There are all sorts of reasons to love wool. It keeps you warm when it’s cold, cool when it’s hot. It’s a strong, resilient fabric that resists wrinkling and snags. It’s resistant to flame and doesn’t melt. It will insulate even when wet (something a down garment won’t do), and wicks away moisture, and dries out fairly quickly. (Not as quickly as a lot of synthetics, but much, much faster than cotton.) It’s non-allergenic and doesn’t promote the growth of bacteria, ie, it doesn’t get stinky.
What’s even better than regular old wool is merino wool.
I was willing to investigate the petro chemical industry’s hype and frankly, I’m sorry I wasted my money. I am a firm believer that Nature had it right all along. I will happily pay an equivalent amount of money or more to wear something that grew in the mountains of New Zealand rather than something that was pumped out of Saudi Arabian soil.
Sure, synthetic base layers wick away moisture, but after a while those base layers started to stink. I engage in strenuous physical activities, and hours and hours of sweating made those shirts reek. I was mortified by how bad they smelled. I could wash them all I liked; as soon as I started hauling ass, my body heat would make that same, only ever compounding stench, recur, like some monster that refuses to die in a horror movie. Companies making this stuff came up with all sorts of voodoo to counter the ungodly funk inherent in synthetic clothes. Their marketing hype tries to convince the consumer that their creations are superior to what Nature is offering us. Silver ions and amino acids now, and I’m sure all sorts of other technologies will be unfurled in future to cut down on the nasty funky odor that are the unpleasant side effect of synthetic clothing. It’s a whole lot of smoke and mirrors to try and convince us that they’ve reinvented the wheel.
I gave up on synthetics and went with the miraculous alternative – merino wool. Sure, it may be more expensive, but amortize the cost over time and it isn’t so bad. And given that inferior choices like cotton, can quite literally contribute to your death under certain circumstances, I think it’s well worth it.
Let me cite some examples of why I think it’s so great.
I went on a week long canoeing trip a few years ago. I wore the same few merino wool shirts all week. I paddled hard for hours every day. They remained quite dry and kept me comfortable whether the sun was shining or the wind was howling. And at the end of the week they didn’t reek like a wino’s ass crack. There were numerous times where I was up to my waist in water, clearing blockages, sawing out fallen trees, pulling canoes over beaver dams, roping canoes through flats, etc. Two or three hours later, my long johns were dry. Not dampish – dry. I could sleep in them. And at the end of the week they didn’t cause me to recoil in disgust, like a pair of polypropylene long johns would have. I could sit around the fire at night and not have to worry that an ember was going to melt a huge hole in my merino wool sweater. I’ve got more than a few fleece jackets that have had oddly placed ventilation holes involuntarily added to it.
Another example from a recent canoe trip. One day we got up at 04:00. I got out of my hammock wearing two merino wool shirts - a short sleeve and a long sleeve T-shirt. Packed up and loaded the boat. Paddled across a misty lake, at or slightly below freezing air temps. Did an 800 meter portage (covering the distance 3 times) carrying all of our personal kit, the boats and a whack of camera gear. On the other side we paddled the whole day, in steadily rising temps, both with no wind and sunny and windy and overcast. Activity ranged from coasting and taking pics to paddling furiously into headwinds. We did another portage, this time about 2300 meters, then more paddling. I can honestly say that those two shirts kept me remarkably even, comfort wise. At no point was I too warm or too cold. Just right at all times. While my friend was constantly stripping off layers, or adding them, (either thermal or wind protective) or changing out of sweat drenched shirts into dry ones, my next to skin shirt was only mildly damp below where my ruck had sat, and then only for a relatively short while. They kept me at an almost eerily perfect temperature. Only when we finally made camp, and at about 21:00 did I don a thicker (wool) sweater.
Some examples of what is out there.
Of all the merino wool I own, this is the nicest. Certainly in terms of fit, and the quality has been superb too. Sadly, while the wool may come from New Zealand, they, like so many others, have the actual product manufactured in China. The colour choices are a bit limited though. Predominantly the colour choice is black, and I wish they offered some more earth tone colours
A bit looser fit than Icebreaker, but certainly nothing wrong with it.
MissionPac were good to deal with and their prices, shipped to me in Canada were very reasonable. I got the zip neck polo, a neck gaiter, a balaclava and a beanie. From Australia to Canada cost $175. I thought this was a great value since a mid weight merino piece of comparable quality would cost me that much or more in a store here.
