ExOfficio Men's Give-N-Go Boxer

Here are some thoughts on fibers and fabrics from a guy who once never would have gone for anything but loose, 100%-cotton boxers. I've done a fair amount of traveling, hiking, and backpacking, so I wrote these out for a friend who was shopping around:Cotton: Really comfortable when dry. Medium weight. Feels great against the skin, especially when loose. Breathes beautifully. Slight delay before it starts to stink. Not really the best to re-wear once perspired-in. Launders well BUT takes forever to dry. Gets damp easily, especially from humidity/perspiration and remains wet next to skin, going possibly from slight chafe to extreme irritation -- plus drags heat out of skin in cool weather leading to significant hypothermia risk. ("Cotton kills in cold", as we say in outdoor pursuits.) Tends to cling, ride up, bind, so you want them loose; never tight. Besides, 100% cotton doesn't stretch. Durable, even able to take chlorine bleach.Cotton Flannel: Normally associated with winter but I found out a long time ago that I prefer cotton flannel boxers in humid weather because the nap of the fabric eliminates the tendency to cling/bunch/ride up. Less durable, though, than standard woven cotton shorts and takes even longer to dry.Merino Wool: Expensive (probably the most-so) but has all the advantages of cotton with none of the drawbacks. Absurdly soft and comfy, though can still ride up, cling, or bind in the crotch, I suppose. (I'm guessing, as I've never had merino wool in shorts, just in other items.) Dries FAST. Impressive ability to wick water away from skin. (Conveys a massive drop in hypothermia risk in cold weather). Most amazingly of all, can be worn and sweated in day-after-day for WEEKS and still smell clean, even while its wearer rots away, getting riper. (Daily showers/sponge baths/clean-ups are advised to reduce the stench of the merino's occupant but at least his clothes won't stink and he won't be forced to do laundry.) Fairly durable but it's knitted, so avoid snags. Also, can be munched by moths, so must be be protected whilst in storage.Woven Silk: Extremely lightweight. Nicer against the skin than anything else known to man (or woman). Dries faster than air it's so almost impossible to get it to cling and ride up. No matter how tightly you wear it, it always seems to remain loose, so it keeps the next layer of clothing draped naturally and easily on the body and keeps the wearer comfortable. Kicks cotton's butt for looking good and basically eliminates any evidence the wearer has on underwear (one reason women go for silk lingerie, panties, &c). A plus: It's durable, so durable that, centuries ago in Asia, they built suits of armor from this stuff.Knitted Silk: Used for extremely light thermal layers (long Johns, except they're like stockings). My old choice for a winter thermal layer, but one I've since replaced with merino wool blended long pants.Polyester and Poly-Cotton Blends: Polyester, when blended with cotton, reduces wrinkles and makes the fabric more silk-like to the touch. Dries somewhat quicker than 100% cotton -- but, then, what doesn't? Drawbacks number 1-through-1000: The stuff doesn't like to breath, especially when woven. (100% Polyester knit shirts can be comfy in damp weather when no other layers are involved.) It's like a Baggie against the skin (it's cotton with plastic in it, after all), so you sweat-sweat-sweat and it can be insufferable in anything over 40% (dry) humidity. Stain resistant and easy to launder, so it's long appeared in middle-income office wear for those who have to wear suits and pretend to look clean but who can't afford silk shirts and dry cleaning. (For such dress shirts, I, personally, go for 100% polyester (or silk when I used to be able to afford it). 100% polyester requires no ironing, drip-dries fast, looks terrific. Just stay motionless in humid weather or you'll sweat like a pig in woven poly. Your clothes will still look great; you'll just be bright red with a clammy handshake.)Blends of Other Plastics Such As Nylon, Elastomerics (Spandex), &c: Here's where the Ex-Officios come in. Basically, they don't hold moisture, so they air-dry rapidly when washed and never get damp when worn. Even slightly damp from washing or swimming in them, as I do, they're still wearable in a hurry because of the fast-drying nature of the cloth. The difference between these and polyester is the structure they can build the nylon into: Polyester pills and its tiny fibers are clingy, so friction makes them twirl off the surface and mash into little wads. Polyester fibers basically want to come loose and turn into felt, especially when tangled amongst fibers like sturdy cotton that refuse to let go. But nylon can be woven, crocheted, or knitted into a 3-D, "beefier" structure that has plenty of breathable air space in it, like these ExOfficio shorts, but the nylon fibers hold their structure and resist matting-down into a flat mess like polyester wants to, hence no skin-wrapped-in-a-plastic-baggie effect. The ExOfficios are sold as "travel underwear". They can be ordered as looser boxers or as a tighter boxer brief, like the pair I've had for a year, now.(Oddly, when I checked my new Amazon order, I found I'd accidentally purchased boxers this time instead of a second pair of boxer briefs. They still seem wearable as ersatz swim trunks in a lake when hiking, though they contain more fabric and will take up slightly more pack space. Anyway, I now have one pair of each style in the exact same fabric. Should be interesting to compare. I've not yet worn the boxers, so I'll just write about the boxer briefs. Some of this is going to have to do with the cloth and some with the boxer brief style...)Ex-Officio boxer briefs don't feel like a familiar sort of cloth. It's more like putting on a wrapping layer over your body, more like an object than a fabric. And while the first reaction is to be entirely distracted by how different it feels from standard cotton boxers, the freaky thing is how significantly you forget you have them on once you get dressed. The result is something like, "I am walking around. I am wearing clothes. But the outer layer of clothes are not bunched around me and I am not in direct contact from them." It's kind of as if there is a force field of quiet around you with nothing in it to notice: No itch, no chafe, no bind, no sensation of movement or irritation of any sort. Not even the sensations we associate with dry cotton and call "comfort" (at least until the sweat dampening starts). Just an absence of all of that. Unable to smell bad. Pretty darn durable. With a combination of an easier wash and faster dry than anything else but merino, I can't recommend them enough. Wash 'em at night. Wear 'em within hours. Their instructions read: "After washing this underwear with soap, simply wring it out, lay it flat on a towel, roll it up like a burrito, and stomp on it. Hang dry in a well ventilated location. It should be dry in about 2-4 hours depending on humidity." On the road, I wash them in the shower all the time.Seriously, do people submit video reviews of underwear? Do people pay to see them?

