wellnowholdon OP t1_ixmhq2j wrote on November 24, 2022 at 3:56 PM

Reply to comment by ApatheticAxolotl in Ridge Merino or Wool & Prince for Merinofication of Wardrobe? by wellnowholdon

Fantastic writeup, thank you thank you, and thank you again!

It's good hearing about your experience with the Journey shirt, I'd noticed that their material density was notably lower than W&P. Perhaps nothing in and of itself but, if all other things were equal then that could be a culprit for faster wear. Sounds like that ends up being the case.

Excellent news about the underwear, I'm definitely loving the feel so far of the W&P, they're keepers for sure. I'm hesitant to even try the Ridge offerings, I'm a tall but thicco lad and fairly certain less nylon in the thunder thigh chafe area is absolutely not going to end well.

I'm definitely a little more outdoor focused I think, not always intentionally but days have a funny way of having me out and about bushwacking or clomping through questionable conditions rather suddenly-

What is your opinion on wool/nylon blends vs. pure Merino?

I notice brands like Outlier offer premium pure wool offerings, but I've a hesitant notion that for my usecase I really ought to look at blends. Is that well founded, or would you say the performance wool offerings from Outlier and such compete on a similiar durability level to the nylon blends?

ApatheticAxolotl t1_ixnvydg wrote on November 24, 2022 at 10:05 PM

I'm glad you found it helpful - happy to share some experience!

In regards to 100% vs blends, I think it really depends and varies on the brand and use case. The durability difference might perhaps be slightly overstated for most casual wearers, but I also am not super hard on my clothes in general.

If you're serious about merino, start checking out the gsm of the fabric, and the weight/oz. This should give you an idea of how dense the material actually is - there are definitely some 100% merino products out there that are very low quality compared to blends. Construction of the actual fibers can also radically impact how well an item performs. Things like drape and fit can also affect how well merino does its job.

Above all, don't consider "merino" blends that have less than 50-60% merino - the clothing won't have the performance one expects from merino.

E: forgot to mention that anything Outlier makes is truly Onebag / BIFL appropriate. I haven't tried their UFT, but their Daybreak merino t is my current fav t-shirt. I mostly gauge merino performance on how it handles sweat, smell and repeated wearings before washing. In those regards, I don't think I've noticed a difference between blends and Outlier's stuff. Not to mention that their merino is better / on par with W&P and Duckworth's 100% stuff.