Too Tight to Review 9: Sukrew Full Trunk

The "Too Tight to Review" series covers the pairs of underwear I’ve tried on that I couldn’t wear long enough to give a fair review. If I can’t keep a pair on for at least the length of the day, I’ll leave a few brief thoughts rather than a full review.

Sukrew is a company I’ve reviewed once before, and I had mostly positive things to say about my experiences. The first pair of Sukrew I received was oddly small in the back (an issue that I had never experienced before that), but had a big, comfortable pouch and solid construction quality. That experience made my experience with the Full Trunk surprising. First of all, the backside on this one is so short that it won’t even fit over my hips in any normal way. (The material is stretchy, but enough so to compensate for the bizarre dimensions.) As a result, the only way I could put these on was with the entire garment rotated upwards in the front. This strange fit forced me deep into the bottom of the pouch (which is slightly smaller than the pouch on the Full Brief), and I couldn’t wear these for more than a few hours without pain.

I should also make a not about the durability. After washing the Full Brief just once, the seams starting coming loose, spilling a spider web of threads that tore at my skin the second time I tried wearing these. Looking at the inside of the waistband, the stitching is uneven and poorly integrated. Even the white Sukrew label on the front was coming undone. This is perhaps the fastest any pair of underwear I’ve owned has deteriorated, and was surprising, given the solid quality of the Full Brief.

Longevity test 1

I switched from wearing loose boxers to higher quality pouch underwear about a year and a half ago. This has given me enough time to observe the actual longevity of these products. The following is some observations on some items of the first few brands from which I purchased. (You can assume that I’ve washed these on a gentle laundry cycle an average of about twice per month since I purchased them, and have air dried them each time [unless otherwise specified]. Of course, more use means more wear.)

Andrew Christian Trophy Boy Boxer, purchased November 2015: Andrew Christian is all over the place in terms of quality. While this was a very comfortable item when I first purchased it, it has deteriorated substantially, losing its color (the lime green is turning into a muddy gray), shape, and ability to stay in place well. The waistband is in particularly bad condition. I haven’t worn it much in the past six months, as it’s not very usable at this point.

 
Andrew Christian Trophy Boy Brief, purchased November 2015: Same as above, but to an even greater extent. The waistband looks shredded, and the color scheme makes the deterioration much more noticeable.

Diesel Kory Boxer Briefs, purchased November 2015: This is a cotton blend which has kept its shape well. There is noticeable shrinking, which I attribute to the times in which I carelessly threw this in the dryer with the rest of my clothes. There is some fading of the color, which is not surprising for a black clothing item. Overall, this has held up pretty well, and I’ll probably eventually purchase a replacement pair and be more careful not to put it in the dryer.

Obviously AnatoFREE Brief, purchased December 2015: This one has held up impressively well. The only obvious changed I’ve noticed are a little bit of deterioration on the waistband, which no longer lies perfectly flat (see photograph below). The AnatoFREE Brief fits the same as when I first purchased it. I expect these to last a very long time.

Saxx 24-Seven Boxer Brief, purchased December 2015: This item has become looser and has lost some of its shape over the time I’ve had it. It doesn’t stay in place while I’m wearing it as well as it originally did, and the comfort level has decreased. Still, there are no loose threads or parts coming off, which makes it much higher quality than most underwear products. 

Sukrew Full Brief

 
Sukrew is a British underwear company founded in 2013. Their offerings are divided into “Full Styles” and “U Styles,” and the big pouches in the former made me curious to test them out. Sukrew obviously puts a lot of effort into engineering unique, high-quality items. While I think there were some fit issues with the Full Brief, I still was impressed by what it had to offer, and suspect that the longer varieties of Sukrew’s items (the Full Trunk and Full Sprint) might be even better.

