Cotton (was) RE: [at-l] Re: Voodoo Science.

[nealb@midlandstech.com (William Neal)]

Cotton does not kill.  It is the choice of cotton vs. the climate that
kills.

Cotton being a natural fiber SOAKS up moisture, but it does not release it
quickly.  Thus in a cool to cold climate, it can bring on hypothermia.  In a
hot, dry climate a wet cotton t-shirt feels great; especially if there is a
mild breeze blowing.  I had a cotton T with me and often wore it on hot days
with fairly clear skies.  Then at the nearest water, I would either soak
myself or the T.  It felt GREAT while the T remained wet.  But if it is hot
and HUMID, it can add to your body's heat and bring on heat "sickness"
problems.  And this is seems to be true of all "natural" fibers when it is
hot or cold.

Synthetics seem to melt and burn in a fire.  And they may be harder to put
out.  Though I think most clothing manufactures use fairly safe synthetics.
Probably dropping and rolling will snuff the flames.  And if you do it
quickly, you should not have too many problems with the cloth melting into
your skin.



-----Original Message-----
From: W F Thorneloe [mailto:thornel@attglobal.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2002 1:28 PM
To: greyowl@rcn.com
Cc: at-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [at-l] Re: Voodoo Science.


VooDoo Science is definitely around. The issue regarding cotton kills
involves observations by many first responders and ER's that folks with
hypothermia are very likely to have cotton undies on, and not too rarely
other cotton clothing. I am unsure of the type of scientific proof
required, but clinical observation and experience demonstrates the problem.
Of course, if the population sample is folks with burning clothing rather
than hypothermia exposure, synthetic clothing really would have problems.

OrangeBug

At 11:42 AM 12/10/02 -0500, greyowl@rcn.com wrote:
>There is unfortunately a lot of VooDoo Science in the world.  The most
>common cry of the hiker is that cotton kills.  It has never been
>scientifically proven, but the high tech sports wear is fly off of the
>shelves.  I think that we can truthfully say that more people have died
>wearing synthetic clothing than cotton.