Hi,  My name is Bill and I wear cotton. I wear cotton every day working outside yearround.  I am working toward lighting my load and reading about ultralite gear the one constant is NO COTTON.  It seems that I have been very lucky all these years  hiking in cotton jeans and a nice thin cotton shirt to keep the sun and bugs off.  Are the new fabrics comfortable going up a steep pitch above timberline in the sun?  Are they worth three times the money and do you wear them around the house?  Will they keep me both warm and cool?  I guess I would like to hear from people that have these and get some feedback, such as what have you tried and what do you like.  Or do you wear cotton too?
Bill

I would never wear cotton backpacking, period.  Having said that, I'm still trying to find some non-cotton pants for day hiking.  Or even, perhaps some loose, lightweight, light-colored (tan?) cotton pants.  All I have are blue-jeans which make me feel so heavy & sluggish on a hot day and downright miserable on a wet day.  And with anything cotton, I'm going to need rainpants to go over them to keep the wet brush off my legs.  Being a cheapskate, I've been searching the goodwills & such.  It's taken us years to build up a good supply of synthetics for month-at-a-time backpacking.trips.  I keep those packed away for backpacking trips, so I need to start a good collection for day trips & biking.  All I keep finding are those brightly colored pants with the cotton linings, the ones with the elastic ankles, but I don't think any of those are waterproof, so they'll soak up the water like jeans.  What are those anyway, ski pants?  They're so abundant at the thrift stores, but is there any way to tell if the pants are waterproof? 

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And the Lord said, "Escape to the mountains." Gen. 19:17.

Cotton tends to get wet, once it get's wet it doesn't dry easily, when it's wet, it actually makes you colder than if you wore nothing.  It absorbs a lot of water and gets heavy.

In mild weather it doesn't make that much difference, but if it gets cold and windy it can be a problem.

You can buy fancy stuff at REI for three times the money, but you can also find clothes that are made of polyester or nylon for about the same price.  Look at any clothing place like Target or a thrift store for used stuff if you're really cheap (like me : ).  Or GI Joe's.  Or on sale at REI.

My daughter developed hypothermia hiking in wet blue jeans. This at about 60 degrees. It wasn't raining, but it had been and the trail ran through very wet tall grass and brush. She kept quiet about it until her teeth started chattering. At that point we stopped, set up the tent in a hurry, removed her wet clothing and bundled her into a sleeping bag with lots of hot cocoa. She was already at the stage where she couldn't have helped herself! (Why was she wearing jeans? Desire of stupid teenager to be fashionable, of course, and even stupider Mom [me] for letting her do it!)

What is the last thing in the dryer to get dry? Blue jeans, of course. And if you want to go lightweight? My nylon hiking pants weigh 6.4 oz., my jeans weigh 26.6 oz.

Most hiking clubs will not let you come on their hikes if you show up wearing cotton. It is just too dangerous and exposes them to liability.

Spending $$$ on the clothing (and, IMHO, most of the other stuff) that REI carries is silly. Thrift stores, the sports sections of places like Target, KMart, Wallyworld , military surplus stores are all great places to look for synthetic clothing at reasonable prices. Just be sure to check the fabric tags to make sure an item doesn't contain cotton or rayon. A lot of them will be a lot cheaper than jeans, which certainly aren't cheap these days. Nylon track pants are always good, although you may want to add some pockets.

You don't want waterproof pants for normal hiking wear (unless it's pouring or you're going through wet brush or in snow). You'll roast in those! Nylon, though, will dry in 15-20 minutes, even if the humidity is high.

The one thing you may not find in big box and thrift stores are those convertible pants where you zip off the pant legs to make them into shorts. I never wear shorts (sensitive to the sun, have knee surgery scars and varicose veins which make my legs better hidden), so I'd rather have just plain long pants. However, the convertible pants are handy if you know you're going to have to make some knee-deep fords. They run about $60 at REI, but you can order them from Campmor (www.campmor.com) for $30. Their stuff is really high quality (I have some). You'll pay more than that for most pairs of jeans.

