Knickers, and other assorted underwear garments – I know we’re going all minimal on our travels but you’ve got to draw the line somewhere. When you’re only allowing yourself 4 pairs of briefs each for the foreseeable future you’d better make sure they’re good ones. They also need to be suitable for the environment you’re in and be practical for back packing and frequent travel.

After another typical Wrinkly Ramblers over researching everything exercise, which I think we can now safely refer to as Standard Operating Procedures, we finally decided on some sexy wool underwear. “Woollen Underwear?” I hear you gasp in surprise and puzzled disbelief; let me explain…

The simple fact of the matter is that not all sheep are made equal and one of the hot topics for debate among frequent travellers are the merits (or not) of the famous Merino sheep. The properties of the wool from these magical sheep are well documented and in some circles disputed but I can confirm that in our recent research and subsequent purchase of merino wool underwear we are, dare I say, impressed so far.

Again this is not a review blog so specific details and scientific testing and reporting is not the order of the day but there were a number of properties we felt were necessary when planning which garments should accompany us around the world. At the forefront of these requirements were weight, drying time, comfort and the undesirable but necessary ability to go the extra day or two without ones undercarriage starting to smell like a sumo wrestler’s jockstrap.

First point, Merino wool undies are not itchy they are very soft and comfortable due to them being extremely fine fibres. They are lightweight and pack small – tick! They are active fibres so they stay warm when the weather is cold, and cool when the weather is hot – tick! They are odour resistant and absorb the odour molecules from sweat – tick! They are stain resistant to a degree as the fibres have a natural protective outer layer, don’t worry there will not be any photos of soiled underwear provided for proof.

Merino wool is also UV and fire resistant but I am sure this property is less of an important feature when it comes to underwear. It will however become more critical when we start to look at base layers and t-shirts in a later blog.

I think that after the initial research and testing of merino underwear we are happy to include it on our packing list. We have had time to evaluate the garments purchased and are happy to venture further into the extensive merino wool catalogue of clothing.