Buff

A Buff is an item of clothing that the contestants of Survivor wear to identify which tribe they are a member of for the audience.

A spandex tube which can be worn in a variety of ways, it is made of a microfibre which allows the contestants to cool down in hot conditions and warm up in cold (typically nighttime). According to the Survivor Rulebook, contestants have their buff on their person at all times unless otherwise directed.

Replica buffs can be purchased from CBS.com or the official shop.

Design
Based on the motif of the season, the buffs typically match and follow a particular design regardless of the installment. Each side of the buff shows three logos with a strip down the crease with a local design (sharks, islands, fire, skulls etc.). From onwards, buffs feature a background which is in either a lighter or darker tone to the main color and seventeen seasons later on, starting tribes began having their names on the material. By, all subsequent buffs now possess the new buff logo.

In-Game Use
Primarily being used as a headband/wristband etc. employed the buff as a source of elimination at Redemption Island, in which the eliminated contestant would drop their buff into a small fire pit. As duels take place around the middle of the day, a second torch snuff would seem as less dramatic.

Trivia

 * Survivor: Borneo is the only season to have "Survivor" in a different font to future installments. This is probably due to the design being changed in post-production. The iconic font used in subsequent seasons is called "Survivant."
 * The women of Pagong are the first to wear the buff as a top.
 * Colleen Haskell is the first female to wear the buff like a skirt.
 * The logo from Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains has silhouettes of the cast as opposed to a local motif.
 * Reebok, who sponsored the series from Survivor: Borneo to Survivor: Marquesas, used to have its logo on the buff. Recent replica buffs do not have such addition anymore.
 * The buffs have two variants of the season logo, where the Survivor logo is either written in black or white.
 * In, contestant Bob Crowley introduced a new way of wearing a buff, a bowtie. He is the only person thus far to sport this style.