Men’s Performance Underwear for Hiking and Backpacking

By Will Rietveld

What do you wear under your kilt? Well, that’s a pretty personal thing, ranging from au natural to something with pretty good support. I’m sure some advocate the former, and its very convenient for women, but men have a different sort of need...

I don’t find many articles on this subject, but it’s a valid question to bring up. Should you wear your normal everyday cotton undies, or is “performance underwear” that much better? Maybe you haven’t thought about it that much. So let’s get this topic out into the open, so to speak.

 

Men’s performance underwear comes in different styles, from shortest to longest: briefs (not shown), trunks, boxers, and long-leg. Brands tested for this article are MyPakage (left) ExOfficio (center), and Saxx (right). I personally prefer trunks and boxers, but I assume each individual has a personal preference.

Since we pay big bucks for high-tech outerwear – jackets, wind shirts, pants, shells, rainwear – why should underwear be any different? Does it matter that much?

It does matter:

• Don’t wear something that soaks up moisture and dries slowly, so forget cotton.
• Stay away from thongs!
• Synthetics are much better for moisture management and quick drying, just like a baselayer top.
• Wool is good for the cold months, but it’s slower to dry compared to synthetics.
• Flat seam construction avoids abrasion.
• On a multi-day trip, you can wash out synthetic underwear and dry it overnight.
• They have stretch to conform to the body and provide a snug fit.
• They prevent your bells from clanging against your thighs, in other words they’re supportive.
• Many have a wider waistband to distribute pressure (but adds weight).
• You can actually wear them as a hiking short or swimsuit, which makes them multi-purpose.

Styles

• Briefs typically have no inseam.
• Trunks have a 3 to 4-inch inseam.
• Boxers have a 5 to 6-inch inseam.
• Long-Leg styles have an 8 to 10-inch inseam.

A lot of garment manufacturers make performance underwear in a wide array of styles and fabrics, and the inseam length within an individual style varies by manufacturer.

Testing

For years I wore cotton briefs before synthetic performance bottoms came out. Then I discovered synthetic briefs by Patagonia and Terramar for backpacking, and found them to be a good improvement. The revelation came for me when I got some Saxx trunks at the Outdoor Retailer trade show to try when the first came out. Their claim is “life changing underwear”. They did, I love them, and have worn them ever since.

Saxx. What is unique about Saxx underwear (and My Pakage below) is they have an engineered pouch at the front that provides excellent support for the male anatomy during active sports, just like a sports bra does for women. Specifically, their BallPark Pouch, Three-D Fit, and Flat Out Seams combine to provide great fit, support, friction prevention. Saxx has numerous fabrics and styles for different seasons and sports, and a range of colors and patterns from mild to wild. I have worn Saxx trunks and boxers and like both of them equally well. In particular, I especially like the Quest 2, which is a lightweight highly breathable summer version. (Saxx photo)

Saxx also has the Kinetic Tight, which is a synthetic calf length tight for active sports in cool weather. They are a combination underwear and tight. I tried these for backcountry skiing on cold days and really like them. I don’t overheat in them as I would wearing wool tights.

MyPakage. This brand came out soon after Saxx, as I recall, and has been well received. Their underwear has a front pouch similar to Saxx that they call “Keyhole Technology”, and their underwear is available in a range of styles, fabrics, and colors, some pretty wild. I have tried MyPakage trunks and boxers in several fabrics, like them just as well as the Saxx bottoms, and favor lightweight breathable synthetics. (MyPakage photo)

ExOfficio. I recently tried ExOfficio Give-n-Go underwear on a 2-week February trip to camp and hike in the southern Arizona Sonoran Desert. ExOfficio does not have the defined pouch technology like Saxx or MyPakage, but they do claim to have “ergonomic support and active fit”. I tested the Sport Mesh version (lightweight and breathable) and Sol Cool version (cooling), both in a boxer style. Although both versions were the same size, the Sport Mesh fit me perfectly and performed well, but the Sol Cool version was too loose and did not perform very well at all. Fit really matters. Interestingly, the packaging does not reveal what the fabric makeup is, but the garment labels reveal the Sport Mesh boxers are 92% nylon and 8% spandex and the Sol Cool boxers are 54% cotton, 42% nylon, and 6% spandex. Overall, the Sport Mesh was a hit and the Sol Cool was a miss.

