😎 Tested closer to the sun
If you are looking for the best sun protection sleeves, we Aussies have good reason to make sure we make products that deliver the best UV protection.
UV is higher in Australia. Here's why.
Many people assume it is just because Australia is "hot," but UV radiation is actually independent of temperature. The reasons for this difference are a mix of planetary physics and atmospheric conditions.
Australia (and New Zealand) summers are spent closer to the sun. Fact. The Earth's eliptical orbit means that in the southern summer, the sun is at its closest point to the sun, whereas it is at its furthest for the northern summers.
Our depleted ozone layer The ozone layer which absorbs the many of the harmful rays is more depleted over the southern hemisphere.
Cleaner, clearer skies in Australia, and New Zealand. This feels like good news, due to lower population density, fewer cities and heavy industry. But it also means there are less particles to block UV rays.
This all adds up to UV levels in Australia being significantly higher - typically 7% to 15% higher - than at similar latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Impact on Australian Skin
The result of this UV exposure is that 67% of Australians reaching 70 will have been diagnosed with some form of skin cancer, with similar stats for New Zealanders.
N Hemisphere - Lower skin cancer rates, but growing
While the rates in USA, Canada, and the UK look more reassuring, unfortunately skin cancers have increased by around 30% in each of those countries over the past decade. Whether its the snowbirds from Canada spending the winter months in Mexico, the sun baked Southern States of the US, or the sun-seeker holidays from the UK, bad sun burns and cumulative sun exposure are on the rise.
| Approx.. Skin Cancer Risk by Age 70 | |
| Australia | 67% |
| New Zealand | 65-70% |
| USA | 20% (varies by state) |
| Canada | 14-17% |
| UK | 10 - 15% |
ARPANSA tested UPF 50+
In designing Crazy Arms, we deliberately picked a fabric that was cool, lightweight, but also far exceeded the threshold for UPF50+.
Fabrics, unlike sun screens, are actually tested in the Australian government laboratory (ARPANSA), so you can be sure that the UVA and UVB rays do not make it through to your skin.
Start young - keep covered long!
We started Crazy Arms with fun patterns to encourage our kids to avoid burnt arms at school, camps and play. But we now find a lot of people in the older group - having been through the unpleasantness of a skin cancer treatment - are taking extra care during their sunny retirement years.