Patagonia Capilene or Merino wool?

Joined
Mar 16, 2018
Messages
13
Location
Seattle
I've got both and have used each fairly extensively. I love my Capilene for "quick" activities whereas I prefer my wool for longer term usage.

Hiking into the backcountry and setting up camp for 5 days I much prefer the wool. It packs smaller, has a great temperature range and is all around more useable for days on end. It can get wet and dirty yet it still performs great. I can wash it in a stream and have a useable shirt almost immediately.

The Capilene has been my go to when tagging a peak or climbing a route. For the most part they are very durable. They allow you to sweat in them more heavily and wick and dry a bit faster. They do well when things start freezing as well. I've used them for days up on ridges above 13k ft. Now having said that I'll probably also have a wool layer of some sort too.
 

pods8 (Rugged Stitching)

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Mar 12, 2014
Messages
3,840
Location
Thornton, CO
Basically, I'm going away from any base layer. The merino stays wet longer and doesn't offer any warmth for me. It only makes me hot and sweat more(to be fair, all base layers do), once I start moving. I'm gonna give the synthetic zip off base layers a try this upcoming year. I'll put them on when I get to where I'm going. The body order issue, isn't an issue for me if I don't sweat in the first place.

I'm sure this doesn't work for everyone, but I've learned over the years that this system will be best for me. I'm just done with fighting the whole wearing base layers while moving thing.

I should have elaborated more in my initial post.

This confuses me, maybe I just do it backwards from you but sometimes my "baselayer" is my only layer. I wear a thin merino QZ long sleeve next to skin to keep odor down and have a thin breathing fast drying shirt when worn alone. I add synthetic layers over top when any warmth or abrasion resistance is needed. Currently I am using a firstlite wilkins and I can't imagine any long sleeve synthetic shirt being any cooler/faster drying/breath better unless its mesh. Since I'm not typically thrashing brush (which would chew up the merino) I'll take keeping the funk factor down, if I needed to thrash brush and it would be too hot having another layer on then I would go synthetic but that's about the only instance that comes to mind for me.
 

Rokwiia

WKR
Joined
Nov 12, 2016
Messages
886
Location
In the mountains
I never use wool as a base layer. Synthetic is preferred by me regardless of season, regardless of temperature. I'll put merino on top of it but I don't find the wicking and drying capability of wool can compare with that of nylon or polyester. Wool wicks and holds. Synthetic wicks and transports.

YMMV
 
Last edited:

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
15,528
Location
Colorado Springs
Wool wicks and holds. Synthetic wicks and transports.

For me, when I'm running up and down mountains in September, I'm sweating. Synthetics can't seem to keep up with the sweat BECAUSE they don't absorb it. So it's like having a fine mesh layer of plastic laying against my sweaty skin, which defeats the purpose of having a base layer to begin with. Can't stand that sweaty skin. With merino, it absorbs the sweat so that it's no longer just laying on my skin. Ya, it takes longer to dry because it's actually absorbed into the fibers, not just laying between them. But when it's hot and sunny on the mountain, I'll take that "cooling" process of the merino drying as well. As wet as my merino gets during the day, I've never gone to bed that night with wet merino. So it dries "quick enough" for me. And that's where the biggest advantage comes in.......5+ days of that in the same merino base layers, and you don't stink yourself out of camp.
 
Joined
Sep 9, 2012
Messages
1,979
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BC
Not a fan of Merino tops or long johns. When they get wet or even damp they take forever to dry. Give me Paradox (Costco) zip neck long sleeved tees, which are a blend of mainly treated poly with some Merino. They dry fast, are tough as heck lasting many times longer than Merino and cost $20. We wash and dry them hot too without shrinkage. Good luck!
 
Joined
Sep 9, 2012
Messages
1,979
Location
BC
pods, I think that BC is a lot more humid than CO (where I lived for 35 yrs) and I am hunting about 6,000' lower at treeline and that works against anything drying quickly. I've had about 6 Kuiu merino tops in the lightest weight they sold at the time. Just got tired of being damp most of the time in them. The Paradox blend works a lot better for me, from coastal Roosevelt elk hunting to Stone sheep hunting at 6,000'. YMMV
 
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