i live in australia and pretty much exclusively wear either patagonia baggies (5", also great for the beach), cut-off dickies 874s, or gramicci g-shorts in summer. i also have a pair of patagonia cord shorts that i like a lot, but i've gotten too fat for. would be open to trying something by orslow or maybe buzz, although i can't really stomach the (significant) additional cost as i get older.
edit: wow, sassafras is a blast from the past. i bought a pair on my second ever trip to japan (2009) and immediately destroyed them while jumping a fence on my return to australia haha.