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Reviews > Clothing > Base Layers and Undies > Saxx Quest 2.0 and Loose Cannon > Test Report by Kurt PapkeSaxx Quest Boxer Briefs
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Name: | Kurt Papke |
Age: | 64 |
Gender: | Male |
Height: | 6' 4" (193 cm) |
Weight: | 230 lbs (105 kg) |
Email address: | kwpapke (at) gmail (dot) com |
City, State, Country: | Tucson, Arizona USA |
Product Information |
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Manufacturer |
Saxx Underwear Co. |
Image from Saxx Underwear website
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Manufacturer website |
https://www.saxxunderwear.com/ |
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Model tested |
Quest 2.0 boxer briefs |
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Year manufactured |
2018 |
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Size tested |
XL, but also available in S, M, L, XXL |
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Country of manufacture |
China |
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MSRP |
$31.95 USD |
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Warranty |
30 days |
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Weight |
Specification: N/A Measured: 2.9 oz (83 g) for size XL |
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Materials |
nylon (77%), spandex (14%) and polyester (9%). |
The Saxx Quest 2.0 boxer briefs look like a comfortable pair of undies, I look forward to wearing them. I have a trip to Portland Oregon planned for the upcoming week, no hiking, just a family gathering, but a good opportunity to test the travel suitability of the item. I look forward to getting them out on the trail, but I have some concerns with durability and how well they will keep the chafing down considering the gossamer fabrics used in the construction. Time will tell.
Date |
Location |
Trail |
Distance |
Altitude |
Weather |
June 10-11, 2018 | Santa Catalina Mountains in the Coronado National Forest near Tucson, AZ USA |
Samaniego Ridge |
6 miles (9.7 km) |
7800-9100 ft (2380-2770 m) |
Sunny, 50-76 F (10-24 C) |
July 18-20, 2018 | San Juan Mountains near Durango, Colorado USA |
Colorado/CDT | 21 miles (34 km) |
8900-12,700 ft (2710-3870 m) |
35-75 F (2-24 C) with sun, rain, hail and wind |
I was looking for a break from the Tucson summer heat, and I hadn't been up to one of my favorite campsites up on Mt. Lemmon for years, so I set off in search of altitude. The trail begins just a few steps away from the mountain peak, and descends 1300 ft over 3 miles to a bucolic spread of Ponderosa pines with a thick bed of needles beneath. Great spot to pitch a tent, too bad I hang from the trees in a hammock!
It wasn't a real high-mileage hike, but it was a good start with the Quest boxer briefs. They performed perfectly, no chafing, no issues of any kind, good comfort. They washed up well after the hike - no fraying.
The Tucson Backpacking Meetup group traveled to the San Juan Mountains for a week of camping and hiking. Several of us took off and did a 3-day backpacking jaunt. We headed East from Molas Pass on the Colorado Trail, then turned North on the Continental Divide Trail before turning Northwest to our trailhead and shuttle in the Highland Mary Lakes area.
I wore the Quest boxer briefs for the entire hike, taking them off only at night to sleep. Once again, no chafing, no discomfort, and no noticeable "funk" smell for three days, though to be honest I have a poor sense of smell. I don't quite have the nerve to get someone else to check my undies for odors, so the data on this dimension of performance will be somewhat limited!
I have been using the briefs 4-5 days/week under my baggy workout
shorts when I go to the gym. I do a combo of 20 minutes of
cardio (rowing, stair climber, treadmill) and about 45 minutes of
strength/resistance work. The stair mill and treadmill
closely mimic hiking conditions. I do high-intensity
intervals, so it is a short duration, but stressful workout.
I have had absolutely no chafing or discomfort from the briefs in
these workout sessions. I've thrown the briefs in the washing
machine at least twice a week for the last two months, and they
are holding up very well with no pilling or seam deterioration.
The Quest undies do not have quite the support of their hefty brethren, but on the hiking I did in the first two months of testing I was perfectly happy with how they functioned. What I ask most of my briefs is to prevent between-leg chafing, and the Quest product did this with aplomb. After numerous washings, they still appear brand-new so I can't complain about the durability which was my biggest concern.
Date |
Location |
Trail |
Distance |
Altitude |
Weather |
September 1-8, 2018 |
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness near
Ely, Minnesota |
Canoe |
Our base camp was about a 12 mile (19 km)
paddle from the drop-off point. We paddled several
hours each day in pursuit of fish and scenery. We had
6 portages on the way in and the same on the way out which
were all double portages, i.e. three trips each. |
About 420 ft (128 m) |
45-70 F (7-21 C), Sunny several days, all day rain one day |
October 4-6, 2018 |
Long Valley campgrounds near Payson, Arizona |
Arizona
National Scenic Trail |
1.3 miles (2.1 km) |
6750-7300 ft (2055-2225 m) |
38-65 F (3-18 C) Sunny and clear |
October 22-25, 2018 |
Gila Wilderness in Western New Mexico |
Middle Fork |
24 miles (39 km) |
6800-7350 ft (2073-2240 m) |
32-65 F (0-18 C) Rain and more rain |
I wore the briefs for the entire week of this trip. There was not a lot of hiking, just carrying the canoes over six portages on the way in and again on the way out. They were very comfortable for the entire week. This trip was more humid than my typical desert southwest trip, in fact it rained one entire day. Despite the increased moisture, they did not get "funky", at least from what I could tell.
This was a 3-day 2-night car camping trip. The hammock
aficionados of the desert southwest get together every autumn at a
campground up on the Mogollon Rim, the edge of the Colorado
Plateau, just north of Payson, Arizona. We compare rigs,
exchange do-it-yourself ideas, drink adult beverages and eat
enormous quantities of food around a campfire. We also try
to get a little exercise, so this year I planned a short hike to
an historic railroad tunnel (or at least an attempt to build one)
just a few miles from our campsite along the Arizona National
Scenic trail. This hike was short, but brutal - we had two
hikers take a spill on the descent and rough themselves up a bit.
I wore the briefs only for the hike, and they performed admirably as I have come to expect.
I've hiked the lower sections of the Gila extensively, but never made the drive up near the headwaters at Snow Lake before. The weather forecast was for one night of rain, but that turned into rain every night and an all-day rain on my planned big mileage day. This hike requires constant wading across the Gila River, so I was wet all day long from mid-thigh down, and combining that with hiking in the rain and colder temperatures I skirted with hypothermia a few times and had to severely curtail my expectations for how far I would hike. It was a hike with lots of "character-building opportunities"...
I didn't get any "selfies" on this trip, especially of the briefs, but the photo at left is a close-up of my tarp on the morning of day 4 just before I hiked out. It rained early in the evening, then a cold front went through and the temperatures dipped to the freezing point. I couldn't get all the ice off the tarp in the morning while breaking camp, so it went into the stuff sack that way.
I wore the briefs all 4 days and they were wonderful, no
issues. I did my final launder of them when I returned home
and they still look almost brand-new. All my fears of them
being too flimsy and not holding up were totally unfounded, they
surpassed my ruggedness expectations for the product.
I continued to use the briefs under my baggy workout shorts. I like that they just sort of disappear, I don't even know they are there because they are so thin and light. They really are great for this purpose.
I am really pleased with the Saxx Quest Boxer Briefs - they have
become my undies of choice for both hiking and working out at the
gym. In four months of testing I never experienced the
dreaded "crotch chafe" which I so often experience with regular
underwear. I expect to continue to use them until they are
threadbare, which judging from their current excellent condition
could be a long time!