[pct-l] Another horse to beat: wool vs synthetics?

[Phil Newhouse]

SteelEye,

Did you only carry the OR "windstopper" on your last PCT excursion?

phil


On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 9:55 AM, CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net> wrote:

> Good morning, McIntyre,
>
>
>
> It's hard to go wrong with good quality wool products made of fabrics
> milled
> for the purpose of high loft and light weight.  I have two garments that
> illustrate a great difference:  One is a high-quality Filson jacket that is
> a Northwest classic from days gone by.  It is made of durable,
> tightly-woven, virgin wool and it weighs just over 3 lbs.  The other is a
> 14.5 oz. pull-over sweater made in Iceland of long-strand wool.  It is very
> loose and fuzzy, looking almost like a down jacket without the fabric, and
> it's "loft" is nearly four times the thickness of the Filson in spite of
> being less than one third the weight.  It's down-side is the weave is so
> open it has almost no resistance to a breeze; I must wear a windshirt over
> it most of the time.  Instead I usually pack a somewhat thinner fleece
> sweater that weighs around 10 oz.
>
>
>
> I've tried various wool blend socks, but they are expensive compared to
> synthetics, they don't last me nearly as long, and I can't see much
> difference in comfort or moisture control.  I'm not a name-brand person
> with
> socks.  Most cheap, thin or medium weight, pairs seem to do fine.
>
>
>
> Most of my warmth garments for the trail are PolarFleece or are knitted
> synthetics.  Such are widely available and are inexpensive, particularly
> since I get most of my fleece items used from the thrift store.  Some
> synthetic items do stink after a little use: Others do not.  I don't know
> why offhand but there is some sort of technical difference in the way they
> are made.
>
>
>
> For gloves I use fleece, or wool Army glove liners.  My favorite is a pair
> made of OR "windstopper" fleece due to the wind resistance.  They are only
> very slightly heavier than regular fleece.
>
>
> Steel-Eye
> http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 8:05 AM, mcintyre johnson <
> johnson.mcintyre at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Likely another long-beaten horse, but would appreciate experience with
> any
> > of the marina wool products compared to synthetics. My experience has
> been
> > very good and I'm in process of swapping out all base layers, gloves and
> > watch cap for SmartWool products. Good points: Wet-but-warm is for real;
> > the
> > cozy feel of wool better than clammy-when-wet best synthetics; and --
> huge
> > advantage -- wool almost refuses to stink while synthetics reek after two
> > days of serious miles. I know synthetics are faster drying but (so far,
> in
> > my experience) this has not seemed very useful. Thoughts please.
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