Re: jeans vs ???
Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 1:40 pm
I always wear Levis shrink-to-fit original cotton jeans when I backpack. They are tough as nails and very comfortable in a variety of conditions. Never had a pair split out on me.
All this "cotton kills" talk seems to me to be coming from people who should know better -- perhaps they are too susceptible to the marketing efforts of the companies that benefit from selling synthetics. Intelligent, reasonable users of jeans know their limitations and plan accordingly. Would you wear your synthetic pants in a driving rainstorm without a poncho and expect them not to get wet and your body not to get cold? Of course not. Like any garment, jeans have their downside. They are heavier than synthetics, but not that much heavier when you compare like to like -- i.e., a similarly robust pair of synthetic long pants vs. a pair of Levis. Most synthetic long pants I have shopped are not nearly as sturdy as Levis and none are as comfortable, in my opinion. Synthetics tend to melt when a spark comes in contact with them; Levis do not.
Does down kill?
I like the fit and feel of cotton. I hike in cotton t-shirts (carry two with me on every trip). The rest of my kit includes: two pairs of cotton undies; a third medium weight long sleeve "hickory" work shirt I use around camp and as a pillow case; a 1 lb. north face jacket; a wool scarf; a wool knit hat; a baseball cap; light-weight wool gloves (rarely used); two pairs of heavyweight, tight-knit 100% wool socks; two pairs of liner socks; one silicon impregnated poncho.
When hiking in a driving rain, I put my poncho on. If it's really coming down and I have to hike in the rain for a long distance, my boots will get wet, as will the bottom two feet of my pants. It's actually pretty comfy, if you don't mind squishy feet. Never had an issue with wet jeans.
Much of this is a matter of fashion. Newbies to the trail run off to REI and buy overpriced gear, either because they don't know what they're doing or because they want to look good on the trail, or both. Like fashionable skiers on downhill slopes at a ski resort, they have to dress just right. The "uniform" usually includes hiking shorts, hiking poles, a sun hat made of nylon fabric, and a stinky synthetic shirt.
Cotton doesn't kill; inexperience and bad judgement kills.
We old farts -- "Old Ranger" Mike is one of them -- remember the 70s and 80s when everybody wore jeans and carried external frame packs.
I remember fondly a two-week trip I did in the mid-80s, where I met up with my two brothers and a cousin half way through the trip. We all hiked in jeans. The day before our rendezvous in LeConte Canyon, the weather turned miserable. It rained and snowed every one of the next five days. We headed up to Dusy Basin, over Knapsack Pass, then out to South Lake via Thunderbolt Pass (in a snow storm).
Mike
All this "cotton kills" talk seems to me to be coming from people who should know better -- perhaps they are too susceptible to the marketing efforts of the companies that benefit from selling synthetics. Intelligent, reasonable users of jeans know their limitations and plan accordingly. Would you wear your synthetic pants in a driving rainstorm without a poncho and expect them not to get wet and your body not to get cold? Of course not. Like any garment, jeans have their downside. They are heavier than synthetics, but not that much heavier when you compare like to like -- i.e., a similarly robust pair of synthetic long pants vs. a pair of Levis. Most synthetic long pants I have shopped are not nearly as sturdy as Levis and none are as comfortable, in my opinion. Synthetics tend to melt when a spark comes in contact with them; Levis do not.
Does down kill?
I like the fit and feel of cotton. I hike in cotton t-shirts (carry two with me on every trip). The rest of my kit includes: two pairs of cotton undies; a third medium weight long sleeve "hickory" work shirt I use around camp and as a pillow case; a 1 lb. north face jacket; a wool scarf; a wool knit hat; a baseball cap; light-weight wool gloves (rarely used); two pairs of heavyweight, tight-knit 100% wool socks; two pairs of liner socks; one silicon impregnated poncho.
When hiking in a driving rain, I put my poncho on. If it's really coming down and I have to hike in the rain for a long distance, my boots will get wet, as will the bottom two feet of my pants. It's actually pretty comfy, if you don't mind squishy feet. Never had an issue with wet jeans.
Much of this is a matter of fashion. Newbies to the trail run off to REI and buy overpriced gear, either because they don't know what they're doing or because they want to look good on the trail, or both. Like fashionable skiers on downhill slopes at a ski resort, they have to dress just right. The "uniform" usually includes hiking shorts, hiking poles, a sun hat made of nylon fabric, and a stinky synthetic shirt.
Cotton doesn't kill; inexperience and bad judgement kills.
We old farts -- "Old Ranger" Mike is one of them -- remember the 70s and 80s when everybody wore jeans and carried external frame packs.
I remember fondly a two-week trip I did in the mid-80s, where I met up with my two brothers and a cousin half way through the trip. We all hiked in jeans. The day before our rendezvous in LeConte Canyon, the weather turned miserable. It rained and snowed every one of the next five days. We headed up to Dusy Basin, over Knapsack Pass, then out to South Lake via Thunderbolt Pass (in a snow storm).
Mike