# Survival > Survival Kits & Survival Products >  Synthetics vs. good old fashion wool

## Fort fireman

I'm just kind of curious what you guys prefer for cold weather. My experience is mostly from hunting. I've done the thinsulates and gore Tex stuff but I alway seemed to get chilled and cold. Let's face it sooner or later you are going to sweat and that's when I seemed to get cold. Shortly after. A few years back I was in the market for some new cold weather hunting stuff. I was looking at the high dollar stuff with the latest and greatest warm making material. Then I found a set of Columbia wool camo hunting pants and a button down shirt jacket. They had a deal going on that I could get a coat also. I got all 3 pieces for the price of pretty much the coat of the other high dollar stuff. I figured I'd give it a try. I gotta say I LOVED the stuff and still have it. I will admit my experience with a lot of this new stuff is limited and the wool is heavy and not water proof( resistant) but I stay wRmer than I did with the other stuff I had. Maybe it's all in my head , I don't know. So, what do you guys use and prefer?

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## natertot

I tend to like wool, It has the ability to keep you warm even when wet. That is probably why you would still feel warm after sweating.

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## hunter63

I tend to like the tried and true wool offering, as well......But I'm an old guy......wool was the new thing back then....upgrade from raw hides.

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## MrFixIt

> I tend to like the tried and true wool offering, as well......But I'm an old guy......wool was the new thing back then....upgrade from raw hides.


So you were there when the wheel was invented?

Sorry, couldn't resist...

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## hunter63

Yeah....then we figured out that you had to stick around to harvest the grain and hops to make beer.......Voilà...cultivation was born.......and when the wheel was invented....was just a matter of time till NASCAR followed.....

Rednecks and Beer..........

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## Rick

It really depends on the application. I have a newer wool base layer that doesn't itch like pure wool. I love SmartWool socks but I also like capilene and fleece a lot. I'm not real strong on polypro because it can stink pretty quickly. I like Goretex, too.  I have wool blankets in the vehicles and at home for emergencies.

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## Adventure Wolf

Personally I like wool. I don't see the synthetic stuff as authentic.

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## Rick

Authentic? Just wait until blood takes about a week and a half to make it to your fingers and toes. Then let's talk about authentic.

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## Adventure Wolf

> Authentic? Just wait until blood takes about a week and a half to make it to your fingers and toes. Then let's talk about authentic.


Wait til you get your synthetic fibers to close to a fire, then you'll be wishing for my authenticity.

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## hunter63

I have all sorts of different kinda of clothes, coats, LJ, boots, gloves hats....and I guess I am not gonna believe that one thing is better than others every time and every application.

So I will say I prefer the wool in many applications.

There is no right answer, just right now.

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## crashdive123

Depends (the situation, not the undergarment).  When I did a lot of snow skiing I liked the synthetics.  They were lightweight, wicked away water fairly well and allowed the freedom of movement that I needed.  I like the wool and wool blends too for what they do.  In cold weather (not all that frequent anymore) I usually am wearing a combination of synthetics and wool.

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## finallyME

I like wool for snow.  I can stand next to a fire with it.  And, it just feels warmer.  It is also less clammy.  For summer and winter hiking, wool socks.  For skiing, synthetic.

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## randyt

wool for extended living arrangement, synthetics for weekends.

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## Brooks Range

Depends on the usage. For insulation, like a jacket, in cold, damp/wet weather I much prefer synthetic fleece in most situations. It's lighter, soaks up less water, and you can "whip" most of the water out of it quite easily, put it on and be quite comfortable. It does require some type of wind-blocker, either built in or as a shell.

I like wool /synthetic blend socks, like Darn Tough and Smartwool. 

Top quality wool pants are really hard to beat and resist wind much better than many standard synthetics. But for extreme cold insulation, synthetic fleece pants worn under a wind shell work well. 

It's really hard to beat a Smartwool baselayer which I think is more comfortable over a wider temp range than synthetics. But for cold weather, good synthetics like Capilene are also out standing.

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## LowKey

I like things with the synthetic berber fleece in them for liners. I can go most of the winter with a sweatshirt lined with that stuff (and, you know, pants, and boots and gloves too...)

Wool, even the merino and Smartwool stuff, is itchy to me. Can't wear it as a base layer but love it as a secondary, usually over cotton. I have some cheapy wool blanket things in the truck and a really nice wool point blanket for my bed. 

Spun fleece stuff is to staticky.

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## Tokwan

wool....but don't get them wet.

