Merino Wool Undergarments.

[Tammy]

Hello everyone, I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the merino wool undergarments. I'm planning to hike the AT this year and would like to be wise with my gear purchases. The bra's and panties are pricey and hoped someone has experience with them. Thanks for any help.

[aficion]

Sorry to poke my nose into the ladies forum but I have germane experience with wool undergarments. I loved them and so did the moths.

[Del Q]

Merino wool rocks...............much less stink, warm when damp, I am wearing my Icebreaker tee short right now, wear this 100% of the time + whatever on top.

Icebreaker is expensive but is comfortable, no itch, good gear

[burger]

The only advantage of merino is that it doesn't get smelly. Compared to polyester, it's slow to dry and fragile.

[Dogwood]

Serious adult question for the female audience, there are 100% merino wool bras and panties? I've never seen 100% merino briefs for men. And, if there are 100% merino bras for men that's not a topic I want to explore.

[Lady Grey]

I loved my wool shirts, but for underwear I really appreciated the ExOfficio Give-n-Go bikini briefs. Really lightweight, dried easily, and held up for my whole hike. 94% nylon and 6% lycra. Here's the link: http://www.exofficio.com/products/de...o-bikini-brief. You can usually find them on sale.

Lady Grey

[CoffeeBager]

I wear men's wool boxer briefs. I have these Smartwool ones, but I wish I could find some with a longer inseam. I use men's to help prevent thigh chaffing and so I can easily use my pStyle without de-pantsing. Sorry--no experience with wool bras, but I'm really happy with wool underwear.

[scooterdogma]

I, also, use the men's wool boxer briefs from Smartwool. They are great for preventing thigh chaffing, wonderful on controlling odor and keep warm when wet. I wash them in the washer but I don't put them in the dryer. They dry fairly quickly. When backpacking I wash them in a ziplock bag and hang them to dry. I use them winter and summer, believe me these things rock.

[clb]

Serious adult question for the female audience, there are 100% merino wool bras and panties? I've never seen 100% merino briefs for men. And, if there are 100% merino bras for men that's not a topic I want to explore.

OK, now that's just too funny!

[SoulSista]

I wear Smartwool long underwear in the winters in North Dakota almost exclusively. Just the lack of body odor is enough to make me shell out the cost of the Smartwool garments. 2 days in synthetics convinced me that merino wool was well worth the price. I figured if I couldn't stand my own smell after a couple of days, I couldn't imagine what others would think!!

Mothballs keep the moths out of your wool garments. Just wash them before wearing to get rid of the smell.

[w00dchuck]

Smart wool only seems expensive until you try it. I griped about the price all the way home from the outfitters. Then I actually wore it on an extended hike and now I wouldn't be caught in the woods without it. Hands down the best undies in the woods.

[None yet]

Wool can be pricey, but I'm still wearing my ski and sailing base layers from the 80's.

[WalkingOnTheWind]

How do the sizes compare to female sizes?

[WalkingOnTheWind]

I wear men's wool boxer briefs. I have these Smartwool ones, but I wish I could find some with a longer inseam. I use men's to help prevent thigh chaffing and so I can easily use my pStyle without de-pantsing. Sorry--no experience with wool bras, but I'm really happy with wool underwear.

Sorry, meant to include this quote. How do the sizes of the boxers compare to female sizes?

[CoffeeBager]

I get them so they fit at the waist based on measuring myself in inches (which is how men's sizes are listed). If I'm in between sizes, I go with the larger size so the elastic waistband isn't uncomfortably tight. The material of the shorts stretches out to fit the hips (and I have big hips), so I mostly concentrate on the waist measurement. The stretching that happens at the hips also takes some of the slack out of the extra fabric at the front "pouch" that some men's underwear has.

This approach doesn't work for me for things like pants that don't stretch because I need more room in the hips, but it has worked well for me for underwear. You can also go buy a couple of cheaper pairs at Target/Wal-Mart or whatever to see how the sizes fit on you before ordering the pricy ones. My transition to men's boxer briefs started when my husband accidentally bought some cheap boxers that were too big for him, so I started wearing them to sleep in. That was a cheap way to find out my men's size! I then got that size in a mid-priced synthetic boxer brief just to be sure before ordering the wool ones.

[Mariposa2014]

I'm just going to wear bikini bottoms instead of underwear. They dry more quickly and you can get them for much cheaper than fancy backpacking underwear. I'm also going to wear a pantiliner at all times. I normally do this anyway, and someone else on WhiteBlaze once wrote that it kept her underwear WAY cleaner.

[Tammy]

Thank you to everyone who responded. I'm sold on merino wool with my socks but I have found that they are to warm in summer. Those of you that have hiked in the undergarments during summer. Do they get to warm? Are they durable? Can they be placed in a wash machine or just by hand? Thanks!