Since wool has been recommended by a few, are there any preferences weight or brand wise? I mostly use fleece and a snug, if not tight, synthetic base layer.
Since wool has been recommended by a few, are there any preferences weight or brand wise? I mostly use fleece and a snug, if not tight, synthetic base layer.
I don't think that wool is better than a synthetic polyester base layer.Originally Posted by goobie
I love the unimproved works of God. - Horace Kephart
DavyRay I think they work great together.
I like wool. Some synthetics come close to providing the temp control of wool, however none come close to being fire retardant nor do they smell nice after a few days. In other words, when it comes to holding in BO, synthetics are the bomb... a stink bomb that is. I also like silk as a baselayer.
One thing that has been alluded to by lots of the posts, but not really talked about directly is conditioning to temps. I have a buddy who can operate year round in the canadian prairies in short sleeves. Yes he is a big man, but even still, he has gotten used to having little to no insulation, so his metabolism (and apatite) are insane. On a shorter timeframe, if you spend all day nice and cozy warm, then go to sleep, your internal heat generation is going to be much less since your body has been heating itself with muscle movement, and the provided insulation. If you spend the day a bit cool, and forcing your body to make heat, as long as it has calories available to burn, it will, and keep you warm. Snowmobilers know this as the curse of the warm-up hut. If you go in and fully warm up, the next leg is going to be cold, possibly hypothermic, instead once frost-bite check is done, if you get back on the trail, even if you feel chilled, you can maintain that temp much easier because you haven't let your metabolism slow down. It could also be that by the time you "feel" warm, you have already started to sweat.
I have very close to no personal insulation, so for me getting up, moving a bit, and going back to sleep can help since muscles generate way more heat than your internal organs. So just jumping out of your bag to run and pee then hopping back in warms you a bit. the second part of that is the cold air on your skin forces the blood back to your core. which is like putting a fan on in the room with the thermostat to get the rest of the house warm. Our bodies are not great at heat regulation because we spend so much time in climate control. Or having a small snack can kick your digestive processes back on, and letting all of that nice peristalsis do some heating for you.
Its interesting that because your body can move heat around you can feel chilled while still having a good core temp (CBS) or you can feel warm while getting hypothermia (shock can cause this, but also your body isn't great at telling you anything)
The less I wear, the warmer my bag feels.
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