International Jock

Friday, January 30, 2015

New Brand Sheath + Review

So far I've reviewed some big names in underwear which happen to be some of my favourites. Now, I have for you a brand most of you won't be familiar with, Sheath. The pair I was sent is the Sheath 2.0 boxer brief.

Sheath has created a boxer brief with the active guy in mind. This is a very traditional cut and look for a boxer brief and while the design is simple the engineering and thought put into this boxer brief shows when you put it on. I did notice on the Sheath website that the boxer briefs are true and tested in some extremely active situations like mountain climbing, martial arts and yoga (and probably more).

Most guys are probably familiar with the pouch designs in active boxer briefs with the growth of the market all over North America. Sheath has created a pouch design that as you may guess is where the name Sheath comes from. It's a different design from 'keyholes' or lifting/enhancing pouches by a piece of fabric seen into the pouch that allows your stuff to sit into the pouch much like the lip of a cup [Uman says: reminds me a bit of the now-defunct brand Alio]. The fabric used is stretchable and lightweight enough to be comfortable and doesn't rely on any hardware or wiring inside the pouch to maintain shape. So this is a very gentle approach to underwear designed to separate and support your package. There is still some room for improvement in the pouch though, I found that as my package grew and shrunk in the cold weather that I would need to check and reposition myself.

The construction of the rest of the boxer brief is an obviously classic feel. A lot of modern underwear and pants for that matter have been lower rises including other athletic/active underwear. So this does stand out because of the higher rise. Other than the signature sheath pouch design and the higher rise, the construction is simplistic and minimalist. This includes the waistband which is a hidden fabric covered waistband with a small tag on the front that has the logo and brand Sheath. A great thing about this type of support in boxer briefs is the freedom a lot of guys are crazy about doesn't come with slipping out of one of the leg holes and for some this can happen constantly. So, if not for the construction for athletic needs, this is a great price for holding everything in place so you aren't slipping and falling out of your underwear.

If you aren't already familiar with my size, I am about a 26-28 waist and just under average height. So, when possible I try to go for the smallest size available from a retailer. The 1.0 is made in a boy's sizing 26-28 as the smallest size and the 2.0 is a 28-30. I was sent a 28-30 for this review and I was a little sad when I put these on that they were just a little big. I wasn't surprised but the higher rise did move and shift on me because of the sizing. Now, this is mostly just a heads up for the smaller guys who may be too small for these. But for every other guy who isn't a 28 these should fit great. Especially since the target audience for these boxer briefs is guys who have some more muscle, you should be fine to order the same size as your jeans. As for the leg size, these were perfect, not too tight and not to small and with a little stretch should stretch perfectly.


The fabric choice is also something most guys will be comfortable and at home with. This is a 95% cotton and 5% Elastane blend with average stretch. The 2.0 design was made to be more lightweight than the original design and as such will be more breathable and have a more natural/barely there feel. There isn't much to say about the fabric choice as it felt while I was wearing these because it is a simplistic blend. Throughout the day these moved with me and didn't require constant adjustment or shifting from moving but as I mentioned with the weather, I would slip once in a while.

Design is simple with the brand Sheath. I assume because the point of the underwear is to provide support to active people they've made a minimal design to keep the price for the consumer low and to allow for a lot of testing and designing newer designs. So, keeping all that in mind, as I mentioned before, we have a classic boxer brief that has a high rise and short length legs. This boxer brief does come in five colors (black, grey, white, blue and red) which is quite typical of many active wear brands.



It is worth mentioning that on the website there are close up pictures of the 2.0 design which shows a close up of the inside cup design and at the time of me writing this the 1.0 design is on sale.

UMan says: The folks at Sheath have generously extended a 20% off offer to MUB readers with coupon code MUB.

MY RATING:  6 (out of 10)
Recommended for: Active and bigger guys. 

COMFORT: 9
CONSTRUCTION: 7
DURABILITY: 7
DESIGN: 5
APPEAL: 5
VALUE: 7


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why doesn't a manufacturer make a regular boxer with a support in it?

UMan said...

Actually several do! aussieBum's "pillowbtr" comes to mind.