Materials and construction: The Full Brief I tried is listed as 80% polyamide and 20% elastane (spandex). This fabric blend dries fast and is stretchier than the typical blend of cotton and spandex. The cut is a fairly sleek one, but not quite shaped ideally for staying in place (more on that below). The pouch is one of the biggest pouches on the market, but positioned more downward and less to the front than a comparably sized pouch, such as the Obviously AnatoMAX. Overall quality is good: After numerous washings, I’ve seen no signs of deterioration. 8/10

Comfort and usability: My biggest complaint about the Full Brief is that its proportions aren’t quite right: If you pull the waistband up to where it should be, the material in the back will ride up, since the material in the back isn’t tall enough. The large pouch is quite comfortable. It’s positioned further down than most pouches. I found it to be perhaps the most comfortable pouch I’ve worn while sitting down, and the most comfortable pouch for my testicles overall. The downward position of the pouch will make this less conspicuous under pants than other large pouches, but might make exercises like sprinting less practical due to the pouch’s proximity to the thighs (depending on personal body shape, of course). The waistband is comfortable and firm. 6/10

Aesthetics: Above the pouch, there’s a white stripe that reaches up to the waistband, which creates the visual impression of increasing the pouch’s height. It’s just one of a few unique touches that makes the Sukrew Full Brief look great. 8/10

Overall rating: 7/10

Big enough? Yes, this is one of the biggest pouches available.

Too Tight to Review 8: Jack Adams Relay Brief

 
The “Too Tight To Review” series covers the pairs of underwear I’ve tried on that I couldn’t wear long enough to give a fair review. If I can’t keep a pair on for at least the length of the day, I’ll leave a few brief thoughts rather than a full review.

 
Jack Adams is an underwear company that I have heard mentioned a few times in terms of comfortable underwear, so I decided to give them a try. The first thing I noticed is how small the overall garment is; even though I followed the size chart on their website and ordered a size up from what I usually get, it still felt extremely small, the backside was too short (a complaint I rarely have), and what little extra fabric it had where a pouch should have been would be far better as an actual pouch. I had to take it off after a few hours. The Jack Adams Relay Brief is not an outrageously bad item, but I certainly can’t recommend it as a comfortable one.

Obviously AnatoMAX Boxer Brief with 3-inch leg

 
Obviously is an Australian underwear company that makes high quality underwear and undershirts for men. I’ve reviewed a number of their products before, and I am usually quite impressed with their offerings. The design of the AnatoMAX Boxer Brief with 3-inch leg, taking a place between the Hipster Trunk and the Boxer Brief with 9-inch leg, is a good way to wear one of the largest pouches on the market for those who don't like briefs.
 

Materials and construction: The Obviously AnatoMAX Boxer Brief with 3-inch leg is made out of a micro modal/lycra fabric blend. This fabric blend is soft and flexible, but dries quite slowly. The pouch, while significantly larger than the AnatoFREE varieties, still has the same horseshoe-shaped pouch design seen on the other Obviously Boxer Briefs and Trunks. This means the pouch is deeper but more constrained horizontally when compared to Obviously briefs. The design is high quality, as is usually the case with Obviously products. I have washed these numerous times with no obvious signs of deterioration. The design is tagless, with the relevant information printed inside the waistband. 8/10

Comfort and usability: The AnatoMAX Boxer Brief with 3-inch leg is among the most comfortable pairs of underwear I’ve worn. The legs stay in place much better than in the trunks that Obviously offers, although they do ride up. The pouch is imperfectly shaped, and slightly less comfortable than the more flexible pouch in the AnatoMAX Brief. This rigidity, however, makes it more appropriate for light exercise, although I wouldn’t recommend doing anything intense. The fabric on the AnatoMAX items absorbs odors a little less than on Obviously’s Core items. The AnatoMAX Boxer Briefs stay in place with a tucked-in shirt a little better than the AnatoMAX Brief. 8/10 

Aesthetics: No complaints here. I think the waistband’s logo looks sharp, and the overall look nails the sharp-but-simple aesthetic that Obviously does well. (It does look better in the flesh than these photos indicate.) 6/10

Overall rating: 7/10

Big enough? Yes. This is one of the biggest pouches available.