Wool clothing with very high breathability and coolness?

Durability of wool is fairly poor with thinner fabrics (you’ll probably want as thin as they get to ensure coolness…) The holes develop pretty quickly in places that experience abrasion.

My favorite warm to hot weather clothes are blends made of nylon/tencel, linen/polyester, and to a lesser extent hemp/polyester blends.  Unfortunately, these blends are all hard to find.

Breathability is not a function of the material so much as the type of weave or knit used.  The more loosely woven or knitted, the more air permeable.  Knits on average tend to be much more air permeable than wovens.  I have a nylon knit shirt that is VERY breathable, much, much more than the average tightly woven supplex type nylon shirt.

My ideal hot weather fabrics do not exist yet–it would either be a blend of about 65% wicking, flatter fiber nylon with about 35% linen in a semi loosely woven, but just tight enough to block most insects.  Next in line would be a antimicrobial UHMWPE (fiber shaped altered to wick)/Linen blend based fabric .  I’m holding some fabric made out of all UHMWPE right now, and it’s very cool feeling on the skin (because it’s unusually conductive for a fabric type material).

(It’s going to be used for a pack).

Have you tried sleeveless shirts?

60/40 cotton poly works good

and some of use don’t wear shirts in warm weather.

i believe it was da patagucci cap 2 that has an exceptionally open weave

;)

For light weight wool, generally it’s cooler. Look for 120gm fabric in a knit.

Since these can be less durable (snag easily and develop holes,) the usual practice today is to use some sort of polyester core for strength. Anything less than 140gm is good for hot weather, though. It usually doesn’t require special handling (washing) but it should be hung to dry.

It is a bit strange, but when you first put it on dry, it feels slightly warm. Often people will remove it saying it is too warm. But, after 10 minutes of an activity (hiking,) it will soak and distribute sweat over large areas of your torso. As it evaporates, it cools you better than most other fabrics, especially for runners. The knit also allows a high breathability, again cooling you. While you may get it salt stained, it is a better choice for warm weather.  An occasional dip in a stream will also let it cool you for about a half hour or longer, depending on humidity.

Anyway, 120gm 100% merino wool tends to be very fragile. As was said, it may be far less durable. I put my thumb through one set pulling it over my head when wet. I believe Patagonia makes blended threads, with a polyester core, that gives the SUL fabric some strength. But, the addition of the plastics adds weight (~5oz for a shirt.) They make a limited selection of 120gm shirts with blended fibers (2 styles: short and long sleeved.) You might need some warmth, this is accomplished simply by wearing a second layer over them. This will close off the knit pores making them insulate, much like a mesh shirt. I believe Smartwool’s PhD shirts do this, but use a 140gm fabric. Ibex no longer makes a 120gm fabric shirt, but I had a couple that worked excellently for 3-4 years.

Wool does not dry really fast due to it absorbing some water directly into the threads. For drying, thin always dries fast, but a light weight plastic will dry quicker. Thin poly cloths tend to not have high breathablity, though. Icebreaker also makes a 120gm shirt but use a nylon core for strength, I haven’t tried that one yet.

Note that thin knits are NOT bug proof. Ha, ha…Do not buy blue. In summer, many bugs prefer blue/violet and UV colors, so, stick to plain white or light grey. Deerfly’s especially are drawn to blue.

Let’s see: Stretchy, yes;. naturally anti-bacterial, yes; dries quick-no; not itchy-yes.

I tried two different merino blend shirts this summer. The first was a Patagonia 120 gm merino/poly t-shirt, which I loved.  It was comfortable in all of the temperatures I experienced, which went up to the low 90s (I’m pretry heat tolerant though, YMMV).  It dried quickly, probably because the material was so thin.  However, it was definitely fragile and wore through under the shoulder straps and hipbelt of my pack after 5 weeks.

I changed brands based on what I could find on sale and switches to an Icebreaker tech-lite, which is 150 gm merino/nylon.  It held up better, with no holes or visible wear when I finished my hike 4 weeks later.  It wasn’t as soft as the previous shirt and felt noticeably warmer – I’m not sure if it was because of the slightly heavier fabric or the weave/construction.

I don’t know if even very light merino would be cool enough if you’re hiking in very high temperatures and need long sleeves for sun protection, but it’s now my preference for most other conditions