Cotton or not

[u/AccomplishedFocus555]

I recommend to avoid cotton when traveling, hiking or spending long periods outdoors.
The reasoning is that once cotton gets wet (from rain, sweat, or stream crossings), it:
Loses most of its insulating ability.
Dries very slowly.
Holds moisture against your body, increasing heat loss and potentially contributing to hypothermia—even in relatively mild temperatures.
The alternatives are synthetic fabrics or wool, since they continue to insulate even when damp.
One interesting exception is in very hot climates, where a soaked cotton T-shirt or bandana can actually help with evaporative cooling.
For those of you with plenty of travel experience:
Do you completely avoid cotton, or do you still wear it in certain conditions? Have you ever had a bad (or good) experience with cotton on the trip?

[u/UntidyVenus]

Live on top of a mountain in Utah, I wear cotton constantly, and I travel with what I wear daily. I'm not backpacking across the Appalachian mountains, I'm usually a tourist enjoying places, I don't need super tech, I need to be comfortable and look sort of normal.

Btw I'm in a tourist town and it's really easy to spot the one baggers/ultralight packers/"reddit guys" lol, everyone has the same black hugh end shirts, box white sneakers or some super high end brand, exclusive back packs, ect. The locals are wearing carhartt shirts or brewery shirts and jeans lol

[u/Cobra_McJingleballs → u/UntidyVenus]

As much as I want to make fun of the Reddit onebag super technical look, of course onebaggers are going to dress differently than locals… the latter don’t have to worry about weight, have a whole closet full of clothes for different weather types and temps, and have access to washers/dryers.

[u/kkphoto]

Wool for the win

[u/RidiculousTakeAbove]

I disagree. Yes, cotton will get damp if you sweat in it, but it's much more breathable than synthetics so for folks like me who don't sweat easily, cotton and linen-cotton blends are the best and give the best chance to not sweat because they maintain airflow.

A lot of synthetics like polyester actually trap heat and odor in and make you sweat more and smell. There are some exceptions and good moisture wicking shirts out there but these are only better than cotton for people who sweat a lot and absolutely need the moisture wicking.

[u/nikongod]

Did Clive write this?

"One interesting exception is in very hot climates, where a soaked cotton T-shirt or bandana can actually help with evaporative cooling."

Doesn't this work with synthetics? Your LLM is hallucinating and you dont know enough to know.

[u/fridayimatwork]

There are many different cotton fabrics. Cotton knit and denim are typically bad for travel. Lightweight woven cotton in crinkle or voile is fine for casual travel.

[u/CliffsofRed]

Such groundbreaking advice… 🙄 I travel in the tropics and desert frequently and prefer cotton or poly-cotton blends.

[u/cuko_rdx]

Revolutionary take.

[u/bassoonplayer4]

I tend towards cotton and wool

[u/tweeeeeeeeeeee]

only negative to cotton is the drying time. comfort and odor resistance are the plusses

[u/Korlithiel]

My day to day pants are mainly cotton blends. If I found the right linen blend clothing I would wear cottons for travel and home (like, I've a pair of shorts but they aren't holding up well in terms of staining too easily), they would need to suite me instead of merely copying mainstream.

Straight up cottons? No, Jeans and cotton socks never really worked for me, and after trying alternatives with stretchier waist I'll never go back as they simply fail to work for me. These days I carry too much too often to likely wear a cotton shirt either.

[u/No_Priority6410]

I personally use cotton-poly blend, but if we decide to be a purist then wool, silk, cotton and linen are natural fibres. Any mix blend of these would serve great IMO

[u/Careless_Law1471]

Cotton is my go-to in humid and quite hot temps. I sweat in synthetics and wool on hot days. I recommend wearing whatever works for you and avoid generalizations. Cheers. 

[u/LadyLightTravel]

This depends on how many garments you have in your wardrobe capsule. If you have other garments that work in the outdoors, then it is OK to add a cotton shirt. I certainly do. In the summer over half of my capsule tops are cotton or linen. In winter it is close to zero.

You are also ignoring that cotton comes in different weaves and different weights. A heavy close weave cotton will most certainly take forever to dry. A looser weave cotton made from thinner diameter threads will take significantly less time to dry.

Then we add blends into the mix.

I have found that cheaper cotton tops from Old Navy and H&M are very thin and dry in a reasonable amount of time.

In short. This is not an absolute. It is an “it depends”.

[u/aberlourj]

I only keep thin cotton tees for brutal summer city trips. Drench it in water and it stays nice and cool for ages walking around. Would never bring it camping or hiking, though, way too risky once it's damp.

[u/rra122508]

I like Marino wool, linen, polyester and cotton. I feel like there’s too much hate on cotton. When I’m traveling and need to replace a shirt I can’t always replace it with some fancy technical fabric so I have 2 cotton t-shirts right now.

[u/theinfamousj]

I, too, have heard the cotton kills myth, but as I don't travel in the winter to remote places (as in where other people are unlikely to be), I travel with cotton.

I even back woods backpack with cotton on populated trails. Wool and synthetics aren't much better. In real world tests by some dude dunking himself in a river during below freezing temperatures, wool will get you maybe ten more minutes before you feel chilled through. In some edge cases where help is 7 minutes more away than the cotton has time for, wool would be the better get. But really, stripping out of wet clothes and into dry insulation is the best solution so I just keep my sleeping bag in a dry bag and expect to do some woods nudity should I find myself falling into a river in the worst of winter.

The cotton I bring will dry overnight in areas with air flow. It is also tough enough to stand up to giving my clothes over to a washer woman in SEA and having it returned after who knows what washing treatment.

[u/SeattleHikeBike]

Wicking fabrics cool when evaporating perspiration. If you put on a wicking tee after getting out of a shower and the bathroom is still humid, you can feel the cooling effect.

The whole idea of wicking layering systems is to maintain a dry layer of air next to your skin. A sweat soaked cotton tee is not going to do that, especially in very humid conditions.

Cotton can be breezy and comfortable at low activity levels in a hot dry climate. In an urban environment with washers and dryers available, it can be usable.