If 100% wool blankets need dry clraning, why do people recommend them?

I really like wool blankets and sweaters. I bring synthetics with me also , so don't just rely on one or the other.

I wash the wool items by hand , put them on spin-only for a few minutes then hang flat to dry. I don't wash it unless absolutely necessary. The less it gets pounded by washing the longer it seems to last.

In the summer I prefer a wool blanket , a cotton bed sheet and a canvas tarp underneath with maybe a foam pad in between. The whole affair rolls up nice and secures with a couple of straps.I find I can regulate my temperature better in hot weather.
 
brians said:
No person suddenly becomes exempt from impression management just because they want to consider themselves an outdoorsman. It's a bit pathetic to think that when people classify themselves as that they suddenly become exempt from mechanisms underlying the human race. …................................................. ..................
Click to expand...

Please, no offense but where did you come up with this sociological nonsense? wikipedia?
This does not apply in this context.

Here I'll elaborate so you don't clog the thread anymore.
Erving Goffmen, a Sociologist, and one of the most referenced people in history on the topic of image perception states "Impression Management is totally dependant on the situation."
In other words, we may profess an "image" when we CHOOSE.
The "person" decides, not the situation.
We do not concern ourselves with professing image, or image management in every situation, only when our minds feel it will benifit us.



so YES, accortding to the top sociological researchers in the history of mankind.....we ARE, in some situations exempt from impression management.







Back on topic:
I found some military surplus wool blankets for $20 each, I'll be checking them out today!!


maybe you should read a further than Wiki before you troll a thread...or at the very least community college.
 
Shamrockninja said:
Please, no offense but where did you come up with this sociological nonsense? wikipedia?
This does not apply in this context.

Here I'll elaborate so you don't clog the thread anymore.
Erving Goffmen, a Sociologist, and one of the most referenced people in history on the topic of image perception states "Impression Management is totally dependant on the situation."
In other words, we may profess an "image" when we CHOOSE.
The "person" decides, not the situation.
We do not concern ourselves with professing image, or image management in every situation, only when our minds feel it will benifit us.



so YES, accortding to the top sociological researchers in the history of mankind.....we ARE, in some situations exempt from impression management.







Back on topic:
I found some military surplus wool blankets for $20 each, I'll be checking them out today!!


maybe you should read a further than Wiki before you troll a thread...or at the very least community college.
Click to expand...

Actually, "Brians" was quoting "BaldtacoII", much like you did, using the exact same quote on page 3 of this thread. Which set you off there, much like here...only now you were a bit more abusive to "Brians" for quoting someone.
So...you are blathering on, after a guy who was blathering on, at another guy who was blathering on...for another blathering inaccuracy, about the same thing. I think that sums it up.
And I found five dollars on the sidewalk today...then I bought a Vitamin Water, cause its good for me...and got in my mazda, cause its cool....and went home after working for people who have to much impression management money. I was wearing wool socks, denim, and fleece...I am all messed up obviously.
 
Gents:

Enough of the ad hominim attacks. Either stick to the topic or heads will roll.

Sorry, I enjoy them as much as you do, but there's a time and a place for it. This isn't it.
 
Samael said:
Enough of the ad hominim attacks. Either stick to the topic or heads will roll.
Click to expand...

Hmm, this being Outdoor Gear, Survival Equipment & More, I think bedrolls are more appropriate than headrolls.
Since the real gearheads seem to be soldiering on regardless, we will keep this thread going.

So please play nice. Or heads will roll.
 
I like to take in ALL the information I can about what I use and abuse in the woods. Thomas Linton has some good info, as does Payette , BaldtacoII and several others. It is good to refer to multiple sources while hunting down the "facts" as bad info seems to permiate throughout the web.

Still the best research is personal experience. I have gone through a lot of gear over the years and when it comes to clothing (cold or hot), natural fibers have come out on top for me. Perhaps it's the way I use them, the way they make me feel mentally/emotionally or the measurable properties they exhibit... anyway you slice it, wool and cotton make up the majority of my kit.

Rick
 
Rick Marchand said:
... anyway you slice it, wool and cotton make up the majority of my kit.

Rick
Click to expand...

Rick, I am an old guy and I would not survive the summer heat in Tennessee, working from dawn to dusk in the sun and humidity, if it weren't for my wearing cotton clothes. I've never met a synthetic that has the evaporative cooling properties of my cotton pants and shirts. Every year I have young workers show up looking like they were going to play basketball and they are done before the day is through. That cotton works against me in the winter though, so, like you, I wear a mix of fabrics including fleece, wool and polyfiber insulation, depending on the weather and my activity.
 
Well this thread has gotten a bit heated. Who would have thought wool could be such an incendiary topic? AMAZING!

I don't have a clue what percentage of insulation is retained when wet. Don't have a clue about weight to insulation values and ratings. I personally went from a synthetics only guy to more along the lines of what Rick has said concerning himself, coming back around to mostly natural fibers. Wool makes a great shirt/coat/base when in a proper weave/weight, and I find myself wearing more of it as time goes on. I do feel it keeps me warmer in humid environs. But you wont be catching me wearing it w/o a shell in any kind of real rain. Also, I find that I am comfortable through a broader range of temps/environs in wool than synthetics. Wool blanket, yeah I think it does great at that. Will you catch me with one in my pack? fat chance. Is wool for you? Dunno, got know your body and environ, and sometimes you just gotta try things out. Not to blatantly ignore well tested numbers and sciences and maths, but I find practical, personal experimentation is what it comes down to in the end. Whatever you do, try to keep that 98.6.

God bless,
Adam
 
Exactly, Codger.... I say "the majority" of my kit because I found that I do need some synthetics as well. Gortex type shells and polypro work their way in there sometimes, too. when temperatures are hovering around freezing and everything is damp and crappy and I'm working, synthetic shells are wonderful. Anything below -15C, and it's wool/cotton duck from head to toe.

