Our "No Cotton" Philosophy + Gear-Up Day 1

We are so thrilled to welcome you to the first day of "Gearing Up Families to go Screen Free"!  If this is your first time hearing about the event, please check out our updated tab here.  Make sure you check out the giveaways at the end of this post (they are ONLY open for 24 hours (midnight to midnight EST!)

P post-ski stripped back down to his Icebreaker base layers (Merino Wool)

If you have spent much time outdoors or around "outdoorsy" people, you will hear a lot about the fact that cotton is really the worst thing you could wear.  But, naturally, people question the reasoning behind that (because MOST of us have wardrobes comprised of mostly cotton.)

Because today's focus is a lot about what to wear outdoors, I wanted to highlight a bunch of those reasons behind the "No Cotton" philosophy...even for family outings!

First of all, cotton is fine when in dry, hot weather.  It does a great job at keeping us cool and can easily be saturated with water and then worn to fight off hot temperatures.  The trouble starts when the temperatures start dropping (which can happen with just the sun going down or clouds rolling in.)

For us, living in the mountains (or if you are just out adventuring in the mountains) it is crucial to remember how quickly the weather can change.  After years of living here, it still manages to sometimes catch me off-guard.  Sunny, warm days can quickly turn into wet summer storms.  A breeze picking up can mean a radical change in how that wet clothing feels.

BIG Backpacking No-No (13 yrs. ago) - Cotton T-shirt

Cotton is a hydrophilic material, which means that it attracts water molecules and therefore, easily absorbs moisture.  It can absorb roughly 25 times it's weight in water.  Translation: cotton will NOT wick away moisture (including your own sweat) from your body, and rather will just lay on you feeling cold and wet.  This will even just happen from the air's humidity.

In essence, if you are cold and wearing WET cotton, you would be better off not wearing anything at all.

Here is a great mantra to remember:
Cotton when hot is GOOD
DRY Cotton when cold is OK, BUT
WET Cotton when cold is a death sentence.

Alternatives to Cotton: Synthetics or Wool
While this is a fairly recent change for our family, we are going more and more towards the wool vs. the synthetics.
This is why:
- Wool keeps you cool in the heat and warm in the cold.
- Merino wool is pretty awesome at maintaining a no-stink factor (which Synthetics are HORRIBLE at.)
- Wool is non-flammable (synthetics are scary-flammable.)

Other resources on the blog relating to layers/wool/keeping warm:
Point6 Sock Review (and why wool socks are pretty much what we wear)
Layers (The Long Underwear Edition) - Columbia and Icebreaker review
Dressing Kids for Winter

Basically, in our family, if we are outdoors at all (hiking, skiing, biking, etc.), we put ourselves AND the kids in anything BUT cotton.  We do have some great base layers (which I highly recommend) for them from Icebreaker and then usually use fleece outer layers + wind/rain/snow protection.

Today we are linking up to a couple of different blogs that are super knowledgeable about the cold and staying warm and dry.  Both have been guest bloggers here in the past with excellent articles: Fall is Better than Spring and Toddlers in the Wild. Make sure you check out what they have to say!

Daily Link-Ups (please be patient if their links aren't quite live yet - they're coming!):
Tanya of Family Adventures in the Canadian Rockies:  Snow, Puddles and Mud - Oh My! (Outfitting Your Family for the Outdoors on a Budget)
Jen of Wilderness for Kids: Having a Soaking Wet Good Time: How to have Fun with Kids in the Rain

A Chance to Win Some Wool/Outerwear
We would like to thank Point6, Icebreaker, and Polarn O. Pyret profusely for their generous contributions to this week and mission.  Please visit their Facebook pages (linked on their names in previous sentence) and give them some love!

Today there is an opportunity to win the following prizes:
- Sock package from Point6 (1 winner)
- T-Shirt from Icebreaker - one girls, one boys (2 winners)
- $50 Gift Certificate to Polarn O. Pyret (1 winner)
**#extragear: Be sure to check out our Facebook page today to have a chance to win a Kid's Patagonia Torrentshell Jacket from Tiny Trekker!**

To enter, please use the Rafflecopter Widgets below.  If you DON'T see them, simply refresh your page.  I know this is a bit more confusing, but is SUPER helpful during a big event!

Also, in an effort to make entering these giveaways a bit easier without having to do a zillion things to gain extra entries, I am only asking that you like our Facebook page  (and watch for #extragear giveaways!) and follow us on Twitter (if you are into that!) now.  We'd also love for you to subscribe via RSS (orange button on the right sidebar) so you don't miss a thing.  Thanks so much for reading and your support!

The Fine Print (in bold...):
Winners will be drawn randomly and announced on this post Tuesday.  It is your responsibility to check-in and email me at mountainmamatales(at)gmail(dot)com within 24 hours to claim your prize. We're working hard to truly get winners their gear in time for Screen Free Week!


Congratulations to... 
Naomi O. who won the Point6 giveaway 
Nichole B. who won the girl's Icebreaker t-shirt
Anna S. who won the boy's Icebreaker t-shirt
Carrie H. who won the Polarn O. Pyret Gift Certifcate


Winners, email me ASAP (within 24 hours) with your mailing address and sizes if applicable!  

If you have ANY questions about using Rafflecopter or entering, please feel free to email me! mountainmamatales(at)gmail(dot)com  Good luck and happy adventuring!!
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