then it might just be worth it.
Conclusion
While my experience with PR Wraps was dramatically better than other strength wraps, I would still have to say I’ll be sticking with Rogue’s Velcro straps.
With my wrist issues I don’t really have a choice; however, if you are someone looking for a happy medium between traditional velcro straps and no support than these would be the perfect product.
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