Gerbe Drain Up 40
by Geraden
It is a long time since I reviewed a product, indeed a long time since I have had a new product to review. 
The major French hosiery manufacturer Gerbe entered the men’s hosiery market about a year ago. Their hosiery is known for excellent quality and unfortunately also for not being cheap. In these respects the men’s hosiery is no different.
I had long wanted to try out the Gerbe range, but 'sheer' economics prevented me. However I recently received a pair of the Gerbe Men’s Drain Up 40 tights from legwear4men.com , price £28.99.
Here is a feature list for these long awaited men’s support tights:
- 40 denier appearance
- Compression factor not stated, but appears to be considerably more than factor 10.
- 26 % lycra content
- Fully boarded
- Wide signature waistband
- Flat seams
- Legs sheer to waist
- Reinforced toe
- Doubly reciprocated heel
- Front to back panel with vertical fly opening
They come in 4 sizes. The largest size, XL, is designed to fit up to 17st 4lbs and up to 6’7”. It fits me very well (I am 15st 10lbs and 6’4”).
The first think I noticed about these tights, apart form the obvious quality, was how hard they are to put on. These tights really need an effort to stretch them horizontally in order to get them over the foot and up the leg. When they are eventually positioned correctly they are very comfortable and do not slide down at all. The compression factor is not stated, but it feels quite a bit more than support factor 10 tights that I have tried – maybe the compression factor is 12 or 14. 
The denier appearance is stated to be 40, so they come between sheer and opaque. Personally I think to offer 40 den men’s tights only in black is a mistake. They are neither opaque enough to have a passable masculine look, nor do they have the skin tones needed for stealthy wearing. For many men, therefore, wearing them under long trousers will be the only option. A shame, because they are quite warm, and summer wearing could pose problems of overheating. If you need support tights, the chances are you will want to wear them every day.
I was expecting them to feel really silky, but they are not as smooth to the feel as I had expected. That said, they do not cling badly under trousers. They are very comfortable, once you have got them on, and they make your legs feel good the whole time you are wearing them.
These are very good tights, and I am expecting them to last a long time, given the quality of materials and manufacture. Are they really worth £28.99? That is a matter of opinion, and may well depend upon your personal cashflow! I don’t think I will be buying more in the near future. If I could afford more Gerbe tights, I would in any case probably go for the Satin 20, which sound very nice.
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I have also recently tried the Gerbe Drain Up 40 tights, supplied by
tights-for-men.com. I must say that for the price I was disappointed with
them - as you mention, they are difficult to put on and the material is not
terribly soft. I won't be buying them again, which is a shame as 40 denier
tights are my favourites.
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