wool vs high tech?

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OliverQueen

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Jul 15, 2005
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Which is better for outdoor survival wool or hightech stuff like TheNorthFace?

What are the pro's and con's of each?

What do you wear or keep with you in the outdoors?
 
OliverQueen said:
Which is better for outdoor survival wool or hightech stuff like TheNorthFace?

What are the pro's and con's of each?

What do you wear or keep with you in the outdoors?
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I don't have anything to add other than I'm interested in some input myself. My Grandad always told us kids to where wool. I have been wearing fleece of late, and haven't had any problems, or complaints.
 
After experimenting since 1998 with the polyfleece from Malden Mills, the polar tech stuff, we've went back to wool.

The wool seemed to be more versitile under varrying conditions. More durable in the long run, and does'nt melt into big holes if a campfire spark hits it. If it warmed up durring the day, the wool seemed to breath better than the polar tech, and a bulky knit wool sweater under a jacket was warmer than a fleece jacket under the same three seasons jacket from Cabelas. Especially if we were stationary watching wildlife with our binoculars.

After all the use we put our fleece wear through, the wife and I came to the conclusion that the only advantages were it was cheaper to buy, easier to wash and wear, and was a bit lighter to pack.

Its interesting to note that even in this day and age of high tech wear, Cabelas is carrying more and more wool clothing for the outdoors person. If you buy something made from either the merino or lambs wool, it avoids alot of the ichy thing some people object to.
 
I love wool. I have the hair in sweaters, caps, coats, vests, pants, gloves, socks, scarves, blankets, even some pajamas.:D

I only like fleece. I have it in pull-overs, coats, caps, vests, pants, gloves, socks, neck warmers, blankets, but no pajamas.:D

I like the insulative qualities and durability of wool better, and especially like the ability to not worry overmuch about a crackling fire. The lone drawback about wool for me is that when it gets wet or saturated, it gets heavier and sometimes never really dries out until a return to civilization.

I have abandoned regular fleece. If it is not windblocker I don't want it. Standard fleece might as well not exist in a stiff breeze. Fleece dries better, especially since I treat all mine with Nikwax, it stretches rather than pulls and retains its shape better, and is always lighter.

I say play with both. I still usually wear a mix. Wool where I want things tough and warm like jacket, pants, socks, and gloves, Fleece where I want some wicking and the garment to dry out, like a hat, base layer, or some thinner gloves.
 
tarmix101 said:
I don't have anything to add other than I'm interested in some input myself. My Grandad always told us kids to where wool. I have been wearing fleece of late, and haven't had any problems, or complaints.
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Your granddad was a smart man. And one factor that may have been a contributing factor was his age. I forgot to add it in my original post, but our age may be a factor. My wife and I are both in our 60's, and it seems like we feel the cold more now. The fleece never felt that toasty warm feel we get from a nice think wool sweater. Is it an age thing? I don't know.

We like to go out in the winter woods walking about, and finding a nice spot to sit quiet with our binoculars to see what we can see. We'd wear the polypro long johns, fleece stuff, then our outer layer. We both have the Cabelas three season jacket with the gortex lining. After a while we would be cold and have to move about. But last winter when we broke out our old wool shirts and sweaters and layered them under our jackets, we were noticable warmer, especially on damp cold days. Doufold wool long johns, Woolrich Alaskan shirts, a wool sweater and our jackets. Pants were always wrangler jeans. Sometimes we would have to unzip and vent just sitting there. We could stay still longer on a cold day with the same numbers of wool layers than an equal number of fleece layers.

I know its not very scientific, but we just felt warmer with wool.
 
A nice thick wool sweater is great, but for serious back country/survival, I am all for synthetics like polarfleece, with one exception: it is not as fireproof as wool. When I worked for Alcan Aluminum, we had to wear wool pants and jacket in the areas where there was molten aluminum, because a splash of molten metal would just fizzle and fall off against wool, whereas it would melt through synthetics. But Polarfleece and its cousins are generally lighter, warmer, dry faster when wet and retain higher insulation properties when wet. They also conduct body moisture more efficiently, which means you don't get all sweaty, which leads to reducing the insulation properties of what you're wearing. A good windbreaker is essential, I agree.
 
I like wool for field use as it is tougher than the synthetics when it rubs agains briars and so forth. Fire also is an issue. I wear the synthetics layered beneath the wool. Just recently started wearing wool pants for cold days hunting. I like them.
 
jackknife said:
Your granddad was a smart man. And one factor that may have been a contributing factor was his age. I forgot to add it in my original post, but our age may be a factor. My wife and I are both in our 60's, and it seems like we feel the cold more now. The fleece never felt that toasty warm feel we get from a nice think wool sweater. Is it an age thing? I don't know.

