[at-l] Silk versus cotton?

[bullard@northnet.org (James Bullard)]

At 05:38 PM 9/3/01 -0500, kahley wrote:
>Then yesterday, I forgot the orange shirt and had to use an old cotton T 
>that I
>keep on board as back up.  When out of the water, I notice that I am warmer in
>the cotton than I have been in the silk.  I did a proper test today and 
>sure enough
>the cotton shirt is warmer when wet than the silk!!!!!
>So what am I getting to here?  Just what is so good about silk as a 
>material for
>hiking?  Unless it's super hot out and you are looking to use the shirt as 
>a refrigerating
>system, I don't get it.  The difference between the wet cotton and the wet 
>silk was
>really huge!  I shivered in the silk, switched to an even wetter cotton 
>and immediately
>felt warmer.  What am I missing here?

And I'm puzzled by the results of your test.  Silk, like wool, is 
considered by most to be warmer when wet than cotton and have a very high 
warmth/weight ratio.  The difference may be that you were swimming in it 
rather than wearing a wet garment in the air.  If the cotton was thicker 
(very likely) it would hold a thicker layer of the water your body had 
already warmed as you moved through the water.  The usual recommendations 
for the use of silk don't include swimming in it.

sAunTerer