Wool is the best cold weather underwear.
…For me, anyway.
Quite a few folks prefer it as well even in warmer weather.
Possibly for children—who have sensitive, non-wooly skin—it might be dry feeling or itchy, but with Merino wool and the new processes being used, kids would probably like it, too. It’s not your grampa’s wool. Would dad have ever paid $40 for a t-shirt?
It’s also sustainable. It uses far less chemicals to process it than cotton does.
It’s long-lasting.
It’s 30% more absorbent than any hightech “wicking” fabric—that is, it’s the MOST hightech.
But perhaps most importantly of all: IT DOESN’T STINK!
I am sweaty and stinky and I can wear wool for weeks without the slightest odor. It’s a miracle!
But it is also usually expensive. It tends to be the province of insiders and hipsters.
There are 2 solutions here.
The first is MINUS 33! —They are a big old New England wool mill, from 1916, whose staff decided to add a performance underwear line.
They offer EVERYTHING. Tops, bottoms, undies, socks—thick and thin. At $10-$30 less than anyone else. And you can order direct.
Another partial solution is the THRIFT STORE. I buy $5 thin Merino tops to be my thicker longsleeve options in coldest weather. None of the thrift-store finds will be as thin as the true “t-shirt” weight new style of underwear wool.
Wool is amazingly versatile for me in winter. For XC skiing anyway. I suppose its properties are simply harmonizing with the nature of XC. Whenever you’re active outdoors you don’t have to wear much no matter what the temp (as long as it’s not too windy). But I find that a couple thin wool socks, lightly insulated pants, thin wool hat, thin gloves, thin wool underwear-sweater and a thin but tightly-woven standard Woolrich-type outerwear shirt on top is great for skiing from 25degF to ZERO! For 40-25degF I wear a wool t-shirt instead of the thin wool sweater. Presto! (As breeziness increases add a thin wool/fleecy vest at 10mph. For a truly windy cold day a thicker wool shirt-jac over the thin wool sweater will do the trick. You don’t ever want to wear a nylon shell or even vest if you’ll be working along a trail for more than a half hour.) Well, that’s my recipe anyway!
My rule is that I should feel cold for the first 15 minutes. If I’m warm when I start—and I don’t plan to take off a layer—then that’s TOO much and I’ll soon feel miserable. If you can strip off a layer and it’s cold out feel free to start out with another wool layer on top. I find that windproof synth/nylon is even a bad idea to warm up in.
https://minus33.com/minus33ss.htm
