No more fleece.

[jackknife]

I've went ahead and swore off the poly fleece stuff for good.

Growing up, winter clothing was always wool. I never had any of the fleece stuff till 1998 when I got some of the Polar Tech stuff from Malden Mills. For the next several years I used the stuff, and I won't say I did not love the light weight of it. But I never fdelt as warm and comfy as my old wool stuff.

Now most of the fleece is worn from being washed, or just wear and tear. It does not seem to last as long as wool either. My Filson wool coat is thirty years old and still in good shape.

Anyone else here who has not been overly impressed with the synthetic fibers?

And has anyone else here had the experiance of finding out a wool sweater is way warmer than two layered fleece pull-overs?

 

[TLM]

Each has it's good and bad points. If you are slightly allergic to wool, there is no better alternative.

TLM

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

It all depends on the fleece. I have one fleece that is still going after ten years, and it was a cheap one from Target. I agree that wool is better, but I would prefer Wool with a fleece liner for comfort (like with many winter hats)

 

[akennedy73]

Ounce for ounce, poly fleece beats wool for warmth. But, yeah, I know what you mean - I grew up with wool and I think I may be moving back to using it more. My wife is just now finishing up knitting me a wool sweater - which I'm pretty excited to try out.

I guess if I'm going to be backpacking a long distance, I'll still go with fleece over wool just to save the weight. But for other applications, I'm probably going to be moving back to wool.

 

[HoB]

Nothing like Filson Doublecruiser :thumbup: . The problem for me is similar to TLM's: I need a decent underlayer between me and the wool and wool turtle necks are out of the question. If you ask me there is still no fiber that beats wool in cold wet weather, but synth fibers are constantly getting better. The fleece of to day isn't the same as that from 5 years ago, and the new softshell stuff is pretty impressive. Just my $0.02.

 

[longbow50]

I spend too much time next to a campfire to wear plastic. Wool is the only way to go.

 

[wade]

Im the synthetic generation. So I never had a wool coat. I love fleece, though, a good one if you like it is North Face's Four season jacket.

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

I spend too much time next to a campfire to wear plastic. Wool is the only way to go.

I had some (brand new) wool pants that were destroyed from being near the campfire. The lower legs became brittle and disintegrated.

(they were not burned, they just fell apart.)

Of course, it could be that Poly would have melted in the same scenario. (big fire & winter camping)

 

[billym]

I have had all the incarnations of synthetic outerwear. and sold a lot of it too. Although it works great it never replaced wool. I always knew the sheep would eventually win the day. Synthetics will never replace wool.
Wool is more durable and will not catch fire; two great survival qualities.

 

[billym]

oops double post deleted

 

[longbow50]

I had some (brand new) wool pants that were destroyed from being near the campfire. The lower legs became brittle and disintegrated.

(they were not burned, they just fell apart.)

Of course, it could be that Poly would have melted in the same scenario. (big fire & winter camping)

See how well that wool protected you?

Actually, I've never seen that happen to wool. Maybe it was treated or was only a % of wool and the rest was poly, etc.

My fires are considerably smaller. Mostly to warm my toes and dry my boots.

 

[TLM]

The lower legs became brittle and disintegrated.

Yup, that is what happens when wool is in too hot a place.

TLM

 

[Thomas Linton]

Yup. I gotta' Filson that won't wear out. But how many times have you washed you Filson? Threw it in the washing machine did you. Washing machines wear garments. (And I don't mean that you will see your Maytag in a spiffy red fleece pullover. )

Polyester, as a material, has higher abrasion resistance than wool and a higher tensile strength. Apples to apples, wool is simply not tougher or stronger or more wear-resistant. When they start replacing nylon and polyester ropes with wool ropes. . . .

Can I find some wool garments that are tougher than some polyester fleece? Sure? There is my Filson, and I have some "boiled wool" German surplus pants that are tough as nails. I have a pair of fleece pants that tear when they "see" brambles. So? Isna' crap crap?

Around fire, wool every time.

Insulation? Dead air = insulation. Thicker layers of dead air = more insulation. Even cotton would work -- until it gets wet, and that brings us to the hyprophobic nature of polyester. It simply absorbs less water than an equal weight of wool and dries MUCH faster. (I do miss that wet-wool stink that I get with my Filson. It brings back so many happy memories of BN/P days. )

Wind resistance? Some wool garments are more wind-resistent than some polyester fleece garments. Again so? I don't think they sell polyester fleece as an outer layer for windy conditions. It needs a wind barrier to keep the air "dead." On the other paw, fleece plus a separate outer wind barrrier give me more options than my Filson. (The REALLY funny stuff is the very pricy fleece jackets with a wind-barrier INSIDE the fleece.)

