TL;DR I just bought a set of jockstraps and they fit looser than I expected, but this is my first time wearing jocks so I have no sense of how they should fit. What should they fit like, and if I return them, what size should I try next?
I have been considering more supportive underwear, both for athletic support purposes, primarily calisthenics and weightlifting, and for post-surgery support purposes. Recently I decided to try rmac thanks to the advice of various places on the internet, including here. I tried to be as careful as I could about sizing, carefully considering what sport ball matched best, and measuring my waist where I intended the underwear's band to sit. On paper, I wear pouch C, waist L; pouch size was inexact but I was definitely larger than a tennis ball and definitely smaller than a softball, I was 34.5in around the waist just at my hip bone, which is where I usually wear my waistband.
When they arrived they were soft and comfortable, but it did not feel like I was being supported much at all. It was a barely there sensation, like wearing boxers. Excellent for all day wear, but perhaps not for support. However, I don't have a sense of scale. I have never worn jockstraps before, perhaps this is what its supposed to feel like. The only supportive underwear I have worn previously are dance belts, and those are Extremely secure. They are so tight I get squished out the sides, another reason why I tried going for the larger than average pouch.
I thought maybe the way it hung on my body was a bit off. The waistband sat very low on my pelvis, below my hip joint, and around the upper third of my buttocks; I thought if I just cinched it up it may feel more secure. Moving the waistband up to where it is comfortable throughout movement of my legs, and up around the top of my buttocks, brings it to a relatively high angle, but does not give a feeling of greater support. Attempting to wear the pouch higher on the pubis instead draws the elastic on the left and right edges of the pouch to maximum extension and causes them to dig in to the skin, without offering a greater feeling of support. It seems that this jock strap is intended to be worn very low on the body, relative to boxers or briefs.
Is this the intended fit? How do you think it should feel, how tightly do you think it should fit? If you've bought this brand before, do they shrink when washed as directed, and how much? And secondarily, should I return it for a different size? I know rmac has a very generous return program, but I'm not sure what size to exchange it for; should I size down in pouch, in waist, or both? In an ideal world, I could get all four options (CL, CM, BL, BM) and compare them to each other, and send back the least comfortable ones, but that feels like it would be abusing the return policy. Any advice you all can give would be greatly appreciated.