It’s funny, if you spend enough time around women, you’ll inevitably hear them talk about their bras. It’s kind of like listening to the three bears: My bra is too large; My bra is too small: My bra is just right.
You never hear guys talking about the fit of their underwear for a couple of reasons:
First, guys just don’t normally talk about that stuff, they just don’t, we’re shy. You never hear, “Hey Neil, what kind of underwear do you wear? Are they comfortable?” “No Bob, they really ride up my rear and I always have to adjust.”
”Second, for the most part, for a long time, guys had only two choices, Tighty Whiteys or Boxers. Then John Varvatos came up with the Boxer Brief, and everything changed. Now they actually have to think about what they wear under their pants.
For the longest time, Boxer briefs were simply Cotton with Spandex added. Good because they were more form fitting, bad because Cotton absorbs sweat. Hello, Jock itch? Cotton, great soft fabric, but as a base layer, not so great. Enter Polyester, wicks really well and is stretchy. Poly is relatively inexpensive, so it made sense to use it. Add Elastane (Spandex) and you get form fitting, wicking Boxer Briefs. But there’s a catch. Polyester and polyester production aren’t great for the environment (Petroleum-based). Poly also tends to wear out, and it’s smooth, but not that soft.
There are way too many brands that use virtually the same combination of fabric, either 90% Poly/10% or 92% Poly/8% Elastane. Decent combination, but for lack of a better phrase, cheap. If your boxers have more than 10% Elastane, you might as well wear a girdle.
Did you know that wearing tight underwear can be bad for you? Several medical studies have found that tight underwear can cut down on sperm count, as well as increase temperatures around the scrotum, which is not healthy for your sperm. Sperm viability is influenced by several factors, including body heat stability. Tight underwear also will make you chafe, and sweat more. No matter how much wicking there is in the fabric, your boys are going to end up stinky, and often catch that malady of all maladies, crotch rot. It can also affect the musculature around your hips, thighs, glutes, abs. It’s great for a workout, but long term it can injure, or mask injuries.
Enter Micro-modal! The wonder man-made fabric! Why did we choose Modal?
It’s Eco-friendly, made from Beech trees. Modal is a bio-based fabric that is made from spinning beech tree cellulose into fibers.
Beech trees need very little water to grow, so Modal uses 10-20x less water to produce than say, Cotton.
Modal uses 50% less Energy to produce, and has a 60% lower carbon footprint (It’s actually a Carbon-neutral fiber)
Polyester is a petroleum-based fabric, oil should go in your engine, not in your pants!
The Dyeing process produces far less pollution than that of other man-made fibers
Modal is much softer than Cotton or Poly. And softness really counts down there . . .
It wicks amazingly. Pulling the moisture away from your body helps keep you cool, and keeps the team ready to make big plays. It’s far more absorbent than Cotton, while able to take that moisture and disperse it.
It also absorbs color REALLY well, and does not pill (you know, the little balls of fabric you find on some clothing, which are broken fibers that tangle together).
So that’s why we chose Modal . . . What next?
Kind of like buying a car, we took our time, and test drove all sorts of Boxer Briefs. Short inseam, long inseam, heavy compression (lots of Elastane), light compression. We looked at all sorts of features, pouches, vents, flys. We literally worked our way through the vast majority of boxer brief brands. What we found is that honestly, for most brands it was far more about marketing than product (form over function). Some brands offered a single style & fabric, other offered multiple styles, with a myriad of fabrics. Be honest, do you really want to think which fabric combination, of 5 different ones offered by a single brand, you want to choose?
At the end of the day, we made a decision to develop what we felt would be a great, all day pair of boxer briefs , with just enough compression (Elastane) to hold you snugly, but not so much as to strangle the boys.
So we had our fabric, 95% Micro-modal/5% Elastane. What next? Features.
Like noted above, there are a ton of brands out there with, how should we say, gimmicks. Stick your thing in here, put the boys in there. Do you really want to do that much work just putting on your Boxers? If you’re like us, you want to step in, pull up, and go. So we kept it simple, but not without adding real features.
The Dugout Pouch – The boys, your “players” need a place to get ready for the game. The Dugout Pouch has enough hold to keep them from roaming around the field, while allowing them to rest comfortably on the bench. No real adjustment needed, other than settling in for a long game (or day).
The Cool Down Panel – All players need to stay cool to perform to their potential. Don’t want to be overheated before you’re needed, right? The Cool Down panel is made of a proprietary Micro-modal mesh that allows your team to breathe, and helps get rid out sweat & stink.
The Quick Release Fly – Sometimes your Centerfielder needs to go it alone. We found that the old vertical fly was rarely used, especially when you had to go in a hurry. Our horizontal fly allows your most important player to go solo, without his teammates on the field.
We added a 1.5” Soft elastic “No Roll” waistband that won’t bunch or Pinch, “No Creep” leg bands so you’re not continually pulling them down, and Flat Lock seams that keep your UP Boxers smooth against your body!
So we’re UP Boxers. We hope you like them as much as our advisory board (Oh heck, 25 guys AND women that tried on the various developments) did.
We’re upping the Boxer Brief game, UP yours!
