by Tom LaLond
As much of the U.S. of A comes into the cooling fall temperatures we inevitably need to start looking for the best outdoor work clothing, and there are a few things to consider when researching your best options. First, how does the clothing’s material handle positive and negative temperature swings? Next, how does it handle lunchtime spills, or will it stink if you sweat while wearing it? Finally, what color and weight options are there to choose from?
The temperature swings of Autumn can often be plus or minus 10-30 degrees depending on where you live in the country, and with that your workwear should be able to keep your body’s temperature consistent through those variations. Material like polyester is pretty good at moving your sweat away from your skin and through the fabric into the atmosphere, but it feels so cold when you’re putting it on early in the morning. Also, when outside, it can feel like all your warmth is being pulled away from your body in windy conditions. Where cotton might feel warm and cozy in the morning once you start exerting yourself to the point of sweating you might as well change shirts. The cotton material does not move moisture out of the material, it simply holds onto the moisture, and hence pulls warmth away from your body.
That’s where merino wool can really make a difference by keeping you warm through it’s naturally crimped fibers creating many tiny air pockets to hold warm air close to your skin. Then when the merino clothing gets wet it can rapidly wick that moisture out of the clothing and into the atmosphere. Merino sheep live in a wide range of weather types so their “clothing” was created to be able to handle that variation without needing to shed, and that is what makes merino wool the best outdoor workwear. These sheep have been naturally comfortable through large temperature swings for hundreds of years, so no need to reinvent the wheel through synthetic material that still falls short, use what has worked for hundreds of years.
With having several kids and working from home for the majority of 2020 there has been a fair amount of messes spilt on my shirts. After getting some of my 2-year old’s milk spilt on my Minus33 Chocorua Midweight long sleeve I thought of a research opportunity to see how the milk would or wouldn’t stain and or stink up my beloved shirt. Later that day I checked in on the spill zone, and it was initially hard to spot for myself and my wife, the olive drab green color could have helped hide it a little too, and neither of us could notice a stinky milky stench. Full disclosure this was a quick and informal study, but since then I’ve kept an eye on spills on merino shirts and from that experience on they seem to have kept stains and stink under wraps very well! The stain fighting ability could be due, in part, to the color, but I’ve also seen stains not show up much at all on my black colored merino clothing. The odor is mitigated because of how well the Minus33 merino gets liquid out of the material and into the atmosphere so it doesn’t have time to “rot” and create the smell. The studies will continue to expand during hunting season where I’ll wear my Minus33 clothing for days before a shower is required by my lovely wife. Get some Minus33 merino gear and run your own research study to verify these claims!
