jrp11948 wrote:
Has anyone tried the Merino wool long johns? I have a pair of Merino wool socks and they are very good. They're on the expensive side but so is UA and some other fancy names.
There is absolutely positively nothing better than merino wool as your first layer. It is superior in every way, to every other material. This is not merely my own obsession, but in fact was borne out in practice: the first man to solo ski to the North Pole wore only wool and leather, no plastic crap. You can look it up.
I started racing bicycles in 1979. Our shorts were wool with a real chamois lining to sit on. And our jerseys were wool. And our tights--mine were merino superwash by "Protogs" (sadly long out of biz). They were an epiphany!
Heck, even our winter cycling shoes were italian made leather with real shearling lining. Except before we save fpr them we made our own leather toeclip windguards, and wore wool socks over our summer racing cleats (yes, you slotted out the bottom of the socks and reinforced with trimmings of your old corduroys etc).
I wear wool socks year round. that air circulation thing--much better in summer than cotton for that reason.
My go-to for general wool socks: good old wigwam. Best to simply order online. Nobody carries them retail any longer.
Smartwool makes good socks.
My absolute best socks were hand made--and have crazy high quality wool.
Wool has a special property: it absorbs moisture internally within the fiber. Compare to cotton, which is between. This is why cotton gets clammy, doesn't allow air circulation and you freeze. Wool stays dry until you exceed total saturation. But a pair of wet wool mittens will still keep you warm. Amazing stuff.
All the plastic stuff? Doesn't absorb at all (well, 3%) and "wicking" is a bull term they misuse--sure, microfibers "wick" (capillary action) but so does cotton----but wool does the miracle thing you actually want and need.