Very nice colour, very soft and very warm. I wore the beanie out hiking when it was -19˚ and had to take it off after a while since my head was too hot. And this from a garment about the thickness of cotton T-shirt material. The polo fits me like a glove, and is plenty long for even a galoot like me. All of it together compacts down very nicely to fit in my day pack. A bit thicker than perhaps an average NTS/base layer garment would probably be considered. Maybe about 260/300 gram versus say the 150/200 gram that is usually used for a T-shirt/underwear type of garment. I personally would happily wear it NTS. I got the balaclava with the idea of putting it in my day pack so that if I have to spend an unplanned night out, I can keep my head warm. It’s not really something I would wear that often to be honest. But I find the cut of it a bit restricting. Perhaps by big noggin may play a part too in all fairness. Someone with a smaller head may not be bothered by it at all. It squashes my nose when I'm wearing it, and I like balaclavas that I can pull the bottom part down to expose my whole face, or pull the top back and pull the whole thing down around my neck to cool off. On the whole the MissionPac balaclava doesn’t really allow for that. For my intended, not very often wearing, not that big a deal.
I also got some of the Woolrich merino underwear, coyote brown in colour. (long johns, long sleeve and short sleeve shirts – not offered any more.) For me it’s always a matter of do I get the medium for the girth and have it be too short or the extra large for the length and have it be too wide. Well I opted for the latter and the stuff is absurdly oversized. I felt like a toddler playing dress up in his big burly dads clothes. I think the waist on the pants was 54" if I remember correctly, and the shirts one could cultivate one hell of a beer gut in. Ran it all through the serger to make it fit better. Still kinda floppy though. Definitely not the snug fit I get with the MissionPac or Icebreaker stuff.
I have two orange short sleeved shirts, some boxer briefs and long johns. Happy with all of it. And nice surprise – it’s actually made in Canada. Imagine that.
Can’t remember what it’s called (believe it was the Regent) but I also have a wool cardigan/zip sweater from the dirty bird. They don’t make it any more, but I’m really glad I got it. Sweet piece of insulation.
As far as I know, they don’t do anything more than socks. Tried a bunch from both, and nothing but satisfied.
All the above I have personal experience. The ones below I just hope to have some experience with one of these days.
This is one company I’m itching (something merino doesn’t induce :-Þ) to get some garments from. That Scout Vest looks like the hotness. Lots of variety and colour choices.
Another company I’m anxious to try out. Like that they offer olive drab as a colour.
I'll never deal with them again, but their stuff is well regarded.
Seem very geared towards skiing/mountaineering.
For those into more staid designs. (I love Orvis’ stuff, but sweet jeebus, can we upgrade the designs from the ones they started with in the 1890’s, please?)
Venerable hunting/fishing outfitter, who even offer stuff in camo. They have some other wool clothing, not just in merino.
For those who want something brighter and more colourful.
Small selection of stuff, but I've read nothing but good reviews of their clothes.
I like that they have a sweater vest and a hoodie.
New to me, but folks in the know have good things to say about them.
Seem a bit more every day fashion oriented, and not much in the way of colour choice.
Appears it can only be purchased by agencies, not individual civilians. I like the look of it though.
Merino blankets, that come in a variety of colours. Based in England, but the prices are reasonable.
If anyone knows of any other manufacturers, please feel free to pipe up and I will add it to the list.
As for care, Woolite (no fragrances or brighteners), in cold water on gentle cycle. One suggestion is to get some lingerie bags from a place like Bed, Bath + Beyond to protect it in the washer. Hang to dry. Very simple, just keep out of the dryer! I usually hand wash my wool stuff in baby shampoo.
Another interesting thing about wool is that it can be dyed. Very light coloured wool obviously.
But interestingly, Kool-Aid will also work well as a dye.
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I have several items from Ibex and it is fantastic stuff. The best out of the stuff I've tried, which includes Icebreaker and Smartwool. It certainly seems to wear better and use better yarns. Look at the Zepher shirts and the Shak sweaters. I have put those things through hell and they keep coming back for more. I also put them in the dryer. Admittedly, not every time, but dozens of times by now. Low heat only, of course. Also, for detergents, go to Wal-Mart (yes, yes I know), head to the camping section and pick up a bottle of Atsko Sport-Wash. 18 loads for less than 5 bucks, it leaves no residues behind and works great for all technical fabrics, including down. I've been using it for years. Half the cost of pretty much all the other technical fabric detergents and works just as well if not better.
ReplyDeleteGreat! Thanks for your recommendations.
ReplyDeleteYou should check out Woolpower, all made in Sweden! They used to be just the hardcore heavyweight stuff for Swedish winter but now also started to make lighter gauge layers ala Smartwool.
ReplyDeleteYeah, WoolPower is Ulfrotte. I “think” it may have to do with one name for Europe, one name for other parts of the world.
ReplyDelete