Re: Socks, Socks and Underwear
Posted by Allwet on July 12, 2022 at 03:52:09
In Reply to: Socks, Socks and Underwear posted by Riley on July 07, 2022 at 21:47:26:
I rarely have a chance to get wet anymore, but when used to I almost never wore shoes in the pool, mainly because I never had my own pool growing up so it was always at someone else’s. Except for sandy beaches, some kind of footwear is mandatory for natural rivers or lakes in order to protect your feet. Personally, I always loved the feeling of squelching in wet shoes and and heavy cotton sports socks. My favorites were canvas shoes such as Vans or Converse All-Stars, like those red ones in the picture at the top of this forum. Nylon mesh “trainers” (as our UK friends call them) are also a good choice, and they dry quickly. If you don’t like that feeling there are many kinds of water shoes available. A couple of years ago I bought a pair of Keen water sandals to go to the Philippines, and they performed great on a couple of days of island hopping, walking through rocky caves and tide pools. I did not get irritated by sand as I was expecting.
As much as I love getting wet in shoes and socks, I also love the feeling of wet jean cuffs or sweats on my bare feet.
As for underwear, I almost always wore it, and 30-50 years ago there were fewer choices. As a teen in the early 70’s the standard swimwear for most guys I knew were cutoff jeans, even for people of not of our wet persuasion. It was almost always worn with underwear, usually white briefs, but sometimes with boxers. I never experienced chafing, and never heard anyone complain about it. Underwear was always cotton, or cotton poly. The high-tech synthetics didn’t exist, nor did boxer briefs. During the ensuing 20 years I experimented with cotton boxers, briefs, and boxer briefs, and I found I liked boxers best, but they work better under looser pants. I rotated them with boxer briefs, so I didn’t always swim in the same kind of clothes. I also discovered I loved to go commando, especially with sweatpants.
In all my swimming clothes I found I liked 100% cotton the best. I like the heavy clinging feeling of t-shirts, jeans, sweatpants and hoodies. I never worried about fast drying, because, after all, the idea is to get wet, and if it’s a hot day, to stay wet as long as possible, and ideally (but not always possible) jump in again as you start to dry off.
But if wet underwear bothers you, try going commando. As others have pointed out here, there are a great many tight fitting lycra or other synthetic athletic underwear available. You might also want to try sports leggings with shorts over them, or if you wear nothing over them wear them with a long t-shirt. Another option is nylon gym or basketball shorts under your pants.
To me, rash guards and swimsuits don’t count as “clothes”, because they are made to swim in, and to me part of the attraction of this activity is wearing clothes not designed for swimming.