Saxx and MyPakage offer many versions of their underwear with or without a fly. The flyless version seems to support a little better but the fly version is more convenient. Not a big difference, so personal choice. Both brands perform well for me, and I don’t have any particular preference between the two. The ExOfficio boxers have a fly and don’t have the specific pouch “technology” of the Saxx and MyPakage underwear.

It’s important to size underwear to get a snug-but-not-tight fit, and definitely not loose. Most have a soft stretch to fit a range of shapes and sizes, so most men would wear one size smaller than their regular pant size. I normally wear a size Large in a pant (34-35 waist), but I wear size Medium trunks and boxers.

Assessment

There are loads of options (brands, fabrics, styles) in the performance underwear category, and it is difficult to test all of them. So this article will suffice as an introduction to the topic and a testimonial to my experiences and personal preferences. Perhaps readers would like to add their testimonial on brands and styles they like.

This reminds me of a story in the book “I Hike” by my friend Lawton “Disco” Grinter: he ran into a foreign hiker on the CDT called Speedo who was pleading for water. Speedo was complaining of “schayfing” (chafing) and needed the water to shave his “durf”, a private area which had gotten inflamed from many miles of hiking. He was in serious pain. Chafing can be a serious problem while hiking a long trail. The solution is to avoid the problem by wearing performance underwear of the types described above, and use Bodyglide as needed.

My personal preference is the Saxx and MyPakage underwear, which have a well-designed pouch to support and isolate the male anatomy so it doesn’t jostle or rub, avoiding discomfort and chafing. I have a slight preference for the trunk style because they are a bit lighter and cooler, but boxers work just as well. Both are a bit expensive at about $25/pair, but well worth it.

Bottom line, if your undies are in a bundle, causing discomfort or chafing, consider switching to synthetic trunk or boxer style performance underwear with flat seams. My personal experience and preference is the brands (Saxx and My Pakage) that have a well designed pouch to support and confine the male anatomy, but there are likely other brands and styles that have a strong following. This is a topic for some good discussion; what works best for you?

A Simple, Minimalist, and Ultralight Approach to Catching, Cleaning, and Cooking a Backcountry Fish Dinner

By Will Rietveld

Introduction

I don’t always fish on wilderness trips in the mountains, partly because my “ultralight” fishing gear, consisting of a lightweight and compact spinning rod and reel and 2-3 lures, weighs 10 ounces, which is significant. It really works well to catch and release trout in alpine lakes. However, for me, fishing is optional, and fishing gear adds weight to my pack.

Fly fishing with my 1.6 ounce handline system at an alpine lake.

Enter the handline. I didn’t invent it; Rik Christensen did that (read his article “Ultralight Tic Tac Fishing Kit” on the Gossamer Gear Blog). His kit consists of a plastic Tic Tac mint container with fishing line wrapped around it and a few spinning lures inside. He doesn’t give the weight, but it’s obviously very light.

I first met the Tic Tac handline when Glen Van Peski (Gossamer Gear founder and Master of UL backpacking) joined me on three backpacking trips in my backyard, the Weminuche Wilderness in southern Colorado. On the first trip I caught lots of fish with my spinning outfit, but Glen had little success with his handline, so we took turns catching fish with the spinning rod. However, on our most recent trip Glen was catching fish with the handline; he had mastered the technique. That opened my eyes, and my mind.

I reasoned that it is difficult to retrieve fast enough with a handline to keep the lure from snagging the bottom, so using a handline with a spinning lure is challenging. My aha! moment was when I realized that the handline might work much better with a fly and bubble, because the bubble and fly float on the surface.

Success; I found a bubble and a fly works better on a handline (for trout at least) than a spinning lure. The bubble and fly float on the surface while being retrieved, while a spinning lure sinks to the bottom where it can easily become snagged.

