Ex Officio Give-N-Go Skivvy Tops and Bottoms : Dry Heat

I have been a proponent of polypro since I first discovered its magical wicking and insulating traits, and its relative ease of care compared to, say, silk.  So, when I first caught a glimpse of Ex Officio’s Give-N-Go clothing line at one of my favorite camping stores, I was more interested in their briefs and T-shirts than their long underwear.  But after hearing a fellow shopper’s favorable opinion, I had to try the stuff.

I decided to test the underwear with a quick bike ride on a fifteen degree day.  I was going to ride about four miles, be indoors for half an hour or so, and then ride home, so I figured that if worse came to worst, I’d only be chilly for a short time.  I wore only the Ex Officio bottoms and some wind pants on my legs and the Give-N-Go top under a thin fleece and a windbreaker on my upper body. 

As I put on the top, my thumb poked through a hole in the material.  I thought I’d grabbed a dud off the shelf, but on closer inspection, I discovered that the hole was actually a clever design element.  You know how you have to hold the cuff of a long sleeve shirt when putting another long sleeve shirt over it to prevent the undershirt from getting stuck up by your elbow?  Well, not with the Ex Officio Skivvy Top.  The thumb holes, in combination with the silky smoothness of the material, totally eliminate bunching.  Likewise with the Skivvy Bottoms, which have an extra long cuff at the ankle that holds the legs in place when you overdress with any kind of pants.  As a bonus, the Give-N-Go material is so comfortable that I happily find myself wearing these long underwear all day.

OK, so, I hit the road, got a good sweat going, went inside to take care of some business, and half an hour later got ready to ride home.  As I put my jacket back on over the slightly damp top, I knew that the ride home would be colder than the ride there.  (Discretion dictated that I leave my wind pants on over the bottoms while I was inside doing business).  But I was more than pleasantly surprised by how warm I stayed,  even starting out with moisture in the material.  This stuff is tops at wicking.  I’ve never felt anything like it.

When I got home, I decided to continue the test to see if Ex Officio’s claims of extremely fast drying times were true.  After sitting at my desk for thirty-one minutes in a 67-degree room, the last trace of moisture in the middle of my back was gone.  Suddenly, winter in the Great Midwest seems a little greater.

Bottom Line: Attention to details make these already exceptional long underwear that go from soaking wet to dry in two to four hours a great investment even before your polypro wears out.  --B.S. (April ’06)

Price: $38 Bottoms, $40 Top  (At last look, these were 50% off--click on Sierra Trading Post, below.)

Manufacturer's Site: www.exofficio.com

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