Gear Guide 2012: Polarmax TransDRY Cotton Underwear

[underwear]

Dilemma: Synthetic skivies can get odiferous after just a day of wear, and wool can irritate sensitive undercarriages. Solution: this new-school cotton, which uses a hydrophobic* treatment on half of the cotton fibers. The treated fibers move moisture to the untreated so they disperse sweat over a greater area and speed evaporation.

“It feels soft like my Fruit of the Looms, but wicks moisture and kept me dry,” reports one tester, who wore the Men’s Sports Brief for three days in Colorado’s Flat Tops Wilderness. Another tester wore the Women’s Bikini Brief while hiking near Moab, Utah, and issued props for its stay-put waistband (men’s and women’s models feature flat, anti-chafe seams). $25; 3 oz. (m’s L); polarmax.com