In this article I describe my own version of an ultralight handline for fishing on wilderness backpacking trips, and how to clean and cook fish without the need for any special cutlery or cookware.

The Handline System

This is my version of an ultralight handline. It consists of a round plastic 50 milliliter mini liquor bottle, 50-75 feet of 6 pound fishing line wrapped around it, a mini fly fishing bubble, and a few dry flies with leaders. The bubble and flies are stored inside the bottle.

 

The complete system weighs 1.6 ounces, including the stuff sack. A small plastic bag would work just as well as a storage bag.

Finding a mini liquor bottle is easy; empty ones are usually readily available along the roadside, or purchase a full one at any liquor store.

Making the handline is easy:

1. Remove the bottom from the plastic bottle, and discard the cap.
2. Tie the fishing line around the neck of the bottle and tape it down.
3. Wrap 50-75 feet of fishing line (I use 6# line) around the outside of the bottle, and hold it in place with a strip of painter’s (blue or green) masking tape.
4. Thread the other end of the fishing line through the bubble and then tie on a mini swivel.
5. Select 2-3 popular artificial fishing flies for your locale and tie a 4-foot long leader on each one, then tie a loop at the other end. It helps to wind the fly and line on a small piece of lightweight foam as shown.
6. Store the bubble and flies inside the plastic bottle.
7. A tiny stuff sack is handy to contain the handline, but a small plastic bag will work just as well.

The fishing technique is also easy:

1. Attach a fly to the swivel.
2. Fill the bubble about 2/3 full of water to provide weight for casting.
3. Remove the painter’s tape holding the line in place and pull off about 2-3 feet of line above the bubble.
4. Holding the bottle in one hand, fling the bubble and fly out with the other hand (this takes a little practice).
5. Slowly retrieve the line by wrapping it around the bottle while carefully watching the fly beyond the bubble.
6. When you see a swirl at the fly, pull on the line to hook the fish.
7. Pull in the fish. It’s hard to maintain tension on the fish by winding the line around the bottle, so you may need to put the bottle in a pocket and pull the line in hand over hand.

Cleaning Fish

Most backpackers carry some kind of folding knife or multi-tool for whatever need that comes up, including cleaning fish. However, from an ultralight backpacker’s viewpoint, a conventional knife is overkill and extra weight. I use a simple single-edged razor blade. That’s all I need; it’s cheap and ultralight (0.1 ounce).

To prepare fish for cooking I gut the fish, cut off the head and tail, and then cut up the fish into pieces about 3 inches long. Another type of lightweight knife is shown in the photo.

Cooking Fish on an Alcohol Stove (or any cooking system)

I avoid starting a fire to cook fish or bringing a frying pan to cook fish because I don’t want the extra weight or environmental impacts.

My method is to simply poach the fish in my cook pot. In my case that’s a Trail Designs Caldera Keg-F cooking system (which uses a 25.4 ounce Foster’s beer can for the cook pot), or more recently a Gossamer Gear GVP Ultralight Stove System (shown, which uses a shortened version of the same pot).

Again, the method is very simple:

1. Put sections of fish in the pot, leaving at least 2 inches at the top.
2. Fill the pot with water to cover the fish about 1 inch. Put the lid on the pot.
3. Fill the stove’s burner with enough alcohol to heat the fish plus water to boiling.
4. Start the stove and bring the water to boiling.
5. Leave the fish in the hot water about 10 minutes (this is the “boil and set” method I use for all of my camp cooking).
6. Drain the water and take the fish to a nice clean rock to serve as a plate.
7. Eat and enjoy the scenery.

 

Another view of the Gossamer Gear GVP Ultralight Stove System, which is about 3 ounces lighter than the Trail Designs Caldera Keg-F system. It uses a smaller more fuel-efficient burner, shorter cone, and shortened cook pot. The minimum weight of the Gossamer Gear cooking system, including an insulated cozy/carry bag is just 2.9 ounces. I will publish a review on the Gossamer Gear system in the near future.

Conclusions

Catching a fish for dinner is a fun activity at a wilderness camp, and it doesn’t need to add weight to your pack and complexity to your trip.  This overall technique makes catching fish and eating them as simple and lightweight as possible.

