Wool clothing for ice climbing

I always buy gear out of season, so right now I’m buying my ice climbing gear.  I want to be warm without looking like the Michelin man.  I’m considering changing base layers or next to base layers, to wool.  I’ve been thinking that the synthetics that I use do well managing moisture but do little to retain heat.  I’m not sure if that’s correct but I’m thinking about going to wool.  Has anyone made this change?  If so please share you experience .  Thanks

Wool is where it's at.  A base layer of polypros is pretty much a given getting outside in the winter around me.  well worth it. 

Go totally old school and wear a Dachstein sweater and mitts.

Gary Neptune still ice climbs in his and there’s even an example in the Neptune Museum. And, yes, you can still buy one.

​Dachstein Sweater​​​

Minus33 is my go-to base layer all winter:
https://www.minus33.com/wool/chocorua-mens-midweight-wool-crew/705tn/product/

Price is great considering the quality and durability.

You'll want to switch to synthetic for really high-output activity where you sweat a LOT -- you're right that synthetics manage lots of sweat better than wool. I think wool is perfect as a base layer for ice climbing. Maybe very high-end dry-tool types will want synthetic...

Malcolm Daly wrote: Go totally old school and wear a Dachstein sweater and mitts.

If yer gonna go old school don't forget da knickers!!

I have a merino wool tee shirt and long sleeve zip neck I always wear ice climbing........

Moreno wool is the best

I happen to own an Alpaca Wool shop. Alpaca is softer than cashmere and stronger than sheep's wool. It is the warmest wool available. It's also more environmentally friendly because of the way the animals live. Check it out! It gets really cold here in the Adirondacks(often the coldest place in the US in the winter), so I know intimately what it means to deal with below 0F temps, and I love this stuff. Also, my sweaters and hoodies are cheaper than the one Jonathan posted the link for!

I have plenty of both and I use the synthetic 80% of the time or more if I really want to stay warm in really cold conditions, it keeps you much drier at the skin surface level, and that, at least for me, feels much warmer, particularly when the temp is below -10 or so.... the only time I'm going for wool as a first choice is multi-day high output stuff where I just don't want to deal with the stink, and the high output makes it feel good to be able to use the wool as an evaporative cooler, or if it is so humid/wet that synthetic just doesn't feel dry, if I'm going to be feeling wet anyway wool is great... 

I wouldn't. Definitely not for anything other than base layer, even there wool has no significant advantage over modern synthetics other than smelling nicer IMO. Warmer when wet maybe, but wool takes longer to dry (which is exactly why nobody wears it other than base layer anymore, your body heat won't dry a wool mid layer). Fleece dries almost instantly. Wool is fragile, high maintenance. You can throw your Capilenes in the normal wash.

If you want a warm base layer for ice get a nice fleece onesie. Patagonia used to make one (maybe they'll release it again in the Fall), Norrona still does.

I prefer synthetic 99% of the time, though if you go on a long trip you'll smell nicer in wool.

Edit: I take it back, Norrona doesn't make the Polartec one piece anymore. Shame. 

I've used both and never really noticed a difference between the two....

Voormi.com

Lots of varying opinions here. Here's my take on it, based on 50 years of backcountry travel. In those early days I'd be wool head-to-toe: Stil-Long undies, Malone Pants, Pendelton shirt, Peter Storm sweater, Dachstein mittens, wool balaclava.  Here's the bottom line - Wool doesn't stink after a day or 2. Properly cared for, it can last a long time. But it's heavier than synthetic equivalents, and it absorbs water and gets even heavier. Does it still keep you warm when wet? Sure, and that's a good thing b/c it's going to stay damp ALL DAY LONG. A good wicking polyester will be wet on the hour-long uphill approach to the ice climb but will be dry by the end of the first pitch (typical experience). If your syntheics aren't keeping you warm, they simply are too thin. I chuckle at all these 8 oz (total weight) down "jackets" that contain 2 oz of down and are stitched through every inch. No way that sort of garment has much insulating power. Get a fat fleece mid-layer (I still love my 300 weight Polartec jacket) and put a proper down coat over that as needed. Not the sissy lightweights cited above, but something with 2" of loft and 6" spacing between quilting seams.