In short, I am happy with the product.. Here is why I bought them in the first place.. I am getting ready to do some traveling. I want to go with one bag, as a carry on... I will not be going to any dress up places that I know of, so I can be pretty casual with my clothes.. To get ready, I started browsing the internet looking for info from other travelers who have been "one bag" travelers.. On OneBag.com, I found that this fellow shared a lot of good info, and in that info was his choice of undies.. He chose these because of the nice quality, fit, etc, but mostly because they dry fast!!!! Drying fast was the big deal here... I will be carrying one bag, and will have all my travel stuff in it. The bag I will be carrying is sold here, but is an EBAGS.com product. It is the Mother Lode TLS Weekender Convertible. I have it and it looks perfect for me.. I also got the three piece packing cube set.. I think they too will be great!!! But, as for the boxers, I wanted undies that were travel friendly.. These were supposed to be easy to hand wash in a hotel, and dry fast while hanging in the hotel room, etc..I ordered the boxers. I got the boxers. I tried on the boxers.. They felt really good.. I hand washed the boxers and hung them on a line in my bathroom.. The boxers did dry fast.. So, what they say about then washing easy and drying fast is true.. I have since worn them for several days and then hand washed them again.. They are very comfy and they do dry fast.. I washed them and dried them with some other travel clothes, and most of them dried well enough for my trips.. So, yes, these are a good choice if you are trying to do what I will be doing.. Traveling.. As a side note, I washed these with an ExOfficio air-strip long sleeved shirt, the lite version. It dries amost instantly!!!! The other things I washed was the Patagonia Boxers.. They too dried fast enough for my use, but still not as fast as the Give-N-Go. So, yes, when I need some more undies, these are the ones I will get.