I hike in a pair of lightweight nylon slacks I got from Sun Precautions in 2000. (I'm sun sensitive so prefer their clothing for outdoor wear, although it's very pricey.) They are very comfortable in all kinds of weather, even really hot. They are still going strong after 8 years. I did have to sew up a rip from when I sat on a log that looked solid but which collapsed into slivers when I sat on it. Otherwise they still look like new. I defy any pair of jeans to last that long!

For sun-sensitive people, cotton does very little to screen you from UV rays until it has been washed about 20 times (it's the detergent residue building up in the cotton fabric that screens out the rays). Supplex nylon generally has a UPF factor of 20-30, depending on the fabric treatment.

The one time you might want cotton clothing is for hiking in very hot desert conditions (like the Grand Canyon in summer). You can soak the stuff with water every hour or two and stay cool, specifically because it is slow to dry.

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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey

Call me crazy but I always wear cotton...have for thirty years....won't stop now.  I do always have protective clothing  along if the weather goes south to keep from getting wet. Maybe equally important are questions like are you prepared to deal with the elements or can you start a fire in the drivng rain or can you build a shelter to protect yourself...

40-50 years ago, cotton was all that was available. I well remember standing in front of the campfire, turning every few minutes, for 2-3 hours to dry out my wet jeans and boots before going to bed. Even with waterproof gear, you can still get wet. Of course back then there was no breathable gear, so unless it was really cold, you could get wetter from sweating than you would from the rain and wet grass/brush outside. Fortunately, in the high Rocky Mountains where I spent my summers in those days, sweating inside rain gear was generally not a problem. It has always been an issue in the Cascades or back east, though.

Nowadays, campfires are often prohibited (especially in the alpine areas that I love to frequent), so that option for coping with cotton is no longer available in many locations.

With the quick-drying and far lighter synthetic fabrics available these days, for no higher a price than cotton (note that cotton items at REI are equally high-priced!), I'd never go back to cotton for outdoor wear. I far prefer natural fabrics for home use, but when I'm out in the woods/mountains, I want something that doesn't become twice as heavy when it gets wet and that will dry in a hurry without benefit of a fire. Even with good rain gear, if you slip while fording a stream (like our opaque glacial streams on Mt. Hood, where you can hear the rocks being moved by the current), you are going to get very wet!

sschrock, you are completely correct that skills are even more important than gear! However, skills plus gear are what will pull you through in the worst situations--each by itself is not always enough.

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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey

In summer I always wear cotton. Old T-shirts and jeans with the legs ripped off or whatever. A cotton T-shirt does feel a bit cold after you take your pack off when your back is soaked, but otherwise it's really comfortable, and early in the morning you don't feel as cold as with synthetics.

If you wear more than one layer though, cotton is miserable. It soaks up sweat like a sponge, it takes days to dry and it feels terrible. Synthetics are far better at layering and keeping you dry.

The trouble with synthetics is that when they're cheap they're really bad, and when they're good they're very expensive. $1,500 will get you just enough Arcteryx gear to hike comfortably down to around 30 deg. F. But it's so well made you could stand in front of a fire hose all day in it and stay dry. Try it on before you buy: cheap synthetics feel clammy like you're wearing a trash bag. In winter I like Capilene as a first layer. It's relatively  inexpensive and it works well.

Also, be aware that synthetics, uh, retain odors. Big time.

There is always wool. It works great at keeping you dry, and it's natural. A lot of people overlook it in favor of synthetics, but folks used to climb Mt. Everest in woolen clothing. Merino wool makes a good first layer, it's very comfortable and not scratchy. It's heavier than synthetics, but it doesn't smell nearly as bad, it performs better than most entry-level synthetics, and you can find it all over the place.

We live in a wet world filled with water, H20 or should I write it as HOH. It has a high affinity to forming hydrogen bonds with other OH groups which are abundant on cellulose-otherwise known as COTTON! This is a manifestation of the term "like dissolves like". The polar water molecules congregate in your polar water friendly fabric- COTTON. Mr sschrock, cotton may feel good , but it is a water sponge and will add weight and lower your body temp very rapidly.

You know when you go to the gas station and there is the typical puddle of water with the repellant rainbow layer of "gas" on top. That is because hydrocarbons( the upper layer) are non polar and will not dissolve in the polar water lower layer.    Polypro and other synthetic clothing fiber material have a hydrocarbon outer layer that will repel water. In these modern days, the manufacturing is so good that  the hydrocarbon synthetic fibers feel just as a good as cotton on your delicate skin.

