Is cotton ok in the summer ?

Quoted message said:

Is there any advantage to synthetic materials in the heat ? Im living
on west coast so it is always mild . I guess in the rain your cotton
pants and underwear and shirt absorb alot of water which adds weight.
Cotton should be ok on a warm dry day, though?

Cotton is always a no-no for running. It retains moisture (you're
quite likely to sweat on a warm, dry day) leading to chafing,
overheating etc. Use a "technical" material, that wicks sweat away so
that it can evaporate and cool you down. Coolmax or ClimaLite are both
fine.

Edward

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Is there any advantage to synthetic materials in the heat ? Im living
on west coast so it is always mild . I guess in the rain your cotton
pants and underwear and shirt absorb alot of water which adds weight.
Cotton should be ok on a warm dry day, though?

Cotton is always a no-no for running. It retains moisture (you're
quite likely to sweat on a warm, dry day) leading to chafing,
overheating etc. Use a "technical" material, that wicks sweat away so
that it can evaporate and cool you down. Coolmax or ClimaLite are both
fine.

Edward

Complete [censored]. Cotton is king, especially while running.

Quoted message said:

Is there any advantage to synthetic materials in the heat ? Im living
on west coast so it is always mild . I guess in the rain your cotton
pants and underwear and shirt absorb alot of water which adds weight.
Cotton should be ok on a warm dry day, though?

Cotton: The fabric of our lives.

Unless you're planning on running through the Iraqi desert while being
chased by cameltoes loaded with weapons of mass destruction.

thanks. that is what i thought. i have about 100 cotton golf shirts.
padded on the shoulder and neck. absorbs all that rain and keeps you
cool.

i agree with what you said except the part about evaporation. i was
under the impression that wicking reduces evaporation.

From what the manufacturers would have us believe the wicking brings
the moisture away from the skin, to the surface of the fabric so that
it can evaporate, which makes sense to me. I switched from cotton, and
the chafing stopped.

Eric

cotton absorbs and holds a ton of water. when water evaporates it sucks
a huge amount of heat out of your body. i think 970 british thermal
units. the water is going from a liquid to a vapour which takes alot of
energy. im guessing that if the water is wicked away from your skin ,
it evaporates off the synthetic material and not off your skin so you
dont lose . when boiling water condenses on your skin, that is the
latent heat of vaporization ie 970 british thermal units except the
heat is being thrown off not absorbed.

Quoted message said:

cotton absorbs and holds a ton of water.

[censored].

Quoted message said:

cotton absorbs and holds a ton of water. when water evaporates it sucks
a huge amount of heat out of your body. i think 970 british thermal
units. the water is going from a liquid to a vapour which takes alot of
energy. im guessing that if the water is wicked away from your skin ,
it evaporates off the synthetic material and not off your skin so you
dont lose . when boiling water condenses on your skin, that is the
latent heat of vaporization ie 970 british thermal units except the
heat is being thrown off not absorbed.

The bottom line is, where what is confortable for YOU.

as just one other data point:
While I have leard the benefits of hi-tech materials, I still mainly
wear cotton shirts, all 4 seasons. (and we get all 4 here on the North
coast.) If you have problems with chafing, then consider other
solutions. But cotton is fine for most cases.

THe arguments about wicking the moisture away doesn't have much
strength on deciding between fabrics. Both cotton and hi-tech remove
the moisture from your skin. If evaporation was the issue, then the
arguement whould be between wearing any shirt and going shirtless.

So use those cotton shirts. You'll be getting more of them when you
race.

ed

Are you serious? Cotton does not wick moisture away from your skin so
the water evaporates right off your skin which sucks a huge amount of
heat out of your body. have you tried running in the rain wearing
cotton. you are carrying several pounds of water . the wet clothes
stick to your skin and increase friction. chafing is the least of your
problems. cotton socks will murder your feet in any climate.