Taking fishing gear on a backpacking trip is no longer a decision involving a weight penalty; now I include the handline as part of my basic kit, and it only adds 1.6 ounces.

Overall my new fish catching, cleaning, and cooking gear, as described (a handline for catching fish, a single-edged razor blade for cleaning fish, and the new Gossamer Gear GVP Ultralight Stove System for cooking fish), has reduced my base weight by 11 ounces compared to my previous system. That’s a lot.

Handline fishing works well for catching dinner, but it is a bit tedious for sport fishing.

I’m looking forward to getting out a lot more this coming summer, developing my skill with the handline, and eating more fat trout to supplement my dinners.

A Technique for Using a Steripen with a Hydration System

By Will Rietveld

My (current) favorite lightweight water purification system is the rechargeable Steripen Freedom, a 2.65 ounce (without carry case) device that purifies water with UV light. Why? – Because there is no wait time or sucking through a filter, just treat and drink.

I prefer to use a lightweight hydration system carried in a side pocket, but the flask has a narrow opening, which is not amenable to using a Steripen. The Steripen requires an open container or wide mouth bottle to wave the device around in the water.

So how do you use it with a hydration system, in ultralight style, which means minimal extra weight?

My ultralight backpacking friend Tom Galbraith came up with a clever and simple solution, described below. Here’s a photo of Tom on a recent backpacking trip two weeks after he bicycled 1700 miles on the Continental Divide road route. Credit for the idea goes to Tom, and I show the method here with his permission.

The technique is to use a gallon size zip-lock bag to scoop up water, treat the water in the bag with the Steripen, then transfer the water into your hydration reservoir. We like to use a Platypus flask.

Equipment needed is a Steripen, 1-gallon zip-lock plastic bag with slider closure, and a flask.

Scoop up water into the plastic bag. It’s easy to do while holding the bag open with two hands. I often treat 2 to 3 liters at a time and share the treated water with my hiking companions. For mountain hiking, I usually carry 1 liter or less to minimize weight.

 

Treat the water with the Steripen, which uses UV-C light to sterilize organisms. The Steripen Freedom uses a 48 second cycle to treat 1 pint of water, so multiple cycles are required, depending on the quantity of water. Simply dunk the Steripen into the water (it turns on automatically) and wave it around in the bag.

Transfer the treated water into the flask. If you are doing it alone, it helps to open the slider on the zip-lock about 1.5 inches, lay the zip-lock bag over your leg to support it, and pour into your flask held with the other hand.

This technique is a head-slapper in its simplicity and adds only a fraction of an ounce to your pack, besides the Steripen.

I have tried just about every water treatment and hydration system available, and this system is my current favorite. Its not the lightest -- Aqua-Mira drops or tablets are lighter -- but I like the convenience of fast treatment with the Steripen and being able to drink on the fly with the hydration system. In the mountains, where water is abundant, I treat and carry a liter of water at a time, which is a good balance of light weight and convenience.

A Simple, Inexpensive, Lightweight, Effective Accessory to Control Condensation in a Single Wall Shelter

By Will Rietveld

Ultralight backpackers love a single wall shelter because they save a lot of weight and (to them) function effectively to provide all the weather protection needed.

Lightweight backpackers disdain them because of condensation. “Yuck! The tent walls are all wet in the morning, and if I brush against them, I will get wet.” How terrible! Therefore they gotta have a double wall tent; no matter that it weighs one-third more, and costs more.

I have a hard time understanding lightweight backpackers; they want to reduce pack weight but somehow manage to shoot themselves in the foot every time :).

Somehow they fail to notice that a double wall tent gets condensation on the inside of the fly, so it’s just as wet. And that brings up another strange behavior of lightweight backpackers – they wait for the tent to dry out in the morning before they pack it up and get going. That can take hours in cool morning temperatures and high humidity. Direct sun is needed to dry out a tent.

Fortunately there is a simple, inexpensive, lightweight, effective accessory that fixes the condensation problem. It’s something everyone can carry in their pack for this purpose, and many others. It’s easy to obtain and easy to use. It works great for single wall tents, but is harder to use on double wall tents because the condensation is harder to get to. 

