For me its temperture, colder = wool, wamer = cotton/poly. Yes i said cotton, in the dead of summer cotton is fine for me.Originally Posted by wildgene
I prefer to sleep in a wool baselayer
I prefer to sleep in a polyester baselayer
I can go with either depending on the weather
For me its temperture, colder = wool, wamer = cotton/poly. Yes i said cotton, in the dead of summer cotton is fine for me.
Cotton is fine in summer for quick trips...but it really holds the stench on multi-day trips. Better than poly for hot/dry trips like in the desert, though.
Not sure if I'd want to depend on it for sleepwear in the desert, though...gets cold at night.
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I am going to whip out my wool Irish Sweaters for deep winter camping this year.
Been a while since I have used them and they are WARM. Itchy on the skin though.....
Scratchin' Shug
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I am allergic to wool so I would be up all night itching if I wore it (even merino gets me itchin), so I use the Patagonia Capilene series and have no problems!
TeeDee and I ordered ours directly from NZ (or AUS forget exactly which now, but I think it was NZ). After spending a LONG time pricing the stuff here in the states, TeeDee finally found a vendor in NZ who had really good prices and the shipping was about what we would have paid here in the states. The S&H was the same as the US vendors.
The sizes were stated in metric so TeeDee did some conversions and we got tops and bottoms, both short sleeve and long sleeve tops, for a fraction of the price of the name brands here. A very small fraction.
Be careful of the size conversion to English units from metric. Also, I think their sizes reflect a tight fit. If you like a loose fit, adjust up accordingly. We recommended the vendor on one of the back packing sites and one person tried it and didn't do the size conversion right and didn't allow for the tight fit and was so disappointed that he scared the rest of the people off - but then I think they just wanted the name brands anyway and didn't care about the cost.Maybe they care more about the cost now though
I think the US vendors inflate their prices of merino a LOT. We priced their merino wool socks also - WOW - I could buy a pair of shoes for what they price their socks at. We finally found merino wool socks at Costco (I think). Again for a fraction of the name brands. About half or less, pretty sure it was less.
A year or 2 back, there was a country store (with web site) in New England, selling merino wool long johns, tops and bottoms, and single garment types. Their prices were a small fraction of the outdoor name brands. The last time I looked they still sold the womens merino wool, but not the mens.I refuse to reflect on what that says about the relative smarts of the genders - my GF doesn't need the encouragement.
I'm pretty sure that the merino wool isn't any more expensive than regular wool, it's just that the outdoor name brands have been able to build a rep and charge accordingly and more, LOTS more.
I love Merino Wool. I cannot afford Merino Wool.
Therefor all my base layers are variations on poly.
Such is life!
I picked up a military surplus "extreme cold" base layer set from a local outfitter for what seemed to me to be a great price. I'll report back with details and stuff once the cold weather hits!
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If it is cold enough to need base layers to sleep in, I vote merino. While it can be expensive, the Terramar brand at campmor.com can usually be had for under 30 bucks.
I have to chime in on a couple of points-
a lot of folks who don't like wool (itchy scratchy allergic..) have only experienced commercially processed and treated wool-without knowing that there are alternatives.
I have some handspinner/knitter friends who have taught me much about qualities of wool- wool is graded on the diameter of it's fibers; the smaller the better, though like wire gauges the numbers are inverted- bigger number means smaller diameter, go figure- (but it's the tradition, like..) but below a certain diameter (which I once knew but will have to look up) the skin stops reacting to it as an irritant, and it is no longer 'scratchy'.
Merino is a particular breed of sheep- known and bred for the reliably fine fibers they produce, but most other wool of equal fineness is marketed as merino, whether it came from that breed or another. which is fine as there probably aren't enough Merinos in the world to supply the demand.
Be aware that commercial processing uses a large number of caustic chemicals which dissolve the vegetable matter stuck in the harvested fleeces, but also cause a certain amount of damage to the surface of the fibers, and leave residual traces of their use- many folk allergic to wool are in fact sensitive to the chemicals used, and not the wool itself. the test is relatively easy- if you know a hand spinner, borrow a tuft of hand washed/processed wool, and tuck it under your watchband for a while. if you react to that then you are allergic to wool, if not, probably it is the chemicals.
hope this helps in an indirect way, (anybody who wants a puff of wool to try, just ping me) KM
Try Sierra Trading Post and sign up on their web site for the "deal flyer". Then they will start sending you e-mailed coupons. Click on the coupon to get even more of a discount.
I usually buy all my wool socks and base layers there.
I also like silk base layers and depending on the temps, will wear silk either by its self or under my wool layers. Another thing I've been trying out is bamboo layers. So far the bamboo feels nice at night to sleep in. It regulates my body temps well. Only down side I've found with it is that it's SLOW to dry. I've got a couple of shirts that I've tried hiking in (summer temps 85+) and sweated in. No smell to them but I had to change out of them in the evening when the temps dropped because they were still wet. The silk drys increadly fast and still keeps you warm. The wool I found would dry slow but kept in the heat very well. I choose my base layers depending on the "real" temps. Not the humidity as I'm normally hiking in rather high humid conditions anyways. For socks I wear either mid or heavy wool with a thin liner sock, summer and winter. I don't like the thin wool socks. I put my wet wool socks under me inside the Clark Hammock outside pocket at night. This drys them by morning. If I have to wash them, I'll have to hang them on my backpack the next day because they'll still be wet. My synthetic layers doesn't do as well as the natural fiber fabrics and smells to high heaven. I'm using those pieces of gear less and less.
TinaLouise
I am a big fan of the UA stuff when I'm moving but not to sleep in. Compression clothing seems to make me sleep colder and I don't need any help with that. I like to skip the baselayer and go right to the fleece whenever possible.
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