Remember back in the 70s and early 80s when sweatbands were all the rage? Well, the folks over at iMojo have released an armband called the nano Sweats which holds the 1G and 2G iPod nano. It’s made out of that same elastic-like cotton weave that was so popular with runners of yore, that fits around your forearm, instead of your wrists or head.
Sewn or otherwise bonded to one side of the band is a clear plastic sleeve that your iPod nano slides into. Running along either end of the clear sleeve, where the top and bottom of your nano would be, are rubber “stoppers” in case you’re worried about your nano slipping out of the sleve. I’m not sure this really an issue because the sleeve is backed in rubber and looks pretty tight. There are slits in the rubber stoppers to allow your nano’s headphones to poke out. I immediately wondered if these stoppers prevent you from using the Nike +, but iMojo notes on their website that the stoppers are flexible enough to allow for the accessory.
A nice feature of the iMojo nano Sweats are nautical-like cleats that allow you to wind-up your headphones on the nano Sweats itself. It looks like it keeps things nice and tidy.
Because this is essentially a sweatband, after runs or workouts, you’ll probably want to wash the nano Sweats. No problem, just don’t forget to flip them inside out when you add them to the wash—the iMojo site provides washing machine instructions.
Besides all this functionality, a great selling point of the iMojo nano Sweats is, well, it’s price. $24.95 US gets you a set of two, either black or white. With all that sweating you’re going to do, I suppose iMojo is thinking you can wear one while the other is in the wash. When you consider that other nano armbands typically are more expensive than that for just one, the nano Sweats are a great price. You can purchase the nano Sweats through the iMojo website here.
I have a couple of concerns about the nano Sweats, namely: Will using an armband on your forearm instead of your biceps be awkward? and Will the nano Sweats really accommodate the Nike + iPod accessory, or was it an afterthought? I’m looking forward to testing out the nano Sweats and will have a full report soon. If there’s something specific you want to know about nano Sweats, please leave a comment below before I test it out and I’ll make sure to cover it.
You mentioned initially that this is a type of sweatband and sweatbands were traditionally worn on the forearms about the width of a wrist. So while it might have some practical issues regarding arm movement while in the throes of ambulation, it will not be awkward in the sense of location.