Tried to find the article but could not, I believe outdoorgearlab did the test, but they took a merino and poly shirt, cut them in half and sewed them together so you had one type on each side, then had their testers go out and use them. From what I remember they concluded there was not as much of a difference as people think there is besides the fact that merino does seem to stink much less.

jdejace wrote: I wouldn't. Definitely not for anything other than base layer, even there wool has no significant advantage over modern synthetics other than smelling nicer IMO. Warmer when wet maybe, but wool takes longer to dry (which is exactly why nobody wears it other than base layer anymore, your body heat won't dry a wool mid layer). Fleece dries almost instantly. Wool is fragile, high maintenance. You can throw your Capilenes in the normal wash.

If you want a warm base layer for ice get a nice fleece onesie. Patagonia used to make one (maybe they'll release it again in the Fall), Norrona still does.

I prefer synthetic 99% of the time, though if you go on a long trip you'll smell nicer in wool.

Edit: I take it back, Norrona doesn't make the Polartec one piece anymore. Shame. 

Rab makes their Power Stretch Pro Bib.  Polartec Power Stretch Pro, though heavy, is probably the warmest modern tech fleece available. 

I can deal without the hood but I don't think I'm into the sleeveless base layer personally.

I'm going to be gentle with my Patagonia and Norrona for now :-) Hopefully they both come to their senses. 

Brynje fishnets.  Wool or synthetic, I’m partial to the wool myself.  They look goofy as all hell but are the most comfortable, breathable and warm base layer I’ve ever used.

used to do all wool. warm enough but heavy. 

I don't like wool in the winter except for my boxer briefs and socks. I do have an alpaca wool toque from Peru that's insanely warm but itchy. 

Ross Manny wrote: I happen to own an Alpaca Wool shop. Alpaca is softer than cashmere and stronger than sheep's wool. It is the warmest wool available. It's also more environmentally friendly because of the way the animals live. Check it out! It gets really cold here in the Adirondacks(often the coldest place in the US in the winter), so I know intimately what it means to deal with below 0F temps, and I love this stuff. Also, my sweaters and hoodies are cheaper than the one Jonathan posted the link for!

Link?

djh860 wrote: I always buy gear out of season, so right now I’m buying my ice climbing gear.  I want to be warm without looking like the Michelin man.  I’m considering changing base layers or next to base layers, to wool.  I’ve been thinking that the synthetics that I use do well managing moisture but do little to retain heat.  I’m not sure if that’s correct but I’m thinking about going to wool.  Has anyone made this change?  If so please share you experience .  Thanks

Why is looking like the Michelin man bad? If you put on a heavy weight down parka, you can be warm. This is great for belays or any time you are not climbing. 

Managing moisture and retaining heat are not separate entities, in fact that are very much linked. For easy reading, I would check out some of the old articles on Andy Kirkpatricks blog, and check out Extreme Alpinism by Mark Twight. There are many approaches to layering, some simply historic, multiple that work in practice, but none show a physiologic advantage to wool over synthetic. Wool used to be more odor resistant but with i.e. polygiene treated fabrics from Polartec this is no longer true.

My personal recs are for Patagonia R1 vs Cap4 (now called Cap Thermal I think) fabric tops/bottoms or similar from any manufacturer, or Polartec Powerstretch garments, or simple 100wt fleece if you are on a budget and want to keep it simple and durable.

Linnaeus wrote:

Why is looking like the Michelin man bad? If you put on a heavy weight down parka, you can be warm. This is great for belays or any time you are not climbing. 

Managing moisture and retaining heat are not separate entities, in fact that are very much linked. For easy reading, I would check out some of the old articles on Andy Kirkpatricks blog, and check out Extreme Alpinism by Mark Twight. There are many approaches to layering, some simply historic, multiple that work in practice, but none show a physiologic advantage to wool over synthetic. Wool used to be more odor resistant but with i.e. polygiene treated fabrics from Polartec this is no longer true.

My personal recs are for Patagonia R1 vs Cap4 (now called Cap Thermal I think) fabric tops/bottoms or similar from any manufacturer, or Polartec Powerstretch garments, or simple 100wt fleece if you are on a budget and want to keep it simple and durable.

Thanks I will check them out.