Branwyn Underwear Review
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Ladies, when it comes to staying comfortable on a hiking adventure, you should start with the underwear. After all, if you choose your underwear poorly and you’re out in the middle of nowhere, it’s really just going to get worse from there. The itching, wedgies, chaffing, and rubbing all just set you up for failure – am I right? I’m Carmelina, and as a professional hiking guide for Wildland Trekking, I know the struggle of finding the right gear all too well. Therefore, I was incredibly excited to try out some products from Branwyn Performance Innerwear – underwear designed for active, supportive movement for any adventure.
So, kitted out with the Essential Bralette and Essential Thong, I headed out to guide Yosemite National Park hiking tours and put these items to the test. This review will start with a basic introduction to these products and the Branwyn brand, then move on to an in-depth review of how this underwear performed. So let’s see how they did!
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Essential Bralette and Thong Quick Look
Let’s review the basic specifications for the two items from Branwyn that I tested – the Essential Bralette and Thong.
- Price
- Essential Bralette: $48
- Essential Thong: $30
- Material: 81% extra fine Merino wool, 12% nylon, and 7% Spandex.
- Bra Features
- 2-Inch Strap
- Unpadded
- No Padding Pockets
- No Underwire
- Essential Thong Features:
- Snug Fit
- Full Frontal Coverage
Intended Use
These underwear items are designed to move. Their comfortable design, supportive range of motion, and material choices are all geared toward active adventures. From hiking to climbing to paddleboarding to yoga and everything in between, Branwyn underwear is intended to keep you supported and cozy through it all.
Why Merino Wool?
On the surface, wool may seem a strange material choice. Isn’t it too warm and scratchy for active underwear? Well, Branwyn says no! With the right blend—81% wool, to be precise—merino can provide a unique combination of natural odor repellency, quick drying capability, moisture wicking, and breathability.
The additional nylon and elastane materials add durability and stretch to round out Branwyn material’s benefits. So, all in all, merino wool brings a lot to the table to elevate these underwear to a whole new level of comfortable performance.
Branwyn Company Background
Branwyn began in Bend, Oregon, with a frustrating search for reliable underwear utilizing natural fibers. Shawna, the future designer, couldn’t find a single option that felt good with active pursuits and didn’t get immediately saturated with sweat. So, after two years of experimenting and prototyping, Branwyin was created with a comfortable yet durable blend of merino wool, nylon, and elastane.
Branwyn puts extreme emphasis on sustainable business practices and renewable materials. Their merino wool is sourced responsibly, and they’re actively working to reduce the company’s environmental impact and use of man-made fibers (nylon and elastane). In addition to their sustainable focus, Branwyn also prizes comfort and performance above all else when it comes to their individual products.
Branwyn Accreditations:
- Responsible Wool Standards accreditation
- ZQ Grower Standard
THE TEST – QUICK OVERVIEW
My test took place in Yosemite National Park while guiding Wildland's Glacier Point trek. Temperatures peaked in the upper 80's Fahrenheit during our daily hikes. Additionally, we encountered minimal cloud cover. Put these two items together, and I had almost ideal weather to test performance underwear while working hard on these hot and sunny days.
The Review
So now that we’ve taken a broad look at the products and Branwyn as a company, it’s time to dive into the details of my testing. Below, I’ll cover the main performance categories for active underwear and give these products a score from 1 to 5. The key to these scores is below, and I’ll also provide details from my test that influenced how each category received its score. So let’s see how Branwyn did!
Ranking Key
- 1/5 – Poor
- 2/5 – Tolerable
- 3/5 – Fair
- 4/5 – Good
- 5/5 – Excellent
Comfort – 5/5
The wool material definitely did its job in this department. Both the bra and thong felt extremely comfortable at every stage of my test – from relaxing at camp to hiking hard and working up a sweat.
Specifically, the material felt very soft and lacked Merino’s stereotypical scratchiness/itchiness. I found this pleasantly surprising and it’s a huge positive that Branwyn underwear can provide such high levels of comfort. But the true test is if these items can be comfortable yet maintain their durability, let’s look at that next.
Durability – 4/5
Wool is a notoriously tricky material in terms of durability. All too often, it ends up fraying, pilling, or stretching. But I didn’t encounter a single one of these problems during my test!
