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 microfiber which allows the contestants to cool down in hot conditions and warm up in the cold (typically nighttime). According to the Survivor Rulebook, contestants must have their buffs on 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,, starting tribes began having their names on the material (with the sole exception of ). 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 symbol of elimination at, 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

 * is the only season to have "Survivor" in a different font than in 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 survivor to wear the buff like a skirt.
 * Reebok, who sponsored the series from to, used to have its logo on the buff. Recent replica buffs do not have the Reebok logo.
 * The buffs have two variants of the season logo, where the Survivor logo is either written in black or white.
 * A green buff with the logo for has been speculated to be for the season's merged tribe which never came to be.
 * In, contestant Bob Crowley introduced a new way of wearing a buff, a bow tie. He is the only person thus far to sport this style.
 * Randy Bailey is the first contestant to throw his buff in the fire after being voted out.
 * Francesca Hogi is the first contestant to throw her buff in the fire at Redemption Island.