100% Cotton vs. 50/50 blend vs. Dry-Release vs. Wool blend

When I am in the dry desert I like cotton. If I am in the mountains with a chance of rain or sweat soaking me then I prefer wool of different weights. Plus some sort of light rain gear.

I love my Icebreaker 150 for everything up to and including 100 degree desert heat.

Dry heat — cotton is best — although poly and blend will do well too.

Hot and humid — poly is best — although nothing is really comfy. Poly can stink quickly while cotton feels like a wet and heavy rag draped on.

For me, I've been wearing 80/20 poly/cotton blend for all climes over the last 6 years — and find they work very well regardless. My blended tees feel like cotton and don't stink particularly. But just as importantly, they dry quickly — like the more technical pure synthetic tees.

I would NOT wear wool in hot climes — dry or humid (but esp. humid).

is dri-release 100% syn? if so that's my preferred warm weather shirt- Capilene 1 to be specific

shoulder seasons/winter I move to merino

Dri-release is 85/15 poly/cotton blend.

synthetic or wool

even during the summer i dont wear cotton shirts … they get soaked from sweat and take time to dry out

to be frank … if your going to sell them you need something more than a logo to differentiate it ,,, there's so much competition for shirt/base layers these days … you can get merino wool layers at costco up here for 15$ .. synthetic layers at mec for the same on sale

either some special mojo blend, some unique design/features, some jedi mind trick marketing, everyday low price … etc …

just my opinion

I have formed and finished concrete ever since I was about 14 in hot and humid South Florida. I have worn every type of t-shirt known to man and a white 100% cotton t-shirt is the only way to go. The shirt is by no means dry, but you sweat less and any breeze helps to keep you cool. This is obviously just my opinion since everyone likes something different.

Ben said "Dri-release is 85/15 poly/cotton blend."

OK thanks- didn't know what is was :)

Mike – you're welcome!

Lawson – "So the question is this, during a mid summer scorcher do you prefer to wear shirts made out of 100% Cotton vs. 50/50 blend vs. Dry-Release vs. Wool blend?"

Umm, can I change my answer to "one of each, please"? :)

I hike where 85-95 degree temps and 85-95% humidity are the norm. I vastly prefer loose fitting, thin polyester T-shirts. Loose doesn't stick to you as much, creates a teeny tiny breeze when you move, and the polyester drys in 10-15 minutes when you stop for lunch at an overlook. Cotton T-shirts feel much hotter and noticeably sticker to me (although my poly T-shirts are also a little thinner, so this could be part of the reason the cotton seems hotter). I suspect a 15% cotton blend wouldn't feel any worse than 100% poly, and it may pill less.

Also, be aware that your blood will thicken during cold seasons, and get thinner in hot seasons if you spend a few weeks outdoors (or without air conditioning). So you'll still want a windbreaker to prevent getting chilly on 70 degree nights if you are used to 90 degree daytime temps. So on longer hikes in hot areas, staying cool is not as big a problem.

is that true? blood thickens? I suppose on some level it sounds right, but I'm not sold.
anywho, how bout hemp for humid areas? I guess it's hard because, like any other fabric hemp can be made many differnt ways, but I wore a hemp cotton blend in miami and it seemed to do pretty well at cooling me (large weave) and not holding too much moisture. also heard that it doesn't stink, but I haven't had it long enough to get smell yet. I doubt it's UL though.

I've worn Cotton Lawn button shirts exclusively in Southern China Almost wrinkle free and fast drying as they are very thin. This last trip out in the Cascades we were facing snow-melt skeeters so I needed a long sheeve shirt to treat with Permethrin. I ended up with one made out of mostly modal with some polyester. Modal is a rayon derived from Birch trees. Softest shirt I've ever worn and it drinks up moisture even more than cotton does. The end result a shirt that stayed cool even in full sun even pretty high up on basalt and lava floes. I'm sold on it It also hardly wrinkled -very unlike rayon.

When I am hot the cotton obviously stays wet and offers tremendous evaporating cooling properties which helps to lower core temps. It will feel heavy and clammy but it is actually cooling you off. This could be good or bad depending on your environment.
Poly dries quickly and is lighter and warmer when wet but offers much less evap. cooling by nature which is good if your in colder temps.
I got dehydrated once wearing thin poly for the first time in a dry climate since the dryness made me feel as if I were not hot and sweating out fluids as my usual cotton shirt does and did not offer much cooling effect. I hear it's a common problem when athletes wear Underarmor type clothing as it alters your normal hot/cold/sweat perception.