Today my partner Becky and i went on a "hike" at a local park–NOT in the mountains so a very easy hike with tiny hills and not much exertion and in the low to mid 70's with moderate humidity. I tend to run significantly warmer at both rest and exertion than Becky. She can even feel cold when i feel hot.
I was wearing a loose fitting, all linen short sleeve button up shirt. She was wearing a more tight fitting, 58% cotton, 36% and with a little spandex t-shirt.
After walking for awhile and up a little hill, i was surprised when i touched the small of her back that she was noticeably sweating, and my back was almost completely dry. How much of that was the loose verse tight and how much was that from other factors like fiber content, weave/breathability, etc?
Perhaps since i was wearing linen shorts and she was wearing cotton jeans may have even factored in some? Perhaps fitness could also be a factor–i'm a bit more fit than she is?
Anyways, the above reminded me of something i read on the internet about a study done on people wearing cotton vs linen and that the people wearing the linen showed a lower surface body temperature by a few degrees or so. I never was able to find the exact study or studies about this, but have been wondering about the truth of it since, and the above experience made me think about again. Anyone here ever see the actual study(s)?
There are so many variables, i'm not sure how to really test stuff like this.