After some serious, sweaty, hiking mixed with down time at our campsites, the bra and underwear still felt pretty darn new. They didn’t stretch out and there weren’t any signs of fraying. Additionally, the stitching seems very well-done and extremely sturdy.
So all in all, these test results all point to Branwyn underwear having very good durability. I deducted one point from this category simply because I only had the opportunity to machine-wash them once, and it will take several more washes to determine if the durability is truly exceptional and can hold up to those repeated wash cycles after heavy use.
Quality – 4/5
After several trips into the backcountry, I have to say I’m impressed with Branwyn’s overall quality.
For the bra, in particular, I was very pleased that the strap adjusters are made from very sturdy metal – no chance of breakage there. Additionally, the elastic for the bra straps is a refreshing blend of durability and stretchy that doesn’t cut into my shoulders. This last point is doubly important to me since I spend so much of the day with backpack straps pressing down on my shoulders.
Zooming out, both the bra and underwear look and feel like high-quality activewear that should stand the test of time and deliver uncompromising support. I’m very excited to keep using them in the future!
Packability/WEight/Bulk – 5/5
Being a hiking guide, the packability of my gear is always uptmost in my mind. Of course, underwear, for the most part, is pretty packable. But some are still bulkier than others. Therefore, let’s take a closer look at this Branwyn underwear.
Like most bottoms, the essential thong is super lightweight and easy to pack, so we’ll skate over that one for this section. For the bra, the most important item to note is that there is no padding. Additionally, there are no pockets for padding at all. Both of these points combine to make the essential bra remarkably lightweight and easily packable. You don’t have to worry about keeping the bra cups flat because there aren’t any! Therefore, the bra can be crumpled into a ball in your pack without worrying about it. So great packability!
Moisture Control – 5/5
One of Merino wool’s many superpowers is its excellent moisture control, and Branwyn’s underwear perfectly utilizes that power. While working hard during my hikes and building up a sweat, I noticed that both the thong and bra were amazing at wicking moisture away from my skin while still drying quickly enough that they never felt soppy and saturated.
Breathability – 5/5
I was very impressed with the Branwyn underwear’s ability to stay cool on hot days. This works in tandem with the wool’s ability to wick moisture and dry quickly. But in addition to that benefit, Branwyn managed to keep the material thin enough to facilitate decent airflow and prevent overheating.
I was particularly impressed by this category since wool has a reputation for being a warm layer. But Branwyn’s material blend hits the sweet spot by being thin enough to stay cool and dry quickly while still being durable enough to stand up to heavy activity.
PRice – 3/5
I honestly was a bit surprised at the steep price tag of the garments. For that price, I think I’d like to see some more padding on the bra as the entire bra is pretty thin (even at the expense of making the bra slightly more bulky).
However, the Merino is high-quality, and I acknowledge that it’s a more expensive material than cotton and polyester. Comparing it to other Merino wool fabrics, this is definitely a high quality and robust product.
Therefore, weighing both of these points, I’m giving the Branwyn underwear a middle score of “fair” value for the price. It’s not a low-priced steal for an incredible product, but it’s also not an overpriced flop either. In this case, I think you get exactly what you pay for, and that’s an excellent and comfortable set of underwear with great adventure performance.
Bringing it Together
I’ve covered a lot of aspects of the Branwyn Essential Thong and Bra in this review. So, let’s take another look at the main pros and cons below.
Pros:
- Extremely comfortable
- Great moisture wicking
- Good support
- Not itchy
- Quick drying
- Easy to pack
Cons:
- Bra isn’t padded and is pretty thin
- Higher price tag
Final Thoughts
In short, these are the most comfortable undies I’ve ever worn backpacking. Branwyn’s wool blend is perfectly balanced to optimize comfort while still maintaining great durability for active pursuits.
Specifically, the two-inch band on the Essential Bralette is remarkably cozy, and the bra cups themselves were supportive. The bra is noticeably thin, however, and I’d personally prefer something a little thicker for better padding. But overall, it performed flawlessly by keeping me cool when I was working hard and drying quickly as it wicked my sweat away from my body. This high praise continues to the Essential Thong, where the wool material wasn’t itchy or scratchy at all. In fact, I found the merino to be incredibly soft and comfortable while remaining durable by not pilling or snagging.
So, all things considered, I wholeheartedly recommend Branwyn for ladies looking for a comfortable yet durable pair of underwear that can keep up with any adventure!