+- Survival UK Forums (http://forum.survivaluk.net)
+-- Forum: Discussion Area (http://forum.survivaluk.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=13)
+--- Forum: Clothing (http://forum.survivaluk.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=14)
+--- Thread: Wool Still Works (/showthread.php?tid=6065)
Pages:
1
2
Wool Still Works - CharlesHarris - 24 September 2013
Recently I relocated the buttons on my Filson double-cruiser and Mackinaw vest to give more room to fasten around my aging middle. When I bought these back in 1972, I was told by the sales advisor at Eddie Bauer to buy one "not less than two full sizes larger than I wore now," because quality woolens are "lifetime garments" which I would "grow into." A sad truth to be sure.
When I got out of the military in 1972, I wore a size 43 suit. When I walked into the store I had intended to buy size 44. The sales advisor at Eddie Bauer talked me into a size 46. In hindsight now I realize I probably should have gotten a 48.
Forty years later the wool fabric has lost some of its nap, its forest green color has faded and turned seams are threadbare. Living in West Virginia now, I wear the vest more often than my double cruiser, which sees only occasional winter wear. Both garments smell mildly of lanolin and wood smoke, have traveled thousands of miles, and evoke memories of pleasant hunts, a few impromptu nights spent in the woods, and one especially dark, cold walk along State Route 114 after my car slid on black ice off the road and into a pond near Sutton, New Hampshire in 1984. The car didn't survive, but I did!
While modern Gore-Tex and fleece is lighter to carry, it is less resistant to tears and abrasion. It damages easily when riding or walking while picking your way through heavy brush. Tightly woven wool gear is heavier and more expensive, but if you buy quality it will last for many years of hard outdoor use and will keep you warm as long as you apply basic cold weather principles. If the lowest weight and bulk are more important to you, then get the newer types of clothing that are available. But in harsh outdoor environments where you must make one set of outdoor clothing last, it should be entirely wool, with the possible exceptions of silk or polypro underwear and a 60/40 cotton-poly rip stop anorak.
This is because wool remains warm when wet, including complete immersion. Next to a diver’s wet suit wool clothing offers the best protection in cold water. Trapped air in the garment is buoyant and aids as insulation. Bulky wool sweaters worn by Allied sailors and Axis U-boat skippers during WWII documentaries weren’t for show, but absolutely necessary for survival, because the body loses heat 32 times faster in water than in air.
You cannot appreciate the panic-shock of being suddenly immersed in cold water, until you have actually experienced it, as I have. Hope that you live to tell about it. It doesn’t have to be winter. After three hours in 70 degree water you are exhausted and your hands too numb to grasp a lifeline. In 40 degree water you might last 30 minutes without an exposure suit.
If you live near the water, boat, trap, hunt or fish in the cold water months you should be skilled in water self-rescue methods. See http://homestudy.ihea.com/concerns/23capsize.htm and http://www.ussartf.org/cold_water_survival.htm
Woolen blankets are required survival gear for private aircraft in Alaska because they keep you warm when wet. Wool blankets are durable, long lasting, and cost less than sleeping bags. They are flame resistant, noncombustible and safer to bundle up in close to a camp fire. British, Swiss, German and Italian army blankets may still be found online for as little as $25 each. A U.S. GI blanket is 60 inches wide, 84 inches long and weighs 3-1/2 pounds.
During WWII and Korea the original GI “poncho liner†was improvised by cutting an 18 inch slot cut parallel to and centered 36 inches back from one of the short edges, fabric taped and stitched by parachute riggers. The 36 inch length in front of the slot falls to the crotch, but doesn’t get in the way of your legs when running. The 48 inch length in back covers your butt and back in warm comfort while sitting. The sides tuck at the waist and are held by the pistol belt. If evading like Rambo in First Blood you could use parachute cord.
What you are doing here is converting the blanket into a Wetterfleck, the Loden cape used for centuries by German, Swiss and Austrian foresters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKfz2ZdjFFY
RE: Wool Still Works - Lightspeed - 24 September 2013
Many of us still wear tweed over here Charlie, so we still know the benefits of wool....you should know all about it as..the most popular type is Harris Tweed :-)
RE: Wool Still Works - MikeA - 24 September 2013
I still use the old "Wooly-Pulley" (think green woollen jumper) which is no longer issued. Of all the modern Snugpack jackets I've used its this which has often kept me warm the most. Available on ebay and most if not all surplus stores for pennies.
RE: Wool Still Works - Timelord - 27 September 2013
Wool rules in my book!
I don't understand all this "it's too itchy, scratchy for me" repertoire that most people trot out. Obviously there will be some who are allergic, but otherwise I think people are just too soft like a babies arse... When I was a cadet many years ago and I had soft skin too, I was given military wool shirts to wear and yes they itched like mad at first, but I grinned and beared it because it was part of my military uniform and that was just ace back then as a kid. After a few months of wearing it 2 evenings a week, it soon wore off or I got used to it either way. One of the shirts was especially scratchy /itchy but I learnt to ignore it and I think it softened up anyway.
I have told many people over the years about the benefits of wool and 90% of the time I get this whining drivel about "its too itchy and scratchy and I can't wear it. I am allergic to it etc etc" I don't think the majority of them are, I think they are too pampered & soft arse skinned. To put it this way with some factual basis - Our ancestors in the Western World, up until very recently, used wool extensively as their garment of choice to suit the temperate environment and colder climes. Just how would we have survived as a race if 90% of our ancestors declared that wool was too itchy/scratchy for their delicate skin?? bahh, wingey, whineys, bahh, hrrumph.... ;-)
RE: Wool Still Works - Skean Dhude - 27 September 2013
It is all about adapting. At the moment they can buy elsewhere. When it is impossible to do so then they can either barter for a stock I'm building up, adapt or go without.
RE: Wool Still Works - BeardyMan - 27 September 2013
wool is brilliant. I have my bushcraft hoodie, harris tweed on the outside, and moleskin lined. Supremely warm, especially if it's a little moist outside.
http://www.bisonbushcraft.co.uk/bison_bushcraft_outfitters.htm
Roger Harringtons shop Bison Bushcraft (he runs the Wilderness Gathering on his farm)
Highly recommended.
RE: Wool Still Works - Midnitemo - 27 September 2013
i have some swandri shirts treated to make them waterproof...bloody brilliant they are especially the green one with a windproof layer sewn in between skin and shirt , helps with the coarse feeling but i usually wear a long sleeve t shirt under them anyway.
RE: Wool Still Works - BeardyMan - 27 September 2013
(27 September 2013, 10:54)Midnitemo Wrote: i have some swandri shirts treated to make them waterproof...bloody brilliant they are especially the green one with a windproof layer sewn in between skin and shirt , helps with the coarse feeling but i usually wear a long sleeve t shirt under them anyway.
I thought the tight weave on the swannis made them pretty much water repellant / resistant anyway?
RE: Wool Still Works - Midnitemo - 27 September 2013
it says on the blurb that comes with the shirts that they are treated with a "special" ingredient and it goes on to tell you the washing precautions, i find there more showerproof than waterproof and my heathen other half has put them through the washing machine so whatever they did is probs long gone now
RE: Wool Still Works - BeardyMan - 27 September 2013
(27 September 2013, 11:22)Midnitemo Wrote: it says on the blurb that comes with the shirts that they are treated with a "special" ingredient and it goes on to tell you the washing precautions, i find there more showerproof than waterproof and my heathen other half has put them through the washing machine so whatever they did is probs long gone now
You can't wash 'em! You'll remove the smell of wood smoke.