We like to go out in the winter woods walking about, and finding a nice spot to sit quiet with our binoculars to see what we can see. We'd wear the polypro long johns, fleece stuff, then our outer layer. We both have the Cabelas three season jacket with the gortex lining. After a while we would be cold and have to move about. But last winter when we broke out our old wool shirts and sweaters and layered them under our jackets, we were noticable warmer, especially on damp cold days. Doufold wool long johns, Woolrich Alaskan shirts, a wool sweater and our jackets. Pants were always wrangler jeans. Sometimes we would have to unzip and vent just sitting there. We could stay still longer on a cold day with the same numbers of wool layers than an equal number of fleece layers.

I know its not very scientific, but we just felt warmer with wool.
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I don't understand all that analytical science crap anyway. Thanks for the info:thumbup:
 
Like most of you I wear both at times. I like to timeless look of wool and the no-melt factor. There are nomex fleeces that are fire resistant but they are expensive.
 
Nothing I know of can match the properties of wool, warmth for thickness, warmth even while wet, and breathability, but it dosnt cut the wind so a good shell would be a good addition somthing with a membrane like Gore-tex for breathability and you have a great combo!
 
Normal use, you can't beat wool.

The only time when the man made stuff really comes into it's own is when you go technical like climbing, ultralight or competition.

singteck
 
They both have certian advantages but overall I think and use fleece now almost exclusively everywhere except my feet. I still like a mix of mostly wool with some rayon for strength in my socks.

Reasons. Wool acts like a sponge and can hold tremendous amounts of water. Fleece will not really absorb water and liberates it freely. Out of all the natural fibers wool holds around 50% of its insulating capability when wet which compared to something like cotton is spectacular. Fleece does much better. Fleece's primary shortcoming is around fire. I used to do and still do once in a while camping in well below 0 degree weather as I am sure other here do. Like I said I have switched almost entirely to fleece except on my feet. It is warm, comfortable, and holds very little water if it gets wet.

Just my $.02,
KR
 
In Vermont, where the folks know about cold,
and about sporting activities in the cold,
wool is generally presented in the outdoors and
sporting shops as the best insulator for warmth.
 
Fleece is like synthetic wool....but if you ever plan on working near an open flame...it'd be a good idea to make sure your warm layers are wool and not synthetic fiber. I like wool - though I also have a light windproof fleece underlayer vest that I am highly fond of...as well as a few other fleece jackets (one being the TNF Denali that is a pretty good 40-50 degree calm/dry day layer).

Boiled wool though....hard to beat. Warm - even when wet, quiet in the wood - even when caked with ice, but it can be heavy and bulky. That all said, since I am often working over camp stoves and the like, I'm generally found with a "get strong" and lug my heavier-but-fire-resistant-and-tough-as-nails garments attitude...than a strut-in-my-go-faster-and-burn-to-my-skin-hi-techno-fleecy-thing attitude. :)

The conditions that fleece does edge out wool, in my opinion, is the "wet cold" temps between 30 - 40 or so degrees. As was said above, it is lighter and does a better job keeping you warm when it is wet. It also works well under a waterproof barrier layer (less bulky) and the new wind/waterproof fleece shells especially shine here. If you have spend uninterrupted days in the winter backwoods when it is at/near freezing you soon really come to appreciate that nothing is fun about sitting in wet wool (or anything) for hours on end...often at times like this the only thing you wish for is for it to get COLDER so the liquid around you would freeze so you could dry out & stay dry. Anyway...just be sure you have a nice pair of leather/wool gloves on instead of fleece/poly when you light up your stove to dry out.

Your call. ;)
 
I own a lot of both synthetics and wool that I use almost daily when bike commuting in the winter. The performance is pretty close on both in my experience. However, I personally choose wool for 2 reasons beside the obvious fire resistance:

1. the stank factor, wool is naturally antimicrobial and stays that way for the life of the garment, synthetics are quite the opposite and smell way worse with wear

2. The "flash over" effect. Wool is hydrophobic and it pulls moisture into the fibers where it can evaporate slowly with the aid of body temperature. Most synthetics on the other hand are hydrophobic and any moisture your body produces stays on the surface of the fibers and you feel wetter and as a result colder. This is most apparent when you are exerting yourself and then stop, with synthetics you get a flash of cold as the moisture on the surface of the fibers rapidly evaporates, where wool feels much warmer and drier.
 
I don't really have a good scientific answer, but I am tending towards (as a mattter of preference) traditional stuff/gear. I guess I'd say I like the romance of using old things.

I also tend to move through my local wood quietly, and I see a lot doing so. Wool is quiet non reflective stuff.... :D

Clint Hollingworth
The Wandering Ones webcomic
http://www.wanderingones.com
 
I wear wool, pants and coats. I even have a pair of wool pants for my wife should they ever be needed. She doesn't even know about them. Part of the winter survival stuff.
 
Sooooo what I'm gathering is... wool is the way to go;) Costs more... but seems to be worth it huh?
 
The petros don't breath as well, despite the extensive marketing. More and more, I'm moving back to the wool for outdoor activities, but I do like the comfort of the fleece for relaxing when cooled-off.

Brian
 
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