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Key Takeaways
- Real Men uses external pouch design vs internal "flimsy flaps" of competitors
- 36 sizes to support vs 4 for most brands - that's 9x the inventory complexity
- Liberal replacement policy - will work through 2-3 tries to find perfect fit
- Same price for all sizes (S-5X) despite larger sizes costing significantly more
- Returns donated to homeless organizations rather than thrown away
- Natural positioning allows temperature regulation the way bodies are designed
- Many converts from boxer briefs to briefs once they try external pouch design
The $40 Question: Why So Expensive?
Chris opens with the elephant in the room - trying competitor brands like Tommy John, Saxx, and Mack Weldon that charge $30-40 per pair. His verdict? "I don't know why they're that expensive. I could see our stuff being that expensive because it's totally worth it."
His experience with the premium brands:
- Mack Weldon & Tommy John: "No control there. Everything was either pressed up against my body or there just wasn't much containment."
- Saxx: "It's almost as if Saxx said, well, I still want to get pressed down between my legs, but I just want to be separated from my legs."
Jared's perspective on Real Men's pricing ($10-15 per pair depending on pack size): "We're not making a ton of money. Our profit margins are not huge. Other brands have significantly higher margins - they're trying to make more money off individual customers. We're trying to give a product to as many customers as possible."
The External vs Internal Pouch Revolution
The fundamental difference lies in design philosophy. Jared breaks it down with visual demonstration:
Internal Pouch (Saxx, others): "They have a little more space in their traditional design, and then they just have these flimsy flap divider things, just like a mesh divider. They call it a pouch or pocket. Really it just creates some separation."
External Pouch (Real Men): "You actually have space for the package. It actually protrudes out from the front of the body of the underwear. It's not an internal pouch where you just have those dividers."
Only a few brands use external pouches - Real Men, Obviously, Wildman T, and Ergowear. The difference? Actual dimensional space versus flat dividers.
"But Won't I Show Through My Pants?"
Chris voices the concern everyone's thinking: "He's sticking out so far. What's that gonna look like when I put on regular clothes?"
Jared's honest answer: "Guys naturally sit a little more downward. Depending on where a person is positioned, if they're positioned up higher, there may be something that shows a little more. But you're just not being smashed."
The reality check: "Most guys when they put on a pair of boxer briefs, they're used to looking in the mirror where it's just completely smashed. Then they put something like our product on and they're like, 'That actually makes me stick out.' Well, usually you're really not sticking out - you're just sitting naturally."
Chris's personal revelation: "I remember the time I realized, wait, that's not the underwear making me stick out that much. That's just me. Even my wife didn't realize it."
The Temperature Regulation Science
Here's where engineering meets biology: "There's two ways that your body can cool down. Either your package can move up and down or you can sweat. Because guys are getting smashed with their traditional underwear, it's not allowing their body to actually regulate temperature the way that God designed your body to regulate temperature."
With external pouch design: "You can actually change shape and size throughout the day and so you just don't sweat as much. You don't have to adjust all the time, you're just a lot more comfortable."
The Abusive Relationship Metaphor
Jared doesn't mince words: "Guys are stuck in an abusive relationship with their underwear, they just don't know it. You've been abused your entire life. Until you get something that actually allows you to sit naturally."
The alternative for many men? "Some guys just give up on underwear and go commando, then you have a lot of sticking and chafing. Our product allows you to have the benefits of being commando without the rubbing, sticking and chafing associated with that."
The White Elephant Strategy
Real Men embraces an unconventional marketing approach: "We encourage people to buy them as white elephant gifts. Buy them as the lingerie, male lingerie, whatever. Because once the guy tries it on and they wear it, they're hooked."
Chris's mortifying experience: "My wife said, 'You should bring a gift card for Real Men Apparel to the White Elephant.' Guess who got the gift card? My pastor. I was mortified. I buried my head in my arms and tried to make myself small."
But it works: "It's crazy how many times we've had people just buy them as a gag gift. And then they try them on and they're like, 'Holy cow, these are awesome.' And then they just keep coming back. So that's how we hook you."
The 36 Sizes Challenge
While most brands offer 4 sizes, Real Men maintains 36: "There's costs associated with doing that. Be able to provide all that inventory. I have 36 sizes that we're trying to support versus other brands that have four. That's just completely different from a cost standpoint."
Yet they maintain same pricing across all sizes, absorbing the higher costs for larger sizes rather than passing them to customers.
The Liberal Replacement Policy
Understanding fit anxiety, Real Men offers an unusually generous approach:
"Quality brands are going to have a lot more liberal return policy and replacement policy because they really back their product and they really care about their brand."
The Real Men approach:
- Start with B size pouch (40-50% of orders)
- Try it on, assess fit
- Email hello@rmac.store for adjustments
- Work through 2-3 replacements to dial in perfect fit
- Prefer sending replacements over returns
"We want to work with you to help you dial in the right fit for your body. Sometimes that takes one, two, three, four product tries to get it right. We can usually dial it in on two."
The Inseam Education
Many fit issues aren't about the pouch but the leg length: "There's some people that have been wearing a three inch inseam boxer brief, but they've got a really big thigh. It's a losing battle when you have a muscular thigh against a short inseam."
Chris's personal experience: "I love the short three inch look, but bikini briefs fit me the best. Now I can get away with a nine inch. Those will stay in place 100% because my thighs are thick in the middle and that nine inch boxer brief has the terminating seam down below that thick part."
The rule: "The boxer brief really should go beyond the largest area of your thigh, so it can really hold in there. If it's fighting against the smaller side, then it's just gonna be a losing battle."
The Brief Conversion Phenomenon
"We've converted a lot of people to briefs just because they thought they looked funny or they felt funny or they just were compressive. Once they've tried one of our briefs with an external pouch, they totally were converted over to a brief."
The stigma is real but unfounded - many men discover briefs work better for their body type once they try quality construction with proper pouch design.
The Donation Program
What happens to returns? "When we get them back, we don't want to throw anything away. So we donate all those to homeless organizations because we don't want stuff to go to waste. If it hasn't been worn, we donate them to homeless groups. If they've been worn, then we just throw them away because we're not going to resell."
Even with generous policies, some abuse occurs: "We do have occasionally some guys that start stealing from us and that stinks." But the company maintains its generous approach for legitimate customers.
The Amazon Reality
Why buy direct? "If you order off our website, we could give you a better deal than you're getting off Amazon, because their fees are really high. We're paying 20 to 30% just for advertising, just to stay at the top of the listing."
Direct purchases support the company better and unlock better discounts through email and SMS lists.
The Product Range
Beyond traditional boxer briefs, Real Men offers:
- Briefs
- Bikini briefs
- Jocks
- Strapless jocks
- Leggings
- Arctic Shield
- Comfort Flex
- Aeroflex
Each maintaining the same external pouch philosophy adapted to different styles.
The Bottom Line
Chris's endorsement carries weight: "We smoke what we grow. We use what we sell every single day and we love it. Yes, this is the real deal. Yes, you should try them out. Yes, they are that good."
The secret coupon code for this episode: JARED
Real Men Apparel represents more than product innovation - it's a philosophy shift. From external pouch design that works with natural anatomy to inclusive pricing that doesn't punish larger sizes to replacement policies that prioritize finding perfect fit over quick sales.
The engineering mindset continues from Part 1: identify the real problem (smashing vs supporting), design the right solution (external vs internal), and stand behind it with policies that prove confidence in the product.
Your underwear shouldn't be an abusive relationship. It should work with your body, not against it.
