Comment on 356 | Andrea Wulf on Enlightenment, Nature, Romanticism, and Modernity by Kurt Gingher

I love wool. Use it A LOT and have for decades. But the arctic or high alpine is another, very different environment. Being still INSULATING while wet/damp is fantastic in non-extreme environments. But the weight, and potential of freezing is . . . awful. The latest synthetics (OCTA fleece, etc) are incredible insulators, hold almost NO water, are extremely light. Durability remains an issue and perhaps medium to long-term performance. An old surmise of fabrics in the backcountry - "cotton kills". (It's great that it stronger when wet than dry but . . . it becomes an exceptional heat sync when wet.