For a guy, there's a certain area that you never ever want frostbitten. And it's not your toes.
This morning, I was reminded of this nasty winter malady while biking to work into the teeth of a gusty freezing wind. My saddle area seemed to bear the brunt of the icy gale. I was starting to go numb down there. I wanted to hail a cab.
Cyclists aren't the only vulnerable ones. If you've ever seen a male runner moving around in the winter with a hand down his pants, he's not a pervert. He's just trying to protect himself.
There's another solution. Instead of the hand, there's The Hand.
"It's the ultimate protection for your future generations," said Dusty Olson, owner of the Duluth, Minn.-based company.
The $20 garment is a simple concept. It's a cup with Polarfleece on the inside for warmth and nylon supplex on the outside to block the wind. It's held in place by a jock strap. Olson is also thinking about developing a companion boxer brief.
"It's pretty comfortable for me," he said. "It hugs the area so it doesn't move around at all."
For athletes, this provides an alternative to bulky long
underwear. For me, wearing tights underneath my biking pants works
pretty well. But if we get another severe cold snap like we did last year, I
might invest in a pair of Hands.
Olson, 34, uses it himself for cross country skiing and kayaking. It was 10 degree in Duluth when I talked to him today, and he said it stands up to the bitter winters. He said his biggest sellers are in northern Minnesota and Alaska.
"When you're Nordic skiing and it's 10 below and you just have a Lycra suit on," he said, "it's pretty important to keep that area warm."
Then there's the provocative aesthetics. Specifically, the screenprinted hand over the crotch. (For more demure athletes, the Hand also comes in a hand-free variety.)
"I often get emails of random people partying in the Hand," OIson said. "Someone sent me a Halloween costume (wearing the Hand). I'm like, OK."
The previous owner ran into some problems with that logo.
"He got
married and his wife was embarrassed that her husband owned the Hand," Olson said.
That's not a problem for this bachelor and self-described ski bum.
"My mom was a little [imitating old lady voice] 'Oh, Dusty, what are you doing?'" he said. "But my
golden retriever doesn't care."