RokJok
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2000
- Messages
- 4,201
I know we've all heard it and heard it and heard it how bad a material cotton is for outdoors clothing. But yesterday I went through an experience that reinforced in my own mind just how lousy a material it actually is for the outdoors.
Seattle is currently under the effect of a "Pineapple Express". That is when the atmospheric jet stream swings by Hawaii, grabs a bunch of warm moist air, and heads for us here in the NW corner of the USA. It will then dump rain on us like it's time for Noah to build another big honkin' boat. During the 24-hour period of yesterday Seattle got 5.02 inches of rain. It DUMPED rain on us all day long while that tropical air flow had us in the mid-60's degree Fahrenheit for temps. Balmy and soaking wet all day.
Rain or not, the dog WILL get her walk or else make life a torment.
So we went out around noon when the rain slacked off to a mere deluge. The walk lasted for about a half-hour strolling around the neighborhood. When I got home my BDU pants (Brigade Quartermaster Basic version, 100% cotton ripstop IIRC) were well-soaked from mid-thigh where my rain parka ended down to the ankle of the pants. I figured if I just wore them around the house for a while they'd dry out.
WRONG!!!! Four hours later they were still damp enough to be chilly. That was four hours of being in the house (mid-60's temp in here too) absolutely protected from further wetting or wind exposure. My legs were still losing enough heat that I was cold. At that point I got sufficiently disgusted that I just took the pants off and threw them in the dryer. I put on some nylon water shorts and was actually warmer than when I had the long pants on. That's because my legs were at least dry and losing less heat to the air than they had been to the damp material of the long pants.
Bottom line (no surprise) - When you may be in a cool & damp environment, stay the hell away from cotton clothing. Period. Because when cotton clothes get wet or damp they get heavy, binding, and COLD!
Okay, rant done now.
Seattle is currently under the effect of a "Pineapple Express". That is when the atmospheric jet stream swings by Hawaii, grabs a bunch of warm moist air, and heads for us here in the NW corner of the USA. It will then dump rain on us like it's time for Noah to build another big honkin' boat. During the 24-hour period of yesterday Seattle got 5.02 inches of rain. It DUMPED rain on us all day long while that tropical air flow had us in the mid-60's degree Fahrenheit for temps. Balmy and soaking wet all day.
Rain or not, the dog WILL get her walk or else make life a torment.
So we went out around noon when the rain slacked off to a mere deluge. The walk lasted for about a half-hour strolling around the neighborhood. When I got home my BDU pants (Brigade Quartermaster Basic version, 100% cotton ripstop IIRC) were well-soaked from mid-thigh where my rain parka ended down to the ankle of the pants. I figured if I just wore them around the house for a while they'd dry out.WRONG!!!! Four hours later they were still damp enough to be chilly. That was four hours of being in the house (mid-60's temp in here too) absolutely protected from further wetting or wind exposure. My legs were still losing enough heat that I was cold. At that point I got sufficiently disgusted that I just took the pants off and threw them in the dryer. I put on some nylon water shorts and was actually warmer than when I had the long pants on. That's because my legs were at least dry and losing less heat to the air than they had been to the damp material of the long pants.
Bottom line (no surprise) - When you may be in a cool & damp environment, stay the hell away from cotton clothing. Period. Because when cotton clothes get wet or damp they get heavy, binding, and COLD!
Okay, rant done now.
