Thread: Blowing wet wools weigh myth out of the water

Originally Posted by No.3

What was the relative thickness of the wollen material vs the fleece? Fleece is usually a lot finer and more dense material than the wool which is usually a coarser fiber. I had an old ex military swandri product that was about 6kg dry - warm as all hell but I'd hate to have to swim in it.

If you mean the Military DPM pattern wool jacket..... There's a reason they're so hard to find. They were possibly the worst made woolen product ever produced in NZ. You could almost push a pen through the weave of the wool
Not that our popular woolen brand is as densely woven as it used to be these days either.

Originally Posted by rugerman

One possible fly in the ointment could be that the Synthetic material might be multilayered, so has more surface area to hold onto the water so will be heavier when wet, and be slower drying as more surface area is holding the water

I hear you, and that wouldn't be a fair comparison. Definitely not a layered fleece. 350gsm single layer fleece.

Great experiment NIMROD, colour me surprised.

This is purely anecdotal of course, but the difference for me is when wearing wet woollen clothes I feel like a drowned rat. Like there's no denying that you're absolutely soaked. But for whatever reason when I'm wearing wet fleece clothes, I often don't feel wet at all. Perhaps there's something to be said for the drying/wicking properties of wool vs fleece when you add a heat source (i.e. your body heat)?

Originally Posted by Husky1600#2

One so called advantage with fleece is you can spin it around and around and get rid of a heap of excess water, or just ring it out and then put it back on. That might be a myth too.

That you can definitely do.and from soaking wet.polatfleece will let water drop down to bottom of fabric reasonably quickly so the top dries quickly. Loved my old swannie but fleece dried much faster.

Originally Posted by Roarless20

Great experiment.
Not the resulting expected.
Wool doesn't smell as quick either!
I wear wool baselayers now days after years of technical synthetic. Just the smell difference is worth it.

Word is Sir Peter Blake used a merino top for 6 months without washing it.

Originally Posted by NIMROD

If you mean the Military DPM pattern wool jacket..... There's a reason they're so hard to find. They were possibly the worst made woolen product ever produced in NZ. You could almost push a pen through the weave of the wool
Not that our popular woolen brand is as densely woven as it used to be these days either.

No, not those although I used to have one of them as well. They were "summer weight" in comparison to the thick layered one. The thicker one was almost waterproof for anything up to moderate rain - the water just tended to bead up and run off leaving the top layer only feeling a little damp. Really tight weave.

Good comparison.
Another advantage of wool, it doesn't build up static electricity. Which is also bad for you.

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Good comparison.
Another advantage of wool, it doesn't build up static electricity. Which is also bad for you.

Or go on fire, the early synthetic stuff was terrible, hopefully it's improved cause I witnessed an incident that could have been fatal . . .

Thanks Nimrod for an awesome ecperiment and helping me feel less bad about the number of accumulating hunting tops in both fleece and wool. Found both effective but have to say the wool is better when wet at keeping me warm

Just got 3x MKM active singlelets today. Looking forward to combo with the Swandri this month

Originally Posted by Snoppernator

Thanks Nimrod for an awesome ecperiment and helping me feel less bad about the number of accumulating hunting tops in both fleece and wool. Found both effective but have to say the wool is better when wet at keeping me warm

Just got 3x MKM active singlelets today. Looking forward to combo with the Swandri this month

I would say MKM just got an influx of orders after this and one of the other threads, just got the hoodie and a couply singlets

Originally Posted by TeRei

Word is Sir Peter Blake used a merino top for 6 months without washing it.

That’s nothing. I used to wear my old black shearing singlets so long my chest hairs grew through them.

Originally Posted by Tahr

That’s nothing. I used to wear my old black shearing singlets so long my chest hairs grew through them.

And then you discovered women, and the benefits of using soap 'n water occasionally lol

Well Done on the experiment; a very surprising result for me.Personally; my son & I tend to target the rainy weather to go hunting & ive tried different wool/merino combinations & hav found Macpac thermals & Macpac/Stoney Creek Fleece best for me. I find there is quite a difference in fleece quality tho. i have tried a no. of average brands & like you say ; they retain water pretty badly. Like what Micky Duck said; some Fleeces let the water pass down through them very quick ( without seemingly taking too much body heat ) & seem to dry pretty fast.

Hi all last year I purchased a fleece anorak from a very reputable brand which also has wind protection as well While hunting at Te Puke hut in the Kaweka's in drizzle last November it filled up with water. After I returned I hung it up outside to allow the water to move to the bottom of the garment I then spent 5 minutes shaking it and cracking it like a whip to get the water out I gave it a good shake about a dozen times, I was very disappointed with the performance. It was still wet and heavy two days later! Nimrod's experiment confirms my thoughts that old swanny held water but shed it quickly as well. I am definitely going back to wool. Thanks Nimrod

Originally Posted by Ruger7mm

Hi all last year I purchased a fleece anorak from a very reputable brand which also has wind protection as well While hunting at Te Puke hut in the Kaweka's in drizzle last November it filled up with water. After I returned I hung it up outside to allow the water to move to the bottom of the garment I then spent 5 minutes shaking it and cracking it like a whip to get the water out I gave it a good shake about a dozen times, I was very disappointed with the performance. It was still wet and heavy two days later! Nimrod's experiment confirms my thoughts that old swanny held water but shed it quickly as well. I am definitely going back to wool. Thanks Nimrod

That is because the manufacturers make products that the average Joe public ask for. Spent 15+ years in the clothing industry and was always getting asked "Can you make it windproof" Course you can, easy peasy, just slap a layer of windproof fabric on the outer of the garment. BUT fleece doesnt work like that, fleece needs to breath, and that windproof layer which is to some extent waterproof as well, pretty much negates the benefits of fleece. Easiest way around it is buy quality fleece, and use a separate windshell.