We have been testing and publishing articles about Wild Slings since the very beginning of this blog’s existence, from the first releases from the winter 2017/2018 to this season’s hottest new pieces. Now we have quite a few reviews of these wraps in our archive so the time has finally come to publish a mega-review of 8 wraps from this Polish manufacturer.
Wild Slings Frères de sang
Composition: 50% Egyptian combed cotton, 50% organic pima cotton
Weight: 280 g/m² according to the manufacturer, 347 g/m² counted by me
Size: 6
Rucksack carry, Tibetan knotless finish
“Frères de sang” means “Blood brothers” in French and nowadays it is basically a legendary design from Wild Slings. The silhouettes of forest animals and symbols of natural elements in monochrome – simply something that is very “WS” and defines the brand as I perceive it. An all-cotton piece, at least at the time this wrap was released, was not typical for this manufacturer; however, the combination of Egyptian and Pima cotton is very delicate, soft and pleasant to touch.
When I tested this wrap (summer 2018), I was very surprised by its width (only 58 cm) and also that the counted weight was anywhere near to the declared weight (347 g/m² vs. 280 g/m²). Now, it would not surprise me at all, because meanwhile I have tested many similar WS and ROAR wraps. However – a truly toddler weight and a non-toddler width? To be honest, nothing I would be too happy about. But that would by all that I have to reproach – although it was very smooth and soft to touch, its glide and grip was in perfect balance and it held in the carry without any problems even in one knot. It felt very pleasant on my shoulders, seemed supportive adequately to its (counted) weight, felt slightly elastic and spread the weight of the wearie on my shoulders comfortably. After untying it, I was pleasantly surprised that it was very little wrinkled.
The pattern itself is beautiful but in my opinion it is quite a pity that it is that big – it is quite a problem to tie a carry in a manner that at least one of the animals is visible or even recognizable. Big-scale patterns are great for wrap conversions, but honestly, who would want to cut this beauty…? I also did not like that the legs of the animals on the lower hem are “cut” and are not visible whole.
Wild Slings Frères de sang – Le vent
Composition: 50% Egyptian combed cotton, 40% jaspe tussah silk, 10% organic pima cotton
Weight: 280 g/m² according to the manufacturer, 437 g/m² counted by me
Size: 6
Double hammock
Le vent (“wind” in French) was, as far as I know, the second release of Blood Brothers. Was I a little bit disappointed by the cotton Brothers? Then what should I say about this one…? Well, Le vent is basically a legend of its own category – as far as I remember, this is the very first WS “carpet” which raised eyebrows of basically anyone who ever held it in their hands. The difference between the declared and the counted weight is probably the highest I have encountered in any wrap from any manufacturer so far, no only WS/ROAR. Today, anyone who knows these sibling brands is somewhat prepared that the wrap would probably be a bit thicker when ordering one, but by the time of Le vent’s release (summer/autumn 2018) I must admit I was shocked (although I would be surprised by a 150 g/m² difference even now).
There are certain wraps that, even they weight over 400 g/m², are pleasant to wear. Then there are wraps that are very thick and very supportive and therefore, one can easily forgive them for being too little pliable and cooperative while tying. And then there is Le vent. It is true that by the time I tested this wrap it was not fully broken in (the legend says that it could get a little bit better) – but this was actually a real, thick, dense, very little elastic and very little pliable carpet and in my experience it is basically impossible to turn such a beast into a cuddly sweetheart of a wrap, even if you put it in a clothes mangle or let a pack of hippos run pass it. It is beautiful, that I must admit (it is even wider that its older cotton brother and the legs of the animals in the lowest row are visible whole); one positive feature is also that it would probably hold in the carry even without a knot and that it is not prone to pulls whatsoever, I suppose. But despite its enormous weight I did not find it particularly comfortable.
Wild Slings Les ténèbres Bloody Moon ring sling
Composition: 58% Egyptian combed cotton, 20% organic pima cotton
Weight: 270 g/m² according to the manufacturer, 291 g/m² counted by me
Ring sling rucksack carry
Let’s continue the unexcited ride (but do not worry, it will get better). In case of Bloody Moon I am quite sure that, for some reason, I miscounted the weight (it is a bit complicated in case of RS – and yes, I did subtract the weight of the rings and no, I did not forget to count the hems in) and that in reality its weight is much higher. There are two reasons why I am so unsure about the weight – the first one is that it did not slide through the rings ideally (I am not particularly fond of rings slings with the weight over 300 g/m² with L size rings because they are quite hard to word with and this one was no different), and the second reason is that I still remember a very passionate discussion in the WS fan group about the right manner how to count the “real” weight of a woven wrap – it was actually this particular wrap (or its long variant, not a ring sling) that started this discussion. The owner of that wrap was surprised that she counted 380 g/m² post-wash and was corrected, in a quite strange way, that the weight (or “density”) should not be counted as “weight on area” but that it should be counted by a computer (I already discussed it in the end of this article and I do not think I have anything else to add now).
As I already implied, it was not very easy to work with this ring sling, it felt quite thick and dense, not really pliable enough to comfortably slide through the rings. However, I do not want to dispute that it is quite supportive and not prone to pulls at all. As a good “working wrap” – why not, but I would not need it in my stack. One quite interesting fact – it was in a tester box together with the ping ROAR Hug (you can find the review in this article) and I must say that the “low-end” cacti won in this comparison by a mile.
