cotton kills

“I have a question. Everyone knows to avoid cotton. (Although, I still wear blue jeans hiking.) If you purchase an article of clothing that is 90% cotton but the lining is coolmax, does the cotton exterior defeat the purpose?”

“What purpose would that be?”

“bacpac,

Are you blonde? ;o)”

“Sorry, er ah... I guess I was thinking what it would be like to be the coolmax liner in Sunshine's jeans and got distracted.”

“Hey, where is my backpack?”

“I never wear blue jeans hiking. They suck when they wet out. Their heavy and restict my mobility. Growing up, I still remember racing home to peel the frozen solid jeans of my cold a$$ aftyer sled riding. They're good for yard work, but on the trail, I need something that will breath and care alittle better.

If I wear cotton, which I do, I can normally be found in old "docker" style pants. Some are 100% and others will be a mix but are little and less restrictive for me than jeans.”

“I don?t buy the no cotton never bit. In warm dry conditions it is fine. Now remember I live in a dry area. A cotton tee shirt is my standard training attire on the bicycle.

Coolmax & cotton makes sense to me. Cotton is absorbent so the moisture the coolmax will not absorb (most of it) will be absorbed in the cotton. Thus keeping it away from you. At least until it is saturated. The cotton is sort of a moisture magnate.

In hot moist conditions I prefer that Hubby wears nothing.”

“mnt gal, Perhaps it's the dry climate. I'm a snow baby. I don't do heat well. Also, my body is a poor regulator of heat. I sweat easily when I'm active and I'm freezing if I'm sitting still. I wasn't so sure about this cotton thing until I started to do comparisons. There is a big difference. I thought wicking/liner socks was hysterical. People swore by them, though and one day I found a pair 75% off in a sale bin. My feet are so much more comfortable when I use them. I need to buy another pair or two. One pair just doesn't cut it!

bacpac, I didn't mean to distract you! E-mail me the shipping address for the backpack. My class starts in 5 minutes. Gotta run!”

“Cotton isn't dangerous when staying warm is not a problem. If you are our on a warm day doing a day hike and you are comfortable in cotton I see no problem. For longer trips I see no point in cotton, it retains moisture (including sweat), gets heavy when wet and dries slowly.

The coolmax would keep the sweat from your skin, but all the other disadvantages of cotton would still be there. The pants still might be great for a warm dry day.

On the trail though, I'd prefer to keep you comfortably and safely wrapped in wicking, fast drying, synthetics... layered if necessary.”

“the only cotton I wear is in my T-shirts. I just haven't bought coolmax yet.”

“This is not really a cotton comment but question about the wicking thing.

Your body depends on the evaporation to cool it. If the moisture is drawn away from the skin before the evaporation (phase change) takes place does it reduce the efficiency of the cooling? If its cold outside and you are sweating aren?t you over dressed? In the cold as the moisture moves through your insulating layers wouldn?t it reach a point where it will freeze and stop moving? If the air outside in at 100% relative humidity, where can the moisture go to get out of your clothes?

I think there are just conditions in which you will be wet no matter what you wear. Make plans to deal with being wet as well as plans to try to stay dry.”

“mtn gal, this is me being serious for a change! Interesting question. I would think that the evaporation would absorbe heat from the fabric, which would then in turn absorbe heat from the place that has more of it, which would be either your body or the air. Heat tends to want to go from where there's more of it to where there's less of it. Just a thought. Anyone else?

And if the humidity is 100 percent, it sucks no matter what.”

“I agree with Ken on the cooling effect still happening with wicking fabrics (thats my experience).

As far as sweat... there are times when due to the heat outside and/or your level of exertion, that you are going to sweat no matter what. Even hiking naked doesn't help.

When thats the case, I like to get wet whenever I can... I wash my shirt in streams several times a day... get soaked where the water is decent. Sometimes in extreme heat a cotton T shirt is nice because it holds more water
than the synthetics and the cooling effect lasts longer.

Also, carrying a backpack guarantees that at least part of your body is pretty well insulated.”

“Off the top of my head I'd say it won't work. Coolmax is cheap so why not go 100%”

“I found this item for $2.50. I figured for that price I couldn't go wrong regardless of the wicking/cooling capabilities.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, everyone. :o)”

“I'd imagine that the evaporation still takes place faster then the wicking, but the wicking removes the excess sweat from your skin, also the sweat still evaporates from the material and removes radiated heat in the material. As for 100% humidity you must realize that that condition is impossible. The dew point is completely dependedt on the air temp. As you walk through saturated air, the air immediatly surrounding you warms because of you. This increases the amount of moisture the air can hold and allows some sweat to evaporate. A wind can decrease this by mixing the air around you with the surrounding air.”

“I wonder how wet/moist the cotton will get by excess perspiration as opposed to a soaking? I'll bet if you don't sweat like a pig and soak the material, and with the coolmax against your skin, it should keep you warm and feeling dry.

In the summer I wear these shirts my dad has always worn. They are 65% polyester 35% cotton, paper-thin, lightweight, collar and button down the chest kind. And for $1.50 to $3.00 at the Starvation army, they can't be beat!

I use to use them when I skateboarded, they were they most comfortable shirt when working up a sweat. Good airflow, dried fast...and looooked goooood!”