If you are cold and frozen with icy cold wet cotton jeans and  sweatshirt, you will not have the dexterity to start a fire nor the mental capacity to make serious decisions.

 If I have a water repellent layer like our friend the duck,  I am still warm inside and can carefully gather wood and start the fire for my poor suffering friends who are about to die of hypothermia.

Please be cautious,  dont go hiking in jeans,  it could be a disaster!

-your friend the chemist, CFM

 

 

I was at the columbia sportswear outlet in LO the other day and they had nylon pants for 24 bucks. Have not hiked in them yet but couldn't pass up the deal. There was a lot of lightweight nylon outer wear on sale ther for cheap. And what everybody else said about cotton, strue. Whatever you may do, NEVER wear cotton socks.

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Everybodys got somthing to hide......Except for me and my monkey!

Shorts, t-shirt and snowshoes this weekend.

And then probably back to all that depressing waterproof and chill fighting stuff next week.

I've come up with a compromise for backpacking.  Nothing but synthetics during the day.  Nothing but cotton at night (lightweight, loose sweatpants, not heavy, tight jeans).  That way I have the comfort & warmth I need at night.  The #1 rule for this method is NEVER under any circumstance wear night clothes during the day.  No matter how much I may be tempted.  I'm a 4 season hiker, but a 1 season backpacker so serious cold is seldom a problem.  If it rains, I put on more layers of nylon, get out the umbrella, and keep moving.  The worse scenario would be to pitch the tent at night and have no dry clothes to change into.

I used to think, like so many people, that if I get wet, we'll just build a fire and dry out our clothes.  But after spending a few hours one evening with my jeans hung over the fire, then going to bed with them still wet, I learned how naive that "solution" really is.  As long as I have "nothin but nylon" during the day, and warm, dry clothes (in a waterproof bag) for sleeping, then I don't have to worry about my fire building skills.

I emphatically stressed this method to our fellow hikers on a trip once, but there was one lady who wore her night clothes during the day.  After a few days, she fell in a creek while crossing.  They were a cotton blend and she had nothing to change into.  Fortunately we were near a supply drop so she bailed out with our suppliers.

We take both umbrellas and rain clothes.  There's times when one works better than the other.  GI Joes has super light-weight, wind proof umbrellas that are pretty cool.

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And the Lord said, "Escape to the mountains." Gen. 19:17.

I don't carry any cotton when hiking/backpacking/climbing.  I also don't typically carry separate night clothes...I'll typically wear the clothes I plan to wear the next day so I'm not packing extra weight. 

In response to the bringing cotton sweats for wearing at night...why not bring lightweight fleece pants?  They are lighter and will resist moisture better than cotton and dry much quicker if you spill dinner on them.

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"It appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds." -Doc Holiday (Val Kilmer) in Tombstone

If I ever find some cheap fleece pants at a thrift store, etc. I'll get them.  I wear a fleece jacket to bed, and on cold nights, I zip up in a fleece sleeping bag liner.

All you warm sleepers (usually men) can get away with wearing the same thing to bed that you hike in.  I've tried that and I freeze.

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And the Lord said, "Escape to the mountains." Gen. 19:17.

Navigator:

If I ever find some cheap fleece pants at a thrift store, etc. I'll get them.  I wear a fleece jacket to bed, and on cold nights, I zip up in a fleece sleeping bag liner.

All you warm sleepers (usually men) can get away with wearing the same thing to bed that you hike in.  I've tried that and I freeze.

Sounds like you probably need a sleeping bag with a lower temperature rating...that will eliminate the need for the weight and bulk of the fleece liner and you'll sleep more comfortably.  Also, if you don't already, boil a liter of water before bed and pour it in a Nalgene bottle and put the bottle in your bag.  It will give several hours of great warmth.  I throw a bag of tea in there so I have warm tea when I wake up in the morning.

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"It appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds." -Doc Holiday (Val Kilmer) in Tombstone

I'll have to try the boiled water.

My bag is already rated at zero degrees.  Can't afford much more.  But "there's COLD in them thar hills!"

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And the Lord said, "Escape to the mountains." Gen. 19:17.