E - Shop Meander

Certainly, we offer price discounts to our regular and VIP customers. We have already kept on file our regular and VIP customers before launching the e-business. Now the e-shop also evaluates our customer's purchases and sorts them according to set parameters. If you belong to those customers who come back to our shop, you can be sure that we will remember to allow a price discount for you. Any individual, a business or a company, as well as a sports club, are invited to become our regular or a VIP customers.

Discounts are also allowed in cases of high-volume orders. Therefore it could be wise to get together with friends, or all club members, and order collectively. If the price of your purchase exceeds EUR 1000, you will be astonished by an extra discount. Do not forget, the bigger order, the cheaper shipping! Within Slovakia it is free from EUR 300.

It is important to determine size of your suits correctly so that you feel good wearing it; it should not limit your body in moving, which is one of the fundamental criteria for a caving suit.

Our GLIS and URSI underwear are made of POLARTEC© Climate Control Fabrics© Power Stretch, a fabric probable the highest quality on the market. Requirements of caving equipment significantly differ from requirements of other outdoor equipment.
The real most of outdoor underwear are classified into three key categories:
1st layer - a body contact. This layer leads perspiration away from your body. It is provided by the sparse structure of textile where capillary forces cannot work and then perspiration is led to the next layer.
2nd layer - so called accumulative and insulating layer. This layer accumulates perspiration and dependently on the structure of textile it forces perspiration onto surface where it evaporates through the outer protective textile layer or even better through a membrane which we are not going to describe here.
3rd layer - thick thermal insulation. Usually worn only in extreme cold climatic conditions.
These layers are then combined or changed as needed. Put them on or take them off, as you wish.

However, caving is certainly a bit different. In caves it is almost impossible to change clothes as you like. Once you dress up for a caving trip, you should wear it till coming back from the trip, or to the bivouac, and only then you take your clothes off. That means underwear have to fulfil minimum of two of the above mentioned functions. Usually all in one layer so that you can you move freely enough. POLARTEC© Climate Control Fabrics© Power Stretch knitted fabric undoubtly meets the conditions.
When buying underwear, it is necessary to realize that polyamide (PAD), forming 56%, is the dominant component of the fabric. PAD shrinkage is between 5% and 7% under damp, heat and time effects. Even if the fabric is extremely elastic (98% all directions) you should choose such an underwear which does not exercise very perceptible pressure on your body under its elasticity. Professional sportsmen may deliberately use the underwear pressure on their bodies to remove undesired substances from muscles; however, we do not recommend that to any common caver. It is doubtful that it would help him give improved performances. A slightly rippled (loosened) fabric is nothing more than a design defect which usually does not mean any troubles for cavers. Eventually, after being worn or washed for a couple of times the fabric nicely adapt to the shape of your body.
All our underwear have slightly prolonged torso to be suitable for as much people with different figures to wear as possible. It is possible as most of cavers wear straps sitharness or a belt at least underground which then hold the crotch in the right place. However, there are a few people with an extremely long torso (C size) who have to ask for tailor-made clothes.

Underwear GLIS and URSI are made with using a special flexible thread. However, sometimes happens that a stitch rips when dressing on and it starts to split. It is caused by an extreme flexibility of the basic fabric (98%), even a chain stitch is (also) not able to adapt completely. It usually happens when putting on damp or wet clothes. Concerning long parts, as trousers and sleeves, it is recommended to put on gradually and sensibly, as if a woman puts on her stockings.

Also product hang-tags notify of this fact in instructions to use, which say that such damages are not covered with guarantee. But we immediately repair eventually damaged stitches if you send us your underwear carefully washed. Perfect cleaning is essential condition to repair stitching. Costs of carriage, however, have to be paid by the customer.