 

[hollowdweller]

I think wool is heavier.

 

[Bob W]

Wool is very hard to dry if it gets wet/damp. Of course if still insulates even when wet, but dang does it get heavy and stinky...

I'll never trade my wool socks for synthetic though.

-Bob

 

[Eager]

I stopped liking the fleece/synthetic trend a few years ago. I don't like the flammability. Got a Filson Cruiser just like the one I saw my Dad wear all the time since about '65. It's great. I started using wool and non-flammable gloves. All these synthetic gloves that guys are wearing to work in seem like an accident waiting to happen. I see that REI is starting to sell wool under garments. I'll be starting to replace my synthetic under stuff with this type of wool stuff little by little as funds permit. http://www.rei.com/online/store/Search?topStyles=604587%2C626974%2C604590%2C708429%2C729083%2C708430&noalias=1&brand=Smartwool&inc=sm2825_socks.jsi&catalogId=40000008000&topStylesTitle=best+sellers+for+smartwool&langId=-1&showPictures=1&group=1&storeId=8000&vcat=REI_SSHP_MENS_CLOTHING_TOC&brandQuery=SmartWool

 

[Thomas Linton]

I think wool is heavier.

Hey, HD, are you the guy who asked me which was heavier, a pound of feathers or a pound of sand?

 

[jackknife]

Yup. I gotta' Filson that won't wear out. But how many times have you washed you Filson? Threw it in the washing machine did you. Washing machines wear garments. (And I don't mean that you will see your Maytag in a spiffy red fleece pullover. )

(The REALLY funny stuff is the very pricy fleece jackets with a wind-barrier INSIDE the fleece.)

You should never throw a Filson or any quality wool garmet in a washing machine. The only cleaning my Filson coat and Pendelton shirts gets is washed in cold water with Woolite or sent out to the dry cleaners. A cold water rinse once in a while seems like all that is needed for a wool garment. Wool does not seem to get smelly like some of the synthetics.

I just finished reading a very interesting book- "The Brendan Voyage" by Tim Severin, McGraw-Hill book company. The author and some gutsey coherts built a medevil leather skinned boat to sail from the U.K. to North America to prove St. Brendan and other Irish monks could really have beat the Vikings to the new world. They made it, and it was facinating to see the old tech vs new tech on thier sea voyage.

When they left England they had a mix of modern and old style wool clothing. The first half of the voyage was to Iceland by way of the Faero islands. When they got to Iceland to winter over they had found that the wool clothing had been more comfortable and warm than the synthetic stuff. When they set out for the last leg of the voyage to North America via Greenland, they wore nothing but wool. The only compromise was they did have modern waterproof rain suits.

Also the food they had at first was a mix of modern de-hydrated and some old style smoked and dried meats. The modern foods spoiled when accidently wet with sea water, but the medevil style smoked meats kept very well. By the time they got to North America they had been comfortably warm in wool, and well fed with smoked beef and pork.

 

[Thomas Linton]

You should never throw a Filson or any quality wool garmet in a washing machine. The only cleaning my Filson coat and Pendelton shirts gets is washed in cold water with Woolite or sent out to the dry cleaners. A cold water rinse once in a while seems like all that is needed for a wool garment. Wool does not seem to get smelly like some of the synthetics.

The point being that my Filson (and his) miss the wear resulting from being constantly thrown in a clothes washer.

Anyone recall wool-insulated sleeping bags?

Anyone want to compare how well a Hummer would take being dunked in salt water vs. a mule?

 

[Guntotin_fool]

I have skied in some pretty remote places and if care is take, poly and a windblocker layer will keep you amazingly warm when no one else is.

On a mountain in montana we got hit with a snow squall with maybe 50 mph wind and driving snow with sunshine all around us. i had on a layer of poly pro LJ's a layer of 300 weight fleece, and a cordura/ripstop mix layer to block the wind, For 45 minutes I lay down on small piece of sleeping pad and was amazed at how warm I was with no wind to take my warmth away. I had a poly fleece turtle hat and leather gloves, at no time was I uncomfortable, yet when the storm blew out, the three telemarkers who were wearing the fancy wool gear were all chilled to the point of danger. The other two dressed similar to me were much more comfortable. Had we not been there to offer some food and hot drinks to the wool clad bunch, I think we might have lost one or two of them.

While they lay down like we did, the wool was warm enough to melt the snow that was falling and that soaked into their lower layers and without activity to drive the moisture out, they became wet, cold and nearly dead.