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Reviews > Health & Safety > First Aid Kits > Badger Balm Lip Body Joint Healing Rub > Test Report by Brian Tannehill

BADGER BALM
TEST SERIES BY BRIAN TANNEHILL
LONG-TERM REPORT
July 14, 2009

CLICK HERE TO SKIP TO THE FIELD REPORT
CLICK HERE TO SKIP TO THE LONG-TERM REPORT

TESTER INFORMATION

NAME: Brian Tannehill
EMAIL: tannehillclan (at) gmail (dot) com
AGE: 34
LOCATION: Colorado Springs, Co
GENDER: M
HEIGHT: 5' 7" (1.70 m)
WEIGHT: 185 lb (83.90 kg)

I am fairly new to backpacking, but I have hunted/fished/camped all my life in East Texas, Colorado, and California. My kids (7, 13, 15) limit me to weekend overnight camping trips, or day hikes Geocaching. I am also an avid mountain biker. Currently I live in Colorado Springs, Co at the base of the Rocky Mountains. Pike National Forest surrounds me at 9000 – 14,110 feet (2743 m – 4301 m). Snow can happen 10 months out of the year and summer is the hottest reaching 80 deg F + (44 C+), The other months average 45 deg F (7 C).


INITIAL REPORT

PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS

This report will cover three of the Badger Balm products, the lip and body balm, sore joint rub, and healing rub.

Manufacturer: Badger Balm
Year of Manufacture: 2009
Manufacturer's Website: www.badgerbalm.com

Lip and Body Balm:
Manufacturers Weight: .75 oz (21 g)
Measured Weight: 1.25 oz (34 g) Including tin
MSRP: US$ 5.50
Base Ingredients: *Extra Virgin Olive Oil, *Golden Yellow Beeswax, *Castor Bean Oil, extracts of *Aloe Vera, and CO2 extracts of Rosehip & *Seabuckthorn Berry. * = Certified Organic
Dimensions: 2 in (5 cm) across, 0.75 in (2 cm) height


Badger Balm was kind enough to send me three tins of the lip and body balm in three distinct flavors, There are 6 flavors listed on their website though. The flavors I have are:

Ginger & Lemon
*Ginger, *Lemon, *Sweet Orange, *Cardamom & *Lemongrass. * = Certified Organic
gingerlemon
Fig 1 Courtesy Badger Balm


Highland Mint
*Spearmint, *Peppermint, Sweet Birch & *Lavender. * = Certified Organic
highlandmint
Fig 2 Courtesy Badger Balm


Tangerine Breeze
*Tangerine, *Mandarin, *Pink Grapefruit, *Sweet Orange & *Sage. * = Certified Organic
tangerinebreeze
Fig 3 Courtesy Badger Balm


Healing Balm:
Manufacturers Weight: 2 oz (56 g)
Measured Weight: 3.12 oz (90 g) Including tin
MSRP: US$ 8.00
Base Ingredients: *Extra Virgin Olive Oil, *Golden Yellow Beeswax, *Castor Oil, *Aloe Vera Extract, and Essential Oil of Sweet Birch. * = Certified Organic
Dimensions: 2.75 in (7 cm) across, 1 in (2.5 cm) height
healingrub
Fig 5 Courtesy Badger Balm



Sore Joint Rub:
Manufacturers Weight: 2 oz (56 g)
Measured Weight: 3.12 oz (90 g) Including tin
MSRP: US$ 13.00
Base Ingredients: *Extra Virgin Olive Oil, *Cayenne Extract, *Golden Yellow Beeswax, *Castor Oil, CO2 Extracts of *Black Pepper, *Ginger, Arnica, & Rosehip, Essential Oils of *Lemongrass, *Cardamom, *Rosemary, *Sage, & Thyme. * = Certified Organic
Dimensions: 2.75 in (7 cm) across, 1 in (2.5 cm) height
sorejointrub
Fig 4 Courtesy Badger Balm


INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

All of the Badger Balms are in round metal tins with a "best by" date stamped on the side. The tins are decorated in colors supporting the flavors. For example, the mint lip balm is in a green can, and tangerine breeze is in an orange colored tin. The product inside the tin is hard to the touch, but once I push through it, it is soft and mushy, almost like a paste. Initially opening the tins, my wife did not like some of the smells, especially for the sore joint rub. I find the smells to be just fine.