A bad case of the woolies... Wool blanket anoraks and German pants...
DSC_0042-2.jpg

morningafter.jpg

tipiframe.jpg


My HyCreek waterproof/breathable outfit... The one advertized on the back cover of the Backwoodsman magazines
Picture144.jpg
 
Yes, i *definitely* like them. Absolutely, without a doubt like them and don't mind the dry cleaning - in fact, i have one that needs to be dry cleaned. A bit scratchy as a 'woobie', but like 'em all the same. I don't care if they're waterproof/breathable or not. I just like 'em.
 
Rick Marchand said:
... anyway you slice it, wool and cotton make up the majority of my kit.

Rick
Click to expand...

mine too. and I'm not an outdoorsman, I don't hike, and can't remember the last time I was in the wilderness.

That said, I work outdoors, every day, and spend most of that time wet. For underwear, hanes cotton longjohns have worked the best. I tried underarmor and other synthetics when I first started commercial fishing and they were either restrictive, prickly, or uncomfortable, or they caused me to overheat when inside and didn't keep me very warm outside. I usually just wear a couple of shirts and dickies pants over the cotton long underwear and put a Grundens or Guy Cotten pullover fleece over it. I wear a wool hat and when it gets cold in January and February I wear a wool sweater of some type under my pullover. I have found that wool was good at insulating against the wind and if you got a little wet under the Grundens the wool kept me warmer than the modern high tech synthetics.

I prefer it because it works for me. People have, for years, gotten me the fancy synthetic long underwears and gloves and hats but I still always end up with cotton longjohns and wool sweaters and hats. Over 18 years of commercial fishing in New England winters and working on barges in the midwest in -20F temps for 6 hours straight I would always be warmer (or cooler in the summers) wearing wools and cottons.
 
Cotton certainly has its places too, especially when woven and treated right. Eddie Bauer has a linen material that they use in their bush shirts that's just killer for desert bumming. Don't think you can beat a good pair of canvas pants, and when you throw waxes and oils into the mix you get an impressive breathable and waterproof material that's much more durable than synthetic materials.

Wool isn't a heated topic-there was an offtrack personal vendetta that threw a wrench in productive conversation. I apologize for my part in it, I should know by now not to feed it, but I'm stuck in flatland missing my mountains, my parents are going through a divorce and I've been off my painkillers for two weeks in prep for some medical procedures. Makes for a really pissy combo.
 
That's the funny thing about personal experience.... it so "personal".

We are all entitled to our own opinions and interpretation of the facts... but we are not entitled to our own facts. Payette, I urge you to pursue the accuracy of the absorbtion and insulative properties you claim with regards to wool. I find wool quite amazing, but not "physical-law-defying" amazing. Pease look into it.

Rick
 
Payette, I remember when that article surfaced in 2009... great read... it says that wool can absorbss 30% of it's weight in water before feeling wet and makes no claim to 90% of anything. I'm a fan of wool but where are your sources for the 90% claims?
 
@PR - i'm not directing the following comments to you - please don't personalize them - i'm not meaning to deride, attack nor inflame anyone.

In all these things (materials like steel used for making knives for example), there are *always* trade-offs. Thats the good thing about physics - it's generally consistent. You don't get 100% waterproof-breathable - g-tex's failure illustrates that perfectly. Warm-when-wet sounds great, but there are limits (water carries away heat very effectively).

I've had similar discussions too many times with people who are unwilling to consider *fact* vs their "factually derived" personal opinion (or to be honest, their too-emotionally-invested support of something) to get caught-up in the heat of it here. It becomes very Cartesian and emotive and *not* fact based which then illustrates an unreasonable, unteachable person. Who wants to be around that?

Unfortunately, the "White Tower" of academia (university or even the "school of hard knocks") either reinforces or simply all too often teaches/espouses the ideals or perfect situations where it's *possible* for a material/processes to function - *possible*. Even "scientific" testing of materials/processes is absolutely *not* free from bias - whether the tester is a "scientist" or just an average, every-day "Joe".

Wool is a great material - as is cotton - as is high-fill-power down *if* used within their respective limits.

Wool blankets are great as blankets. If someone can find a way to use them effectively, great, but there are limitations and warm-when-wet is one of them.

I suspect wool does a better job of retaining heat when wet/moist than just about any other insulator, but i don't know the precise limits/boundaries of how much water/moisture, in what conditions and/or for how long the human body can provide enough heat to push away the moisture before becoming fatigued/uncomfortable, etc. However, in general, wool is a heavy insulator and all the more when water/moisture is absorbed. That very fact eliminates wool blankets from my backpacking kit.
 
What about washable wool blankets that have been out a few years? Also any kind of wool makes my hubby itch. Me, I like wool and cotton.
 
There are "itchless" wools out there.
https://www.google.com/search?q=itc...F-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GZAB_enUS439

I am guessing it depends on the source animal and processing. Merino sheep wool and alpaca/llama wool come to mind. You might investigate the new products made from Smartwool. I believe it is 100% merino which is finer than other wools. One of my favorite warm outdoor shirts is a wool blend and it is itchless, dries faster than any other shirt I own.

Cotton likewise varies in it's properties according to source and processing.
 
fmajor007 said:
I suspect wool does a better job of retaining heat when wet/moist than just about any other insulator
Click to expand...
Which is great unless you're wet because you're wearing wool.

I've been screwing around outside in the dark around the house by headlamp. It's 24 degrees and windy. I've got on a merino t-shirt, a jacket made of Polartec Thermal Pro, and a cotton canvas Carharrt shirt on top to cut the wind. I don't know whether I'm coming or going:confused:
 
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