Brenna “Red Beast” Calvert aggressively applying Squirrel’s Nut Butter.

You cross the finish line of a Spartan Beast covered in dirt, mud, sweat, maybe a little tears and are completely exhausted.  You head over to the rinse station to wash off and as the cold water hits your groin it burns due to excessive chaffing.  It only gets worse from here.  You mosey back to your car walking like a cowboy to avoid your legs from touching each other.  If only there was a solution…

What is it?  Squirrel’s Nut Butter is an anti-chafing product that is available in multiple sizes in multiple application methods.  Squirrel’s Nut Butter is well known in the trail running world but I only heard of them in the Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) world in the last year.  It is an all-natural blend of ingredients including coconut oil, cocoa butter and beeswax to create a slick and long lasting barrier between your skin and anything that causes chafing.

Daniel Leonard staying chafe free on his way to Hannibal Race Kuwait.

Application and Size Variants:  One of the nicest things about Squirrel’s is the variety in application methods and sizes.  They offer two methods the tub or the stick.  The tub involves smearing the product on to your body via your finger.  The stick (like a deodorant stick) involves applying it directly from the dispenser.  I prefer the latter since it keeps your hands clean…I just don’t recommend sharing the stick.

Conquer The Gauntlet Pro Ashley Samples staying chafe free during the pregnancy of her 2nd child.

Whether you are going for a short trip or multi-day adventure, Squirrel’s has a size that works for you. The tub comes in the following sizes 0.5 oz., 2 oz. and 4 oz.  The .5 is really small, so I would go with the 4 oz. that way you get the most for your money and a good amount of anti-chafe salve.  The stick comes in 0.5 oz., 0.7 oz., 1.7 oz. and 2.7 oz.  The two smaller sizes are really small.  Unless you plan on taking it on a backpacking trip where weight or space is a concern I would go for the 2.7 oz.

Author at World’s Toughest Mudder 2019. 24 hours of racing covering 90 miles in some of the worst conditions and still no chaffing thanks to Squirrel’s Nut Butter.

Use and Effectiveness:  Squirrel’s is pretty simple to use.  You apply some liberally on any area of your body where you might get chafing and go about your day racing or training.  Since I started using their product at the start of 2019, I’ve had zero chafing problems.  This includes doing things like 24 hours of treadmill running, OCR America 2 (8 venue marathon length OCR run for charity for 8 days in a row), 4x Conquer The Gauntlet Continuums, 3×12 hour Toughest Mudders and 24 hours of World’s Toughest Mudder.  That’s a lot of ultra in a lot of different conditions with zero chafing.  That includes water submersion, mud crawls, hot weather, cold weather, snow and everything in between.  I typically apply it once at the start of the day and that’s it.  No re-application but still no chafing.  If that doesn’t show you it works, I’m not sure what else to tell you.

100 mile finisher, OCR and Strength & Speed athlete Gary Shaw knows a thing or two about chaffing, which is why he switched to Squirrel’s Nut Butter.  Gary ran the date every day of April, then ran 40 miles on the 1st of May finishing a 31 day total of 505 miles (Strength & Speed podcast episode covering that feat).

Overall:  Squirrel’s Nut Butter is a great product to reduce chaffing to zero.  If you are a hardcore vegan, they also make a vegan version, Vegan Anti-Chafe.  Plus, they’ve expanded to cross training via Cycling Saddle Butter, Happie Toes foot anti-chafe and various body creams for men and women.  The 2.7 oz. still lasts a long time too.  I’ve used it for over a year and still have the same stick despite an excessive amount of OCR in 2019.  Overall, Squirrel’s does a great job with their product that is capable of handling even the roughest conditions that OCR can throw at it.

Zero chaffing, 200 miles of running over 8 days during OCR America 2: When Hell Freezes Over

5/5 Stars

Pictures provided by the athletes pictured

WTM picture from official race photographers at World’s Toughest Mudder

OCR America picture take by Bobby Ross of Stoke Shed

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