Our underwear made of polyester (PES) four-ply polyester fabric are designed for trips to cold caves; we can say it integrates all 3 layers in one. In case of extreme wet, you feel comfortable in a few minutes, but all the water flows down to your shoes which could be a bit disagreeable. The cut is similar to the above mentioned; however, the fabric is of older structure which is elastic only across the width. PES contractility is quite low, as well as the fabric structure does not usually allow contracting after using or washing. On the contrary, it eventually loosens; therefore you should choose a closefitting size. The same counts for socks.

When choosing a size of your coverall, we do not recommend choosing a tight one (no good to look pretty in the photos). As we have already mentioned above, you must count with polyamide shrinkage by 5% to 7%. Furthermore, also for a standard figure we recommend to choose size B which differs from A only in width. When moving intensively, the loose parts of clothing move (slightly) which makes the air pump in and out, and so perspiration is led away in a more efficient way. Moreover, if a tight coverall gets stuck on rock spines, it will usually rip at once. If you wear a loose coverall, normally you have enough time to response and correct your movements.
You should always try on coverall with your well-tried undewear on. You need to close on chest and to secure sleeves with a Velcro band. Raise your arms upwards as much as possible and bend forward to touch the floor with your hands if possible. Doing this, you should not feel too much disagreeable in the crotch. In case you feel strongly disagreeable your crotch, it is necessary for you to ask for an individual cut, i.e. to prolong the torso.

It is a fact that we are all different. Not everybody of us has a nice symmetrical figure; therefore it is often necessary to modify the patterns.

Some time ago we also used to produce clothes based on given body proportions; unfortunately, quite often we had to subsequently remake it, which meant significantly higher price due to high labour costs.
The cause was that everyone proceeds differently when measuring body proportions.
Therefore we stopped producing that way and we only guarantee the correct size if body proportions are measured in our premises.
However, modifications are possible:
Our products have spread world-wide and the range of sizes has not changed since the beginning of our existence. That means, if anyone needs to correct size, they must proceed from a standard size and ask for e.g. torso shortening by x cm, waist enlarging by x cm, leg shortening by x cm, or vice-versa. Such modifications are included in the price; you do not have to pay anything more.
Nevertheless, we are open to do structural changes and modifications according to our customer's requests; if they wish, we can add any pockets they like and wherever they like, an opening for a valve of a dry diving suit and so on. However, it is necessary to define or draw such a demand accurately so that any mistakes are avoided. When requesting such a modification, the price is calculated individually to be subsequently approved by the customer.

It may seem a bit strange (especially for those cavers who have already done a lot of caving and ripped several sets of equipment), but also a usual caving suit needs some running-in as a new car engine does.
We have come to this conclusion after careful observations of technological details which we decided to do upon few complaints made by active and respectful cavers using our coveralls in extreme conditions.
A new suit should not be first used for extreme trips in caves with narrow crawlings, straits and washed-out spurs as cavers have to rub against them quite intensely.

What is the matter?
The flat textile material is bended as needed at the stitching spots when sewing; however, you should not forget that the flat textile still tends to even out. The same counts for the thread used for the stitches. The thread appears as a bulge on the surface. Such bulges then tend to rip up soon due to intense abrasion.
We know that polyamide, which our coveralls are made of, has a shrinkage of 5% - 7% depending on temperature, humidity and time affecting it. Another factor is polymer stabilization, or simply fixation, which is affected by the same influences (we do not include chemical ones which have to be avoided). To put it more simply, fixation makes the bended textile or thread get used to the forced shape and stop tending to come back to their previous shape as made or stored.
And so it happens that a stitch recesses to the textile structure ("hides itself" in it) after several trips (but not extreme ones) and especially washings; then the stitch does not stand out as it does on a new unused product.

This suggests that a new suit cannot be taken to trips which demand a lot of crawling and rubbing against sharp spurs in alpine caves. Therefore, you should not unpack your brand new coverall just before you enter Abisso Michele Gortani or similar places.

Finally, let us say a few words on cave-mud.
It is true that it does not sound very pleasant, especially when you pack off and subsequently clean after a trip, but coveralls cope quite well with it. Even more, if the mud is wet, it helps the suit run in.