Ashley Thess

Best Overall		Ibex Women’s Natural Brief	SEE IT
Best Synthetic		Patagonia Women’s Active Hipster	SEE IT
Best Thong		Paradis Sport Seamless Thong	SEE IT

Finding the ideal underwear for your body type and comfort preferences is difficult enough without throwing in rigorous movement and sweat. Active women need underwear that stays in place, wicks sweat, and is odor resistant. The journey to find the style and brand that works for you can be long and arduous. To save you some time, and distracting discomfort on trail, we tested the best hiking underwear for women to determine which pairs fit best and felt most comfortable.

• Best Overall: Ibex Women’s Natural Brief
• Best Full-Coverage: Icebreaker Merino Siren Bikini Briefs
• Best Synthetic: Patagonia Women’s Active Hipster
• Best Thong: Paradis Sport Seamless Thong
• Best Medium-Coverage: Smartwool Merino Brief

How We Chose the Best Hiking Underwear for Women

Your first layer on trail is underwear and it has more responsibilities than you might think. If you’re fighting wedgies, dampness, and twisting all day, the constant rearranging will slow you down. And if you’re washing your underwear on trail or wearing them for multiple days, odor control is required. OL staff writer Laura Lancaster and I tested top brands in varying styles and materials to determine which ones we’d wear, clean, and repeat on backpacking trips and which would be relegated to streetwear only.

Best Hiking Underwear for Women: Reviews & Recommendations

Best Overall: Ibex Women’s Natural Brief

Key Features

• Sizes: XS-XL
• Fabric Content: 83 percent merino wool, 12 percent nylon, 5 percent elastane
• Available Styles: Brief, thong

Pros

• Odor resistant
• Comfortable
• Good coverage

Cons

• Thinner waistband

You might think of wool as a winter-exclusive material and not at all what you want rubbing on your bum all day. But wool has a ton of great features that make the best hiking socks and this merino underwear ideal for year-round adventures. While wool has a reputation for being scratchy, ultra-fine merino wool is very soft. It also has a number of qualities that traditional cotton underwear does not, helping to regulate your body temperature, drying out quickly, and breathing surprisingly well. The high merino wool content in Ibex’s natural hiking underwear gives them excellent odor control and a comfortable feel.

During testing, they provided good coverage, with no slipping. They stayed comfortable when they were wet, as well as for multiple days in a row on longer backpacking trips. This is because the merino wicks away moisture while the naturally antimicrobial fabric lets go of smells. But they’re also soft and comfortable enough for everyday wear. The elastic is thinner, but it is soft and recovers well so it doesn’t dig in or stretch out.

Best Full-Coverage: Icebreaker Merino Siren Bikini Briefs

Key Features

• Sizes: XS to XL
• Weight: 1.12 ounces (small)
• Fabric Content: 83 percent merino wool, 12 percent nylon, 5 percent lycra
• Available Styles: Bikini brief, hipkini brief, thong

Pros

• Soft
• Dries quickly
• Multiple styles available

Cons

• Stretches out more quickly in between washes

The Icebreaker has a very similar fabric composition to the Ibex hiking underwear. They even have a similar cut. Icebreaker uses merino corespun, a durable merino blend where finer merino strands, with all of their performance benefits, are wrapped around a stronger nylon core. This allows your hiking underwear to regulate your body temperature in all weather conditions, wick moisture, and prevent smells while lasting longer.

The icebreaker is available in the hipkini brief for even more coverage than the bikini brief, or a thong. During testing, the fabric did tend to give more and stretch out a bit quicker than the Ibex natural brief in between washes.

