[at-l] The perils of cotton

[spiriteagle99@hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

Amy wrote:
>I'm sitting here wondering how deadly my long underwear is.
>


Amy -
Cotton and wool have been used as insulation for more than a few centuries.  
There are those who have died - and many who lived because they were wearing 
them.  I used them when I was younger -  I still use them for specific 
purposes.  For example, cotton T-shirts are great in the desert.

Are they dangerous?  Hmmm - ask those who run the Search and Rescue crews.  
There's no automatic "if you use cotton you'll die", but a high percentage 
of the people they haul out of the woods with hypothermia and frostbite use 
cotton rather than wool or synthetics in extreme weather.  For some people 
cotton works - for others it doesn't.

The synthetics are better performance-wise than cotton - and in the same 
performance range as wool, but lighter.  And sometimes cheaper unless you're 
buying the latest, greatest super-duper top-of-the-line stuff.  The older 
synthetics had "stink" problems - the newer ones don't if you care for them 
to the same degree you'd care for cotton or wool.

Now - for Maryland, Pennsylvania -- the Mid-Atlantic states - I don't wear 
cotton, but I don't see that it would "kill" either.  But personally, I 
wouldn't start a thruhike or a long distance hike with it - for comfort's 
sake as well as safety.

Bottom line is that you're the one who has to make the decision - and live 
with the consequences.  The good news is that Neels Gap still gives you a 
place to change gear if you're not happy with what you started with.  I was 
very happy to not need their services when I went through there, but there 
were a lot of others were very happy to give them money to "fix" various 
problems.  Better to "fix" problems before starting than after.

For what it's worth - there's a sale at REI starting Friday, Jan 11.  And 
there's a friendly REI near you - in this case, in College Park.

Weary is right, by the way - this is usually a "bag of worms", high-volume 
discussion.  And, in some places, viewed as flame-bait.  But I hope we can 
avoid that here.

Walk softly,
Jim

_________________________________________________________________
Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. 
http://www.hotmail.com