SAXX from Vancouver: the underwear with a built-in hammock

SAXX is now available at SportFits. Since 2006 the Canadian brand from Vancouver has been chewing on a question the footwear aisle settled long ago, while the underwear drawer ignored it for decades: why put up with friction, sweat and constant readjusting when engineering can fix it?

SAXX answers with the BallPark Pouch, a patented hammock design that earned the brand its "life-changing underwear" nickname. SportFits now carries the men's range.

The SAXX story starts on cold water off Alaska. Trent Kitsch spent hours out there in a damp drysuit, wrestling with exactly the problem men would rather not discuss: chafing down below.

Back on land the thought would not leave him alone. As a former baseball catcher he knew the shape of a catcher's mitt, and he simply flipped it in his head: a soft hammock built into the shorts, holding everything in place and away from the thighs. Working with a seamstress and a designer, he sewed prototype after prototype and used himself as the fit model. The fourteenth attempt finally sat the way it should. The BallPark Pouch, and SAXX, were born.

The US breakthrough came in 2012, and the brand moved into Europe step by step after that. Head office is still Vancouver, the team around 200 people, with design and function front and centre.

Now to the heart of it, quite literally. The BallPark Pouch is a small three-dimensional hammock made from two mesh wings that gently settle everything into position: nicely centred, well ventilated and held a little away from the thighs.

The trick behind it is simple. Where skin used to stick to skin, a soft fabric swing now sits in between. In plain terms: less sticking on hot days, far less chafing over long distances, and an end to the discreet hand in the pocket to quietly restore order.

The pouch is in every SAXX cut. For hard efforts it also comes as the reinforced BallPark Pouch PRO, the same hammock with the seatbelt pulled tight.

The pouch is the star, but it does not play alone. SAXX pairs it with a handful of construction details, all aimed at the same thing: stopping friction and pressure points before they start.

The sport and travel models add more technology on top. DropTemp Cooling actively cools through its material mix and construction, and targeted mesh zones improve airflow where sweat gathers most. Those details are what move SAXX from a comfort story to genuine performance underwear.

The difference is in the detail. Each of the three models is cut for a different job.

• DropTemp Cooling Cotton – a soft cotton blend with active cooling technology. The all-rounder for hot days, long drives and anything that heats up quickly.
• Quest Quick-Dry Mesh – ultralight and fast-drying. The travel pick: rinse them out in the evening, dry overnight, wear them again in the morning. Made for bikepacking and multi-day trips with little luggage.
• Multi-Sport Mesh – plenty of mesh for maximum airflow. The choice for sweaty training and hard multi-sport days.

Quest and Multi-Sport also come in a handy two-pack.