Gear for freezing rain

Hi Andy

Sigh. Yes, I know. I used to work for the wool research industry, and read TRJ regularly. 'They' were always trying to set up experiments like this to prove wool was better than synthetics. But the harsh light of reality in the field always blew the claims away. Every time. Hum … they seem to have given up on that track these days.

Cheers

Interesting, thanks Roger.

Do you happen to know of a definitive, unbiased article on it? I'm skeptical because my field experience is that wool is slightly warmer than fleece when damp, as in when sweating some or being in a light snow rather than falling into a stream and getting soaked. Maybe it's my psychological bias, or an invalid comparison I'm making between garments of different thicknesses.

Hi Andy

Sorry, no. The concept of 'unbiased' is a hard one when there are millions of $$ involved.

The lab I was at ran some of those trials. But even though the researchers made positive encouraging noises abou the results, the participants always declined the offer of free wool gear at the end.

And you will note that even the Australian Olympics teams only wore wool clothing in the official parade, not during actual competition. Every time.

Cheers

Wool is warmer when wet/damp in my experience. You don't wear fleece socks in cold rain, do you? I also like wool gloves because they keep my fingers toasty without a shell over them.
Part of this is because wool feels dryer, less thermally conductive when wet, also it dries way slower.
Some of that super duper ultra fast dry polartec stuff can chill you way down when it starts drying out.

But the cons outweigh the pros most of the time. Soggy, heavy, stretched wool layers suck.

Still like a thin wool long sleeve if I'm going to be in a rain jacket all day long.

There are also some very experienced people who wear wool head to toe in cold/dry winter conditions. Les Stroud is a good example. I've heard that it thermoregulates or whatever better in those conditions.

Yes, 90% of wool outdoor clothing marketing is BS.

> Yes, 90% of outdoor clothing marketing is BS.

Fixed that for you. As a matter of fact…

> Yes, 90% of marketing is BS.

There. That's better.

That said, I do like my woolies. Especially when my clothes are damp and there's a breeze, it does seem to make a difference.

I save my wool base layer for sleeping, but what is the best synthetic base layer for hiking under rainwear? I have fleece tights and a cuddle duds light fleece hoody.