Cotton kills

[Toddy]

You know what's very much underrated ?
Hemp.
Good hemp cloth is as fine as fine linen and it's much more productive too. It's still widely grown in Eastern Europe, but America's hate affair with the stuff has influenced much of the western world.
Shame really because it's much better than cotton.

M

 

[Macaroon]

Good hemp really is a comfortable and hard wearing fabric for sure, and you're right, it is a great shame that it was driven out of favour.

As far as the Cotton debate goes, almost any towel I've ever seen has been made of cotton, and that tells me all I need to know as I live in a cold and damp maritime climate.

 

[santaman2000]

....As far as the Cotton debate goes, almost any towel I've ever seen has been made of cotton, and that tells me all I need to know as I live in a cold and damp maritime climate.

Partly true, but that's the terry cotton. The only clothing I know of made from that is a bathrobe; nothing outdoor. Cotton flannel and fleece are just as absorbent though.

 

[Toddy]

My dish towels aren't terry cotton though, they're just plain tabby woven.

M

 

[santaman2000]

My dish towels aren't terry cotton though, they're just plain tabby woven.

M

You're right. I'd forgotten dish towels. Basically flour sack material.

 

[Martti]

Cotton is dangerous, as a base layer. When wet it goes limp, clinging to your skin. Wool will trap air even when wet as the follicle is hollow.

Actually, Finnish tests made during the 1980s have shown that some cotton footwraps keep the feet warmer than some wool socks.

 

[Toddy]

We buy flour in paper bags. To make a sack out of cotton would mean the outside of the flour would end up like jelly here.
I do flour a cotton cloth to boil a dumpling in though….that's how I know the wet cotton makes a jelly layer from the flour
Flour sacks here were made of linen, as they still sell in France.
http://www.beyondfrance.co.uk/acatalog/Vintage_Linen_Grain_and_Flour_Sacks.html

M

 

[santaman2000]

....... What's your relative humidity?

The wee electronic panel in the kitchen that downloads from the outside weather station says 76.

It's good drying weather, I've gotten all the towels out and dried in a couple of hours

M

Yeah, comfortable and relatively normal to slightly dry humidity conditions.

 

[Toddy]

Actually, Finnish tests made during the 1980s have shown that some cotton footwraps keep the feet warmer than some wool socks.

And your usual temperature ? and humidity ?

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/climate/Finland.htm

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/climate/England-and-Scotland.htm

There's a fair old difference there.
Cotton is very comfortable, and warm, but if it gets wet (and that's the default setting here) then it's a real issue at times.

M

 

[Toddy]

Yeah, comfortable and relatively normal to slightly dry humidity conditions.

Son1 was in Hong Kong visiting friends; Jamie was utterly miserable in the humidity there. We're wet, but it's not that sticky unable to sweat and cool down kind of wet usually.

M

 

[Martti]

And your usual temperature ? and humidity ?

The outside humidity was irrelevant in the test as the footwraps were worn inside rubber boots that prevented any moisture to penetrate or escape the boots (i.e. relative humidity was close to 100 %). The tests were performed in a climatic chamber where the temperature was kept at -20 centigrade.

 

[Toddy]

-20 is so rare here that it's not something the majority of the outdoor population will ever encounter.

Basically we get wet. We get cold wet, just not frozen cold wet, iimmc ?

That's why cotton is an issue.

I freely admit I like cotton, I wear cotton, but I'm damned careful of cotton when I'm going to be outdoors in it with no quick way to get warm and dry.

I'm very fond of my waxed cotton jacket, but I lined it with wool. The ventile ones are excellent, but they're cold, and when they get wet they're heavy.
Cotton underwear that's wet with rain or sweat is a misery been there, done that, will avoid if at all possible now. Similarly cotton socks. They just encourage over saturated skin and blisters.
Like wet jeans, even under waterproofs, they're uncomfortable, they chafe and they don't dry quickly even when there's an opportunity to dry off.

