Over a decade ago, during Operation Pillar of Defense, we worked with Rabbi Yedidya Atlas to help provide free tzitzit for IDF soldiers. We set up a donation page on our website and some people donated one or two tzitzit, some 10 or 15 and one donor foot the bill for 50.
I remember back then Rabbi Atlas was raving about the product. He said even some non-religious soldiers were wearing them, and considered them akin to a bulletproof vest.
Back then I couldn't figure out why he wanted DryFit instead of cotton, but now I realize that not only does it spare the soldiers from having to wash them all the time, but also is much more durable.
According to a blog post on the Yeshiva Har Bracha site, regular tzitzit were not holding up well in field conditions.
Most of the tzitzit currently distributed in the army are from dri-fit fabric, which is a synthetic fabric woven by special technology, and used to make sports activity clothing. Its main advantage is that it is aerated and evaporates sweat, and therefore, is comfortable and pleasing to soldiers, and serves both as an undershirt, and a tallit katan.
These tzitziot arrived to the army with the help of Rabbi Yedidya Atlas (IDF Rabbi, res.). During Operation Pillar of Defense, when the soldiers spent long days in the field unable to wash or change clothes, sweat eroded the tzitziyot, and the army had to dispose of 10,000 tzitziyot. It was then that the initiative was made to produce talitot katanot from dri-fit.