Best Synthetic: Patagonia Women’s Active Hipster

Key Features

• Sizes: XS to XL
• Weight: 1.1 ounces
• Fabric Content: 88 percent nylon (40 percent recycled),12 percent spandex
• Available Styles: Bikini, hipkini, barely hipkini

Pros

• miDori bioSoft for added wicking and softness
• HeiQ Pure provides odor control

Cons

• Not wool
• No thong option

If you have a wool sensitivity, or just a wool addiction, this synthetic option from Patagonia is a nice change of pace. OL’s resident wool-head Laura Lancaster says she wouldn’t normally pick a synthetic pair of underwear for hiking, but she found them comfortable and surprisingly capable.

The miDori bioSoft is a softening treatment that aids in moisture wicking by helping the fabric absorb more moisture and expediting evaporation. HeiQ Pure is a 90 percent bio-based treatment that prevents odor from clinging to your clothes with a small amount of recycled silver and salt. These are slightly cheaper than our wool picks and have a couple style choices. The barely hipkini features a smaller waistband than the active models.

Best Thong: Paradis Sport Seamless Thong

Key Features

• Sizes: S to L
• Fabric Content: 94 percent nylon and 6 percent spandex
• Available Styles: Bikini, thong

Pros

• Made in the USA
• Stays in place
• Breathable

Cons

• Thin
• No odor control

Paradis Sport is creating soft, athletic underwear that stays in place while exercising. The stretch, moisture-wicking, and quick-drying qualities make both the brief and thong comfortable for hiking. The fabric is thinner allowing for the right amount of support and breathability. However, the thinness might have contributed to some pilling on the rear of the bikini, yet I still reach for them because they never budge on long hikes.

The thong has no signs of wear and is my new favorite to wear with the best hiking leggings. The thick waistband never rolls and the material feels fresh on my skin. Best for day hikes or short backpacking trips, these don’t offer much odor control. Now a natural fiber version is available using micro-modal which is sustainably harvested from beech tree pulp.

Best Medium-Coverage: Smartwool Merino Brief

Key Features

• Sizes: XS to XL
• Fabric Content: 88 percent merino wool, 12 percent nylon

Pros

• Stretchy
• Soft elastic

Cons

• Wedgie-prone

Smartwool uses a similar spinning technique to Icebreaker where the durable nylon is encased in soft merino fibers. The fabric feels soft, stretchy, and breathable. The slim cut is designed to hug your curves. However for those with hiker glutes, this underwear tends to stretch and slide into an uncomfortable position.

The wool is quality with nice odor control and moisture wicking. But the medium-coverage cut and stretchability means for some, it won’t stay in place while hiking. If you tend to prefer a slim cut or want extra stretch in the fabric, these could prove to be very comfortable.

How to Choose the Best Hiking Underwear for Women

The best hiking underwear for women should stay in place, feel comfortable, dry quickly, and reduce odor. Your body type will likely have a lot to do with the staying power and comfort of your underwear so check sizes, styles, and measurements like you would other performance apparel. Sweat, rain, and river crossings can dampen your drawers so a fast dry-time will keep you more comfortable. If you’re traveling, you might also need to wash clothes on the go and the faster your first layer dries, the better. Odor control is great on trail to town days and when you’re hiking for days or weeks at a time.

FAQs

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Final Thoughts on the Best Hiking Underwear for Women

Wedgies, too-tight elastic, and rolling waistbands are unacceptable on trail. Don’t let bargain britches slow you down. The underwear on this list is made of high-quality materials and designed for active lifestyles. Find the pair that’ll best fit you below:

• Best Overall: Ibex Women’s Natural Brief
• Best Full-Coverage: Icebreaker Merino Siren Bikini Briefs
• Best Synthetic: Patagonia Women’s Active Hipster
• Best Thong: Paradis Sport Seamless Thong
• Best Medium-Coverage: Smartwool Merino Brief

The post The Best Hiking Underwear for Women of 2023 appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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By: Ashley Thess
Title: The Best Hiking Underwear for Women of 2023
Sourced From: www.outdoorlife.com/gear/best-hiking-underwear-for-women/
Published Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2023 15:46:08 +0000

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