Heard of the horizontal fly? It’s high time you do. No matter how you shop for underwear, whether by color, style or fabric, you will always face the fly factor. Men’s underwear generally is constructed with one of three pouches. The first two are the most common: traditional (aka vertical fly), and no fly, the latter shaped to form a contour pouch. The third–and rarest–is the horizontal fly. Genius by design as well as function, it’s a wonder why the horizontal fly is, in fact, so rare. Here are our top 5 reasons the horizontal fly is totally fly.

1. Easy Access

If you’ve ever tried poking out of a vertical fly to make a bathroom break quicker, chances are you haven’t made a habit out of it since. With the inner and outer openings so far away from each other, it’s quite uncomfortable to get through, and is just plain awkward. The horizontal fly, on the other hand, stretches open quickly and comfortably allowing you to reach in, pull out, and replace faster than it’d take you to say ,”Dude, this horizontal fly is so fly.”

2. It Looks Sexier

The two overlapping panels of fabric that make up a traditional fly can end up flattening your frontal profile, leading to squishing, tightness, and lack of definition. The two panels than make up a horizontal fly, however, don’t overlap nearly as much, and usually feature a lower pouch that’s been contoured to give you a supported, defined look. Case-in-point, the HOM Louis Maxi Boxer (not pictured). It looks devilishly sexy and boasts a contour pouch to boot.

3. You’ll Breathe Easier On a vertical fly, two panels of fabric mean double the insulation which can mean double the sweat.Heat rises, we all know that, but what most men don’t know is that with a horizontal fly, heat simply wafts out the top of the fly, leaving you cool and comfortable. If you really want to get technical, try Spanx for Men’s Cotton Comfort Boxer Brief (shown right). The 3D horizontal pouch is contoured to be roomy and supportive and features mesh inserts on either side designed to increase air flow to your nether regions. Think of it as in-your-pants air conditioning.

4. Comfort: Plain and Simple

The design of the horizontal fly allows for more room up front. Also the vertical construction of a traditional fly follows the vertical direction of your package, causing more contact with seams and potentially more irritation.

5. Privacy

Some vertical flys gap too much, leading to embarrassing peek-a-boo moments (and, in the worst cases, zipper incidents). With the horizontal fly, you are in full control of how your pouch opens and closes. Also, if you’re a guy who tends to show a little more through your underwear, the contoured pouch at the bottom of the horizontal fly will keep things smooth and show-free. The Tommy John Second Skin Low Rise Trunk (shown top left) is made from a super soft modal fabric that fits–like the name suggests–as smooth as a second skin, and the horizontal fly is the icing on the cake.

For more information on these brands: HOM, Spanx for Men, Tommy John