I have used the sore joint rub on my shoulder, knee and ankle so far. I have to scoop a lot out for my shoulder as I cover the front, back and down my arm some. It feels good going on, and doesn't have that burning sensation as some of my other ointments. The sore joint rub does say to test it out on a small area first as it could cause some skin irritations. It also gives directions on how to remove with baking soda and cold water. The product rubs in quickly, and I do not notice very much oiliness on my skin.

Using the healing rub on my dry cracked knuckles has shown a great improvement in just a couple of uses. It is very dry this time of year in Colorado, and I spend a lot of time outside. With the wind we have had this year and the low humidity, my knuckles and fingers are cracked. This product also rubs in pretty quickly, but I notice more of a waxy/water repellency feel to it. I wash my hands to get the balm off my fingertips and the water beads right up. I have also noticed a few days after use that my skin is still smoother and still seems like it has some product on it.

With the lip balm I do not push my finger into it and get a large amount like I do for the other two balms. I generally run my fingers over the top and gather some balm on one finger. I find the taste to be fine, but prefer the tangerine or mint over the ginger and lemon. The product rubs on and I do not notice it after a few moments, unlike the other balms which I notice on my skin for a longer period.

SUMMARY

This concludes my initial report.

LONG-TERM REPORT

LONG-TERM TEST LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS

I mainly used the badger balm products after dayhikes and work in the yard and such. Temperatures ranged from the low 40's F (4 C) to the mid 80's (26 C). Weather was anything from warm, to mild to windy to cold.

PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD

Over all I like the Badger Balm line of products. However my favorite is the lip balm and the healing balm.

Lip Balm-
The lip balm works well. I do notice that it wears off quicker than I like so I need to re apply sooner but I think they work quicker in helping my chapped lips. I accidentaly left one tin in the car and it melted, and shifted to one side in the can. That’s to be expected though in a hot car. I have also used the lip balm in the tube from Badger and I much prefer that over using my fingers. After applying the lip balm I do notice my fingers are a bit waxy, however I can just wipe that off or wash my hands if needed. My favorites in order of flavor are the Highland Mint, Tangerine Breeze, and Ginger and lemon.

Healing Balm –
I used the healing balm almost weekly or as needed on my hands. I found after the first couple of uses, my hands were smooth and silky and not dried and cracked. I really like this product. It did not take long to show a difference and maintained my hands throughout the test. Since it’s a greasy feeling, and I use it on my hands, I just kind of have to wait for the product to dry up some instead of washing off my hands like with the other products. It kind of defeats the purpose to apply it and then wash it right off. I do clean my fingers though and leave it on my knuckles and tops of my hands. I also would apply it in the evenings to my feet. My feet are not usually dry, and this product helped to maintain them as well. I didn’t notice any hard calluses during the test either.

Sore Joint Rub –
I continued to use the sore joint rub on my shoulder, knee and ankle. It was hard to tell if it did any good or not. I think it did. I know my knee felt better, but as far as my shoulder, it did so-so. Sometimes I could feel a little tingle like it was working, other times I did not feel anything. One time it felt real warm after I applied it and a slight compress to my shoulder. It was a good warm though and I haven’t noticed it very often. I have noticed though that about 20-30 minutes after I applied the sore joint rub, and after washing my hands, the product was still noticeable on my hands. I know this because I rubbed my eyes and they started burning. I made this mistake twice.

Things I notice in general about these products are they all leave a waxy/greasy feeling after application. Water beads up on my hands when I go to wash off the product, and the waxy feeling goes away after drying off my hands. They rub in fine to my skin and I never had any irritation problems. They do leave a bit of a waxy/greasy feeling on my skin but it dries up quick. I found the scents to be pleasant, however my wife who suffers from migraines, did not like the smells at all.

CONTINUED USE

I will continue to use these products, especially the lip balm and healing rub.

Things I liked:
Went on easy
Nice flavor
Worked Well

Things I did not like:
Greasy feeling on my hands after application
Having to re apply more often

This concludes my report series on the Badger Balm. Thanks to Badger Balm and Backpakcgeartest.org for allowing me to participate in this test.

This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1. Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.

Read more reviews of Badger Balm gear
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Reviews > Health & Safety > First Aid Kits > Badger Balm Lip Body Joint Healing Rub > Test Report by Brian Tannehill



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