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Easy question about technical clothing (overheating/overcooling)



 
 
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Old April 5th 05, 12:04 AM
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Default Easy question about technical clothing (overheating/overcooling)


At the risk of sounding like an extreme newbie:

Can someone please tell me the advantages of wearing "technical clothing" (polypro and moisture-wicking fabrics) when performing intense physical activity?

It is my understanding that the human body sweats to cool itself down (the sweat on the surface of our skin evaporates and cools us down). If I am running a race in the heat of summer, why would I *NOT* want to wear a fabric such as cotton? Cotton retains water, which will hold my sweat close to my body, cooling me down.

By using wicking fabrics, aren't we essentially moving the sweat off of our skin? How exactly is this supposed to cool down the body?

Cotton is sometimes described as "dangerous" and "lethal" to wear in survival situations, because of the hypothermic effect it has on the body. But isn't this EXACTLY what I want when my body's overheating?


I prefer the reply be sent to my email address ), but I will also check on UseNet for the reply.


Thanks in advance to all who reply!!


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  #2  
Old April 5th 05, 08:07 AM
Westie
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wrote:
At the risk of sounding like an extreme newbie:

Can someone please tell me the advantages of wearing "technical clothing" (polypro and moisture-wicking fabrics) when performing intense physical activity?

It is my understanding that the human body sweats to cool itself down (the sweat on the surface of our skin evaporates and cools us down). If I am running a race in the heat of summer, why would I *NOT* want to wear a fabric such as cotton? Cotton retains water, which will hold my sweat close to my body, cooling me down.

By using wicking fabrics, aren't we essentially moving the sweat off of our skin? How exactly is this supposed to cool down the body?

Cotton is sometimes described as "dangerous" and "lethal" to wear in survival situations, because of the hypothermic effect it has on the body. But isn't this EXACTLY what I want when my body's overheating?


I prefer the reply be sent to my email address ), but I will also check on UseNet for the reply.


Thanks in advance to all who reply!!


This is my understanding:
Parts of it may be not quite right.

Your body cools itself by evaporation. You sweat, the sweat absorbs the
heat from your body, evaporates and the moist air wafts away from your
skin. You feel cooler.

On a hot day, cotton absorbs the sweat for a while which helps promote
cooling. Then it quickly becomes saturated and no longer moves the
sweat away from the skin, it prevents the evaporating sweat and moist
air under the cloth from wafting around and suddenly you are wearing a
garment laden with warm water and no air circulation to carry away the
seat remaining on the skin.

On a cold day, the cotton absorbs the sweat for a short while. The
shirt becomes saturated and the cold outdoor temperatures make the sweat
very cold very quickly. The body is surrounded by a wet garment that
transfers heat away from the skin very fast. If it is cold and windy
evaporation on the outside of the garment does occur and the body is
cooled down very quickly. Those dangerous and lethal fast cooling effects.

Cold weather insulating Synthetic wicking fabrics work by drawing the
moisture away from the skin, and preventing the air next to the skin
from escaping. They keep a layer of dry warm air against the skin.
This keeps the skin dry and reduces the evapouration off the skin but
prevents the garment getting wet too by letting the moisture evapourate
from the outside garment surface better than cotton does. The garment
doesn't become saturated.

Warm weather cooling synthetic fabrics work by drawing the moisture away
and promoting airflow across the skin. The skin cools by evaporation
and the loose weave allows plenty of air-flow.
--
Westie
 




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