M

 

[brancho]

The cotton thing is totally dependent on where you are. Where I live cotton is king. I've never owned or worn anything made of wool. Our winters are mostly above 40 degrees F and sweat is more of a problem than freezing. I wear layered clothes mostly of cotton and carry a poncho to keep dry in case it rains. In East Texas it can be hot as heck on ANY given day of the year. I have gone to the beach in the first week of the year here. The weather was hot and sunny. I'm afraid that I would be in serious trouble in the more northern climates. My idea of a coat is usually a hooded sweat shirt.

Eactly it depends where you are and in some places when.

 

[brancho]

-20 is so rare here that it's not something the majority of the outdoor population will ever encounter.

Basically we get wet. We get cold wet, just not frozen cold wet, iimmc ?

That's why cotton is an issue.

I freely admit I like cotton, I wear cotton, but I'm damned careful of cotton when I'm going to be outdoors in it with no quick way to get warm and dry.

I'm very fond of my waxed cotton jacket, but I lined it with wool. The ventile ones are excellent, but they're cold, and when they get wet they're heavy.
Cotton underwear that's wet with rain or sweat is a misery been there, done that, will avoid if at all possible now. Similarly cotton socks. They just encourage over saturated skin and blisters.
Like wet jeans, even under waterproofs, they're uncomfortable, they chafe and they don't dry quickly even when there's an opportunity to dry off.

M

Yeah you are more likely to get hypethermia at 7 dec C in wet conditions than any other and cotton would hardly help.

 

[santaman2000]

We buy flour in paper bags. To make a sack out of cotton would mean the outside of the flour would end up like jelly here.
I do flour a cotton cloth to boil a dumpling in though….that's how I know the wet cotton makes a jelly layer from the flour
Flour sacks here were made of linen, as they still sell in France.
http://www.beyondfrance.co.uk/acatalog/Vintage_Linen_Grain_and_Flour_Sacks.html

M

Our flour here comes in paper now as well. Has done for a few decades and I can barely remember the old cloth ones. I suppose they might have been linen? What I remember (from my childhood anyway) is that there was always a dish towel of the same material and color sewn onto the bottom hem of the bags.

 

[santaman2000]

The cotton thing is totally dependent on where you are. Where I live cotton is king. I've never owned or worn anything made of wool. Our winters are mostly above 40 degrees F and sweat is more of a problem than freezing. I wear layered clothes mostly of cotton and carry a poncho to keep dry in case it rains. In East Texas it can be hot as heck on ANY given day of the year. I have gone to the beach in the first week of the year here. The weather was hot and sunny. I'm afraid that I would be in serious trouble in the more northern climates. My idea of a coat is usually a hooded sweat shirt.

Yeah. I was stationed in Austin for 3 years back in the early 80s. We did get a few hard freezes though. I remember one in particular that shut down most traffic in the city for a couple of days.

It's slightly warmer and more humid here in Florida with at least a couple of hard freezes a year. That said, the time we lost two Army Rangers to hyperthermia about 20 years ago it was in the upper 40s. They were on a training exercise and had everything against them except their basic health and conditioning. They were two otherwise healthy young men in good physical condition, but they were wet (in the Yellow River Swamp) and the training scenario included sleep deprivation and food deprivation.

 

[Tonyuk]

Partly true, but that's the terry cotton. The only clothing I know of made from that is a bathrobe; nothing outdoor. Cotton flannel and fleece are just as absorbent though.

The old norgie tops were, they were fantastic in the dry cold. Carp for anything else though.

Tonyuk

 

[santaman2000]

The old norgie tops were, they were fantastic in the dry cold. Carp for anything else though.

Tonyuk

They were a terry? I would have thought a cotton fleece. Thanks for the info.

 

[Tonyuk]

They were a terry? I would have thought a cotton fleece. Thanks for the info.

Yep, like wearing one of the green towels issued at the time.

Tonyuk

 

[boatman]

A lot of currach frames were covered with flour sacks because they were free. Of course the hulls were pitched nd some were even covered with one or two layers of flour sacks and layer of brown paper (brown paper was worn under a shirt for warmth in some periods and poverty British areas).