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## RangerXanatos

I love wool. I have 3 italian wool blankets and one from harbour freight. A couple of wool 'undershirts' and wool socks (even the no-show ankle socks). One military wool jacket and another jacket 20% wool. And I want more! 
I have one fleece hoody and sleeping bag and like them both.

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## Adventure Wolf

Outside of camping and survival, my favorite street clothes are made out of leather lined with wool. I have this awesome bomber jacket.

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## TXyakr

Genuine sueded leather outside with wool shearling fleece inside works well (very cheap at thrift store). It is still fairly warm when wet compared to most synthetics or down and leather resists some rain but best to use poncho or rain jacket. Tanning your own is PITA but can be rewarding most hunters and some small farmers throw out hides. Ask them to freeze for you, call and drive over fast to pickup. Just a simple shoulder cover or blanket will convince you of its value. 
Edit. Save the brains for tanning, not just for Zombies.

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## Highhawk1948

I like wool over goose down vests.

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## TXyakr

GoreTex (a very old technology whose patent expired many years ago) has many problems: if you are sweating in a humid environment it will not breath much at all because this feature only works if there is a very large differential between the humidity (moisture from your body, which is continual, sweat or not) and the outside humidity. Therefore a base layer that wicks away body moisture can help a little if there is somewhere for it to wick to, also layering so you reduce sweating, and finally an insulation such as wool or something synthetic like Thinsulate that still provides some insulation even when wet. Here is a link that explains some of these technologies better than I can but this link is very limited, there are many more, also some very cheap competitors to GoreTex from China that I am not sure are any better, could be worse. Best to read up and test it out before you travel very far into the wildereness depending on it.
http://www.denalioutdoor.com/gg_wbbrands2.aspx

I had some friends used $1000 GoreTex fabric dry suits for ww kayaking river that was only about 40F water, air 25-60F, their once dry clothes were drenched in sweat and it got them very cold every time they stopped moving. I was in very light quick dry splash top, quick dry pants, 0.5mm farmer john minimal wet suit, with dry clothes in dry bag. I stayed much warmer and dried off much faster, hiking boots in d-bag. If boat was busted could have made it out of there in a few hours. They would have almost frozen as soon as sun went down as their once dry cloths drenched in sweat got very cold. No such thing as a "dry suit", "dry bag", "breathable fabric" these are all aspirational terms, do NOT imply a guarantee.

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## Rick

I've used Gore-Tex for years and love it. My boots had Gore-Tex liners when we were in Alaska. We rafted several rivers while there and although my boots were full of water I never had cold feet. Courtesy of Gore-Tex and Smartwool.

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## Fort fireman

I do have a couple fleece tops. I like them for a layer but I'm am not in love with the wind stopping ability. I also worry about how good it is when wet. I also have a couple that have small holes in them from sitting by a fire and having an ember land in the. That one is one of those fleece jackets with the nylon shoulders and elbow. It's that nylon that caught a couple embers not the actual fleece though. Like some others have said my stuff really is a combo of wool and the synthetics however I an starting to gravitate toward the wools as I replace stuff.

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## Fort fireman

I don't have any smart wool stuff but I have some "Omni- wool" socks. I guess it's a cheaper version and I love them.

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## dkr

Years ago I was issued wool shirts with my TA-50 gear.  Loved 'em.  Everything issued now-a-days, seems to be man-made.

If weight is an issue, I have to take a pass on the wool.  Still, curling up in a nice thick wool blanket on a cold night while watching the Northern Lights is a lot of fun...

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## Davidlastink

Silk unders, wool thermals, third layer depends. I also use Omni-wool socks can not be beat for the price, they are daily wear around these parts.

Right now its below 0/ single digit wheather.

Layers layers layers.

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## crashdive123

> Silk unders, wool thermals, *third layer depends*. I also use Omni-wool socks can not be beat for the price, they are daily wear around these parts.
> 
> Right now its below 0/ single digit wheather.
> 
> Layers layers layers.


Shouldn't that be the first layer to keep everything else from getting wet? :Whistling:

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## Davidlastink

> Shouldn't that be the first layer to keep everything else from getting wet?


I see what you did there.

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## 46camper

Wool and poly.base layer. Upgrading to merino base layer at some point. Most of my outer layer clothing is wool. Ohio hardly ever gets into the single digits or bellow zero . Although it does once in a while. When it does I use wool as a second layer and the third layer is a nylon/cotton shell jacket pants to stop the wind. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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