UPF or SPF?

Video Transcript

"I'd like to talk a little bit about the difference between SPF and UPF. Got customers looking at products all the time, going, well what does this mean, what does it mean that it's a UPF of thirty, or an SPF of such-and-such. Well, SPF is typically used with sunblocks that you apply to your skin. And, say an SPF of ten, the rating actually is the amount of times--say you sunburn in ten minutes. An SPF of ten will take that ten minutes, you multiply it by ten, and that's the amount of time it takes for you to start to burn. So ten times ten, you've got a hundred minutes of protection. With UPF, it's a little different. It's actually talking about blocking light. And so a lot of these, a lot of companies will kind of bounce back and forth between SPF and UPF. UPF is the measurement of how much UV light it blocks. The highest rating is fifty, and that's typically in a piece like this. Now, that sounds real great, but typically UPF fifty is very tightly woven and it gets kind of hot. This rash guard, used for kayaking, that's great because you're going to get wet. But a UPF of thirty or forty is a lot cooler, and will feel better. So you don't get too hung up on the numbers. If you have any questions, give your local outfitter a holler."