After use, the tent walls are mostly dry, and one can decide whether to pack up the shelter mostly dry and get on the trail (a good choice), or let it stand while eating breakfast so it dries some more. Actually, with this accessory, you are better off to use a single wall tent, because you end up with a dry tent faster in the morning. Whereas if you use a double wall tent your choices are to pack it up wet, or wait it out for the tent to dry.

This accessory costs only about $10, but you can probably find a cheaper substitute, and it’s readily available at most outdoor stores or online. The weight is about one ounce, and it can be used multiple times. Single wall tent manufacturers ought to provide this accessory with each tent purchase, just to enlighten people. Frankly, when you find out what it is, it will seem like a lightbulb moment.

Well, here it is, it’s a pack towel! Yep, that’s all you need to control condensation in a single wall tent. Simply wipe down the tent walls in the morning. Problem solved. You don’t need to pack up a wet (heavier) shelter that may wet other things in your pack. And, like I said, it’s harder to use this accessory on a double wall tent, so a single wall shelter is actually better.

 Okay lightweight backpackers, here is your chance to do something right and actually save weight; get a single wall shelter plus a pack towel!

A Little Known Secret of the Gossamer Gear LT-4 Trekking Poles: Combine Two Poles to Create One Long Pole to Support a Pyramid-Type Shelter.

By Will Rietveld

Pyramid (Mid) shelters require a center support pole that is taller than most trekking poles. So, how do you come up with a tall pole without carrying extra weight? Common solutions are: 1) purchase a “pole jack” to extend the length of a trekking pole, 2) purchase a dedicated pole for that purpose, 3) lash two trekking poles together, or 4) use a ski or onsite tree branch. Most of these options require extra materials and time, and they are difficult to adjust to the exact height needed.

There’s an easier way, if you have a pair of Gossamer Gear LT-4 adjustable trekking poles. You can pull the tip section from one pole and connect it to the other pole, creating a long and adjustable tent pole.

Before I go any further, I want to acknowledge that this idea originated from Dan Durston, a Backpacking Light subscriber, who posted it on the BPL Gear forum. There have been frequent discussions on this topic, and I believe Dan’s idea is the best solution because you do not have to take any extra parts with you (well almost none), it’s fast, and it’s easily adjustable. Herein I report my experience with the method, including a few small embellishments.

The following sequence shows how it’s done.

Remove the circular plug from the top of one of the trekking poles. A thin/narrow screwdriver or knife blade works well. Also cut through the thin tape below the plug, to access the carbon fiber tube below.

 

Remove the tip end from the other pole and insert the end with the adjusting mechanism into the grip hole you created. Slide the pole down a ways to provide good overlap, then twist the section clockwise to tighten it. Place a plastic tip guard (these come with many conventional trekking poles, and are available at outdoor stores) over the tip of the inserted pole.

A plastic tip guard fits snugly over the pole section's sharp carbide tip; this end goes into the cone at the top of the Mid, so the tip guard is needed to protect the shelter.

After staking out the corners of your pyramid shelter, go inside and raise the shelter with the center pole; the end with the tip guard goes into the cone at the top of the shelter. With the pole’s adjustment loosened, press the bottom tip into the ground, then push up on the pole to tension the shelter while twisting the lower section to lock the pole.

In my opinion, this is an elegant solution for creating a tall center pole for supporting a pyramid shelter. The result is a quick, sturdy, height adjustable center pole to support your Mid, and you don't need to carry any extra weight (except for the plastic tip guard).

Some comments and suggestions:

1. Be sure to save the cork plug and replace it after you re-assemble your trekking poles. This keeps debris and water out of the pole, which could impair the adjusting mechanism.
2. Be sure there is good overlap in the pole sections for maximum strength.
3. If you will be day hiking from camp, it's easy to collapse your shelter and use your trekking poles. It's quick and easy to assemble/disassemble the extended pole.
4. I don't know if this technique works on other brands of adjustable trekking poles; if you find it works with other poles, post your experience in the comments section.