Quoted message said:

Are you serious? Cotton does not wick moisture away from your skin so
the water evaporates right off your skin which sucks a huge amount of
heat out of your body. have you tried running in the rain wearing
cotton. you are carrying several pounds of water . the wet clothes
stick to your skin and increase friction. chafing is the least of your
problems. cotton socks will murder your feet in any climate.

Cotton is the best material ever made. Nothing works better to rid the
body of heat in hot weather.

cotton kills. once night comes you die from hyperthermia as the temp
plummets.

Quoted message said:

cotton kills. once night comes you die from hyperthermia as the temp
plummets.

It kills bacteria. And if you are too stupid to change out of your wet
clothes before dark, you deserve to freeze.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Are you serious? Cotton does not wick moisture away from your skin so
the water evaporates right off your skin which sucks a huge amount of
heat out of your body. have you tried running in the rain wearing
cotton. you are carrying several pounds of water . the wet clothes
stick to your skin and increase friction. chafing is the least of your
problems. cotton socks will murder your feet in any climate.

Cotton is the best material ever made. Nothing works better to rid the
body of heat in hot weather.

No it's not. Latex is.

Quoted message said:

Is there any advantage to synthetic materials in the heat ? Im living
on west coast so it is always mild . I guess in the rain your cotton
pants and underwear and shirt absorb alot of water which adds weight.
Cotton should be ok on a warm dry day, though?

Contrary to the Cotton=death crowd I wear cotton all year round.
Because:

1. I don't sweat a lot and the wicking properties are not as important
to me.
2. It is cheap. Or given away at most races I do. I have a range of
cotton shirts from thick to thin for all purposes.
3. No worries about cleaning and no stink after one usage.
4. I have yet to notice a difference between ultra-high-tech-material
shirt and cotton.

Note that I do own ultra-high-tech-material shirts for hiking, skiing
downhill and XC and cycling. These sports are very different from
running and how much I sweat.

Also note I wear ultra-high-tech-material under the following
conditions: Frigidly cold (temperatures around zero F.) and runs longer
than 60-70 minutes in the rain or during somewhat cold days. Also most
of the singlets that I own are ultra-high-tech-material because that is
about all I can get. But if it is 90 degrees it will feel hot
regardless of the shirt I wear.

My 2 cents.
Andy

Quoted message said:

Are you serious? Cotton does not wick moisture away from your skin so
the water evaporates right off your skin which sucks a huge amount of
heat out of your body. have you tried running in the rain wearing
cotton. you are carrying several pounds of water . the wet clothes
stick to your skin and increase friction. chafing is the least of your
problems. cotton socks will murder your feet in any climate.

Yes I am serious. Actually my run Thursday was in some rain. Yes it
does hold the water. A little extra weight during a training run is
only a bother, not a problem.

But you originally asked about running in heat with cotton. I said,
that I am one one data point in this discussion. I haven't had a
problem with cooton in summer. And yes I may be a little cheap, but
with dozens of cotton shirts from as many races, I am not about to
spend more money for synthetic shirts for summer runs. I have some
synmthetic shirts for the winter.

You asked for some opinion on the topic, I gave you mine. If you have
such a strong opinion, then why ask others for comment? My opinion is
worth what you paid for it. I assume the check is in the mail. 8^)

Enjoy the run, whatever fabrics you wear.
ed

Quoted message said:

cotton kills. once night comes you die from hyperthermia as the temp
plummets.

Are you running in the desert? Summer temps don't fall that far in
Ohio.
or are you just trolling at this point?
ed

Quoted message said:

cotton kills. once night comes you die from hyperthermia as the temp
plummets.

I think you want to be more concerned about "hypOthermia" when the
temperatures are cooler.

Dot said:

Quoted message said:

cotton kills. once night comes you die from hyperthermia as the temp
plummets.

I think you want to be more concerned about "hypOthermia" when the
temperatures are cooler.

You shouldn't expect trolls to know their physiology or thermodynamics.

Tim