Wild Slings Les ténèbres green prototype
Composition: 50% organic pima cotton, 30% linen, 10% cloudy cotton (well, in fact it is chenille 😀 )
Weight: 511 g/m² counted by me
Size: 5 (width 56 cm)
Rucksack carry
Okay, this not the beginning of the excited part of this article, yet. This wrap is, again, the classical chenille Wild Slings “towel”, something like the green owls (you can find the review here) – the only difference being that the moths are, pardon me, only worse in every bad aspect I disliked about the Nocturne wrap (actually, the moths were already converted to a carrier – hats off to the manufacturer that they were even able to sew through several layers of such a wrap!). This one is even thicker, denser; basic carries consume such amount of the length of the wrap that it actually behaves like a one size shorter piece. And the most important thing for me – they are much narrower than the owls – with their 56 cm even a narrow-wrap-lover should admit that this in extreme. Alright, it is true that it was a bit easier to work with this wrap than with the Nocture (which was quite surprising for me) – it felt slightly more pliable than the birdies. And similar to them it did not move an inch in the carry (yes, one of a few wraps that could contain my toddler even in a quite badly tied rucksack with a shallow seat) and as to it supportiveness, I have nothing to reproach – this one can carry anything (if you manage to create a seat deep enough).
Wild Slings Les ténèbres Douce nuit ring sling
Composition: 50% organic pima cotton, 30% linen, 20% bamboo
Weight: 280 g/m² declared by the manufacturer, 311 g/m² counted by me
Ring sling rucksack carry
Now it is finally the right time to get excited! What a pity that this wonderful piece came to us for testing only as a ring sling – I would be so happy if I could wear it for longer time than what my poor shoulder can endure with my heavy wearie (RS rucksack not being much more comfortable either). It is amazingly soft and cuddly and I could not believe that it contained linen (which I started to believe after untying it because it was quite wrinkled, just as basically any wrap with linen – but I have already seem wraps with a much higher tendency to wrinkle than this one). It is smooth, almost slippery from the purple side, perfectly pliable and slides through the rings without any problems – did I just say a few lines above that I do not like ring slings with the weight over 300 because they do not slide through the rings smoothly? Well, this one is an exception. After tying it, the RS held in the carry without any problems; as to its supportiveness, I can only tell from the short while of wearing which was no problem for me. Oh, how much I wish to try this one as a long wrap (and if it was not purple, I would be twice that excited…!).
Wild Slings Les corbeaux de l’orage – La crépuscule
Composition: 50% organic pima cotton, 40% tussah, 10% bamboo
Weight: 270 g/m² declared by the manufacturer
Size: 6
Back wrap cross carry, Tibetan knotless finish
All thumbs up for this wrap – together with the red dragon (you will find the review lower in this article), this is probably the best WS wrap I have tried so far. “On the paper”, it is very similar to the Le vent “carpet”, right? In fact it is a completely different wrap from a different woven wrap world – and it is not thanks to those 10% of bamboo, I am quite sure. I forgot to count the real weight in case of these ravens, for which I am very sorry, but I would estimate it to be somewhere around 300 – nothing that would be anywhere close to the carpet-like tussah Blood Brothers.
In contrast to the Brothers, it was an utter pleasure to tie the ravens – they are pleasant to touch, wonderfully pliable and easy to tighten. The structure of the two-coloured tussah makes the wrap look very interesting, somewhat “lightens” the overall dramatic vibe of the pattern and gives it a kind of a witty twist – and thanks to the nubs it also holds in the carry without any problems. It felt a bit elastic on my shoulders and very comfortable even with my heavy toddler. This is one of the pieces I was sorry to pass to another tester.
Wild Slings Dragon Fire
Composition: 50% Egyptian combed cotton, 40% tussah, 10% organic pima cotton
Weight: 280 g/m² declared by the manufacturer, 316 g/m² counted by me
Size: 6
Rucksack carry, Tibetan knotless finish
While the above mentioned ravens were similar to the tussah Blood Brothers, the red dragon is completely the same on the paper. And again, there could not be two more different wraps! Aside from being so wonderful, beautiful and marvelous (like OMG, that dragon is such a splendor in the carry!) I totally fell in love with its properties. It is soft, perfectly pliable, the grip is great thanks to the tussah nubs, but it glides quite well while tying; it felt a bit elastic on my shoulders and my 10 kg wearie was no challenge for it. If I say that it is a true masterpiece I do no think that this one word could express how amazing this wrap is in reality.
Wild Slings True Love Eclipse solaire
Composition: 88% organic pima cotton, 12% metabolized rector viscose
Weight: 275 g/m² declared by the manufacturer, 259 g/m² counted by me
Size: 6
Hip cross carry
Finally, I had the opportunity to try the legendary rector viscose! Right in the beginning I must say that it is not true that you cannot really tell that there is some metallic fibre in the wrap (it did not feel a thing only in case of the metallic fibres in dekkas, for example – you can find a review of one such a wrap, Elementy Luna, here); but it is no wire wool either like I encountered in some beautiful, but otherwise very bad Luluna wraps and even in wraps from such household brands like the Russian Mokosh.
Že je v tom metalické vlákno, to prostě na dotek poznáte, ale určitě to není nepoddajný šmirgl papír. Naopak, ve spojení s heboučkou a dokonale poddajnou pima bavlnou je to úžasně měkoučký a příjemný šátek – akorát bych si ho tedy nenavázala tou rexor stranou na holé tělo. Jinak se mi vázal skvěle, v úvazu držel, ale tentokrát jsem s gramáží musela dát za pravdu výrobci – tohle není žádný typický batolecí kus – s 13 kilovou Emilkou měl i na zádech v mých nejosvědčenějších úvazech při delším nošení co dělat.
Všem majitelkám šátků mnohokrát děkujeme za možnost je vyzkoušet!
