Coastal Dog swimsuits and chafing

I know, it’s a weird headline for this piece, but I just got a terrific new swimsuit from Coastal Dog Apparel and I can’t really talk about the benefit of this particular suit design unless I talk about chafing. Now I may be making some discriminatory assumptions, but I don’t think you gals fully appreciate the challenge men face with chafing, especially if we’re in swimsuits which, for reasons I don’t really understand, tend to be made with material that actually seems to increase the problem, not otherwise.

I have one swimsuit, for example, where the lining is a mesh, and since every single time I’ve gone to the beach or a pool I’ve worn just the swimsuit, that means it’s a lining that becomes more uncomfortable the longer I wear the suit. A typical day at the pool with my kids also involves getting wet, drying off, getting wet again, drying off again, a seemingly endless cycle of “I’ll jump in to cool down, then I’m back on my chaise lounge…”

Enter Coastal Dog. As company founder Stephanie Magee describes it: “I founded Coastal Dog Apparel in an effort to help all the men in my life avoid the common condition known as beach rash. Beach rash (chafing) occurs after hours in the surf and sand in a regular bathing suit. Before I created Coastal Dog swim suits, my family’s days were cut short as soon as chafing set in. There would be the very recognizable, and painful, penguin walk back up the beach and an early end to surf side football games.”

My son can commiserate too, we’ve spent enough time at pools that he’ll get to the point where he just stays dressed and sits in the shade rather than jumping into the pool, knowing his rash is just going to get worse. And yes, I’ve experienced it too. Ugh.

What makes the Coastal Dog swimsuits different is that they use compression shorts as the lining, shorts with no seams and none of the hated mesh liner. The exterior of the swimsuit is a typical ruged fabric, but the lining is lovely and soft, which took a bit of getting used to they really are super comfortable swim trunks. Why did they take a bit of getting used to, you ask? Well, I guess I’m not so familiar with soft materials. Based on my own wardrobe, it sure seems that most mens clothes are designed to be more functional and durable than soft and comfortable. Or maybe I’m buying the wrong stuff. Hmm…

You can see the lining in this photo, where I’ve turned the swimsuit inside out:

Gotta dig that groovy pink blanket it’s sitting on, eh?

Even better, Stephanie donates 100% of her profits to Horizons for Homeless Children. Horizons is a non profit dedicated to helping homeless children receive early education and access to other services. Oh, and Coastal Dog apparel is completely made in the USA, including the individual components. Nice.

If you know what I’m talking about with swimsuit chafing, or know a man who begrudgingly admits he’s experienced this, then you definitely owe it to yourself — or the guy in your life — to check out Coastal Dog Apparel.