I bought my first pair of these boxers in 2005. I felt the price was a bit high, but I was going on a trip and wanted to cut weight as much as possible; the wash and dry overnight feature was my initial attraction. After putting on that pair the next day, I was back in the shop to buy four more pairs. These are far and away the lightest & most comfortable shorts I had ever worn.I've worn boxers my entire adult life, from cotton (too heavy and scratchy) to silk (nice feel, but they don't last). ExO has the comfort and lightness of silk while holding up better than cotton. Of the five original pair, eleven years later, I am still wearing three. Two have been retired because I had put on close to fifty pounds and stretched the elastic beyond its recovery. I've since lost the weight and the other three still fit. None have worn out or torn. Yes, there is some pilling of the fabric as I've seen others mention as a negative in their reviews, but this has not in any way affected the comfort or quality of these boxers. Besides, this is underwear, and (usually) the only other person that sees them is the ol' lady.I just purchased three pair and, while I can feel a difference between the older and the new when I first put them on, later in the day, I cannot tell the difference. I had purchased several sets of boxers, made of similar material, from another manufacturer, but the ExO's are the more comfortable, IMO. The others have a thicker and heavier waistband that feels a bit restrictive at times. The others also had a button fly which I found to be a pain; the buttons were cut off early on, but the 'barn door' tends to hang wide open. This has never been an issue for me with the ExO shorts.Buying shorts has become easy for me... my only decision is color because I'll never again buy boxers that aren't Ex Officio's

These are my go-to underwear but they are pricey of course. I think they're worth it and my other pairs have held up for 1-2 years quite well.One con however, I bought the same size as my dark green/grey boxer of the same style - the waist is the same so it fits pretty true to their size chart. But, the material is more flowy and doesn't conform to my thighs etc like the dark green/grey one.

not worth the price. comfortable but not durable

The media could not be loaded.  My husband started buying your Give-n-go boxers for more than 10 years. It’s great for traveling, easy to wash-n-dry, light to pack and comfortable.We can only find this brand in a couple of local retailers and they cost way more than Fruit of the Loom underwear. Until recently, they were worth the much higher price, but that seems to be changing. The waistbands are now curling up after washing, even though washing instruction are always followed (delicate setting, hang to dry). It is clear something has changed as we are noticing and as reflected in the recent reviews we have read. Considering a single pack is more pricey than double pack, we start to wonder is this why the quality is in question?Just like what was mentioned in at least 6-7 recent reviews, we’ve had the same experience in our most recent purchases thru Amazon, (2) sets of double pair in a box. In addition to those issues mentioned, we found that the material became intertwined (stuck together) at the bottom part of the underwear after wearing, despite the loose fit of these boxers and after a wash. And most curiously, this seems to happen in the navy blue underwear.I have sent an email to Ex-officio @newellco.com on Dec. 8, 10 and 27 consecutively and NEVER got any response or action despite being given a Reference number. Instead I kept getting all their promo and email ads.If Ex-officio stands by their products, they should care more about their consumers. My husband cannot wear the navy blue boxers and we would like you to replace the pairs of navy blue boxers.I would not recommend to others at the moment until Ex-officio go back to their original fabric quality.

These are terrific undies. You really can get by with just two pairs on a trip of any length. I use mine as a wash cloth when I shower, wring them out and hang to dry – they are ready to go in a couple of hours! Comfortable, easy to hand wash and quick-drying. My only complaint is that they have yet to implement printed labels instead of tags. Each pair I get, I have to carefully rip the stitching on the cloth label (after duly writing the info on the waist band in indelible ink). Now that printed labels are so common, why cheapskate on a $30 pair of premium boxers?

These shorts have a light fabric and are great for wearing around the house or sleeping in. Easy to wash and hang dry in a few hours. The waist band did loose it's elasticity after a few years, so I had to buy another pair. Also, the synthetic fabric these are made from seem to pick up little lint balls (pilling) that tangle into the weave during the washing process, but other than being unsightly this doesn't bother me.