I have bought 8 pairs of these shorts. Some of them I absolutely LOVE. The rest of them truly SUCK!!!! They come in packs of 2. I don't know HOW to rate these? The good ones I'd give 5 stars but the "bad" ones, I'd only give 1 or 2 stars!!
The GOOD ones fit well, have nice elastic and the tie strings are just for "back up" to the elastic holding the shorts up. The Elastic is good enough that I can pull the shorts up and down without having to untie them. They have 2 pockets. The pockets are nice and deep, but for some reason, when I sit down and lean back, relaxed, Stuff DOES FALL OUT of the pockets! I'm not sure how/why. I keep my cell phone in one pocket and it falls out. I keep "stuff" (Pocket knife, flashlight, etc.) in the other pocket and it also falls out. But ONLY while I'm sitting, leaned back, relaxed. Everything stays in my pockets, perfectly well, while I'm out and about, doing chores, walking, bending over, doing normal, every day things. The strings have held up well on all the shorts. The shorts with good elastic, the strings are great. I LOVE them and I think they are WELL WORTH THE MONEY!
That's the good.
Here's the bad:
SOME (approximately HALF THE SHORTS I'VE BOUGHT) don't seem to have much, if ANY, ELASTIC in them. I HAVE to cinch those strings up TIGHT to keep the shorts on. And that HURTS my stomach!! I HATE those shorts. They are MISERABLE to have to wear and were a WASTE OF MY MONEY!! I have to UNTIE and RETIE the strings EVERY TIME I want to pull the shorts down.
Would I buy these again?? "Probably" in HOPES that I could get some more GOOD pairs, but I tell you, at the rate of HALF of them being "no good", that makes the good ones be PRETTY EXPENSIVE!
I'm not sure if I could/would "recommend" these shorts or not. If you get some GOOD ones, they are well worth the money. But if you get the ones with LITTLE to NO ELASTIC in them, they aren't worth ANYTHING. Just a waste of money.
I guess, in the end, all I can say is:
BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK.