The reason I liked the concept of the full length sleeve is because I don't like wearing a full pair of tights while traveling. One, they slip down and I feel like I'm sagging like a 17yr old wannabe skater. I just need a flat brimmed hat to wear backward and an over sized T-shirt down to my knees. Two, they're too hot on an airplane while traveling. You never know what the temps going to be. I've used calf sleeves and socks and they're fine but I figured having full leg compression would be more beneficial. So when I saw these, I had to try them.
I've always had pretty bad swelling in my ankles when I fly and thus my legs feel pretty heavy when I get off the plane. Trying to prevent that I've tried socks and calf sleeves. The socks worked the best as they had compression on my feet and ankles as well as my calves. The RecoFit Leg Compressors certainly helped more than the normal calf sleeves but I did still have ankle and feet swelling since they end at the ankles but it definitely wasn't as bad as not having anything.
On the size chart I was right between a medium and a small-long. I decided to go with the smaller as I've noticed the RecoFit calf sleeves tend to stretch out a bit after wearing them. They were tight (as they should be) but not constraining. I still felt I could move pretty well in them as opposed to some tights. I was a bit worried about having a muffin top where the elastic band is around the thigh that holds them up but it really wasn't an issue and wasn't uncomfortable either. It did take some getting used to however. Getting them to stay up was a challenge until I figured out that I needed to pull up some fabric at the knee rather than just pull from the top. After that I had no issues with them staying up and they stayed up way better than other compression tights I've tried.
The thing I like about RecoFit over other compression components is the fabric. It's cool, thin and like a second skin. It has compression zones where compression is needed and allows movement in areas where compression is not needed, such as the back of the knee. And it looks great too. Others I've tried have just been too warm depending on conditions or too movement constrictive to be comfortable.
One issue I did have with these was that the sticky rubber around the upper elastic band did become somewhat irritating toward the end of the 15hrs of travel. It wasn't bad but I was certainly aware of having to sit on the band for that long. But hey, it was 15hrs of sitting, anything is going to get irritating after that. Moving it around a little bit fixed the problem for a while.
The legs never feel great after going for a shake out run after a trip like that and more than not, they just feel heavy and terrible. I kept the leg sleeves on for the shake out run and I have to say, this is where I felt the difference. This was the first time I had a full length compression on, usually I'll just have calf compression, and it made a big difference. My legs felt almost normal on the run and much better than usual after an intercontinental flight. They didn't have the normal stiff, heavy feeling the legs usually have.
The Leg Compressors will definitely be back on for the trip home and I'm betting the legs will be thanking me. These will replace a few other compression pieces in my arsenal just because it's full leg compression but doesn't have the issues of a full tight.
I can see just slipping these on after races instead of just a calf sleeve and for long travel days for full length compression.
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