My understanding has always been that merino doesn’t wick as well as synthetic, but does keep you warmer. Consequently it’s not as good as synthetic next to the skin on high-exertion activities in colder weather when you need moisture transported away quickly (such as biking), especially if you’re stopping a lot and subject to windchill as your body temp drops (and consequently have slow-drying, damp wool sitting against your skin).

However, as a mid-layer I think it’s great for that reason – it holds heat when damp, breaths well and wicks.

100% agree on the sock thing as well, Merino all the way for all except the height of summer.

+1. Always wear merino socks through the winter – warm when wet.

On a sidenote, the On-One wool/Coolmax tops are my go-to tops unless it’s very warm or I’m doing an exercise similar to the above. I find the merino warm and fine as a base in cooler weather, while the coolmax on the back wicks well and doesn’t chill while moving.

There’s a merino t-shirt in a drawer somewhere, too many better tops to wear to use it. Even a cotton T-shirt is better for uphill skiing, it soaks up all the sweat so when you take it off at the top everything over it is bone dry and keeps you warm on the way down.

Merino for everything. I can only assume other peoples bodies react differently as too me the advantages are almost universal. You do need the good stuff though and a very thin one for summer. Embers and Howies are good.

I think the wicking is good, but slower than synthetic. You’ll also notice the water moves away from the skin and then sticks to the outside a bit like you’ve been in thick mist – then it blows away… a bit like the stink.

The aldi one’s are terrible and itchy and don’t work

I’ve had good experience with a long sleeve ice breaker merino and a synthetic Cycling top (short sleeve) to wick the sweat away. Non pongy and seems to keep me dry-ish and warm.

I’m still not sure if it’s just psychological though. Anyone else got experience with that combo can comment?

Even a cotton T-shirt is better

I’m sorry, but that’s nonsense – cotton is a liability for any amount of activity.

You ain’t gonna beat a good old fashioned string vest as your base layer.

Merino’s good but for me it has its limitations. Worst one is when it does get wet it stays wet longer than a synthetic. Different qualities as well – coarse slightly itchy layers and fine-but-fragile layers.

ime the odour argument against synthetics is a non-starter – simply wash them after every use.

rocketman – Member

ime the odour argument against synthetics is a non-starter – simply wash them after every use.

1) this is not always practical – do i need to wash my commuting kit every day? (my commute is only about 12k, and in winter i’m pretty cold for most of it)

2) i’ve had synthetic layers that smell awful as they come out of the washing machine

As you didn’t quote me in full, pjbarton, I will. Don’t diss it till you’ve tried it. If I use a merino and keep it on it’s clammy and wet, if I take it off the layers over have got wet so aren’t as warm as if you’ve removed the cotton sponge. Bear in mind that an hour flat out uphill gains you over 1000m with a temperature drop of about 7°C and wind chill increasing a lot.

Even a cotton T-shirt is better for uphill skiing, it soaks up all the sweat so when you take it off at the top everything over it is bone dry and keeps you warm on the way down.

Intersting approach to layering yo’ve got there Edukator and one I haven’t seen yet in the back country, though I’ve see plenty of adding/removing mid layers. Not sure I fancy the idea of stripping to the flesh at the top of a 1000m vertical skin to take of a base layer.

ime the odour argument against synthetics is a non-starter – simply wash them after every use.

They can reach their limit over a few years though, whereas merino doesn’t. I’ve got some synthetics that have a faint hum about them now even when they’ve just come out of the machine, and seem to get up to a really horrible stink much quicker than they used to.

Also as awhiles says it’s annoying/wasteful to wash commuting kit every day.

Don’t like it as a base layer, for socks it’s ace and works well as a mid layer on cold days.

As has already been said, gets clammy and then fells cold. Plus I find it itchy even if others say it’s not.

Full quote or not, no-one wants… “it soaks up all the sweat”

Unless you’ve invented the spacesuits from Dune that is.

Wick is the trick

I like my icebreaker merino base layer, especially for cold winter night rides. Very cosy!

For me it’s synthetic base layer next to the skin with merino on top for cold conditions. Thus avoiding the clamminess in the pub after.

Maybe I have a sensitive nose: I’ve been in fell races where I’ve nearly gagged near the start from plastic top stink runners. I got given a RAB synthetic top which is super light and feels lovely, but it makes me stink in minutes so it stays in the drawer.

Wear it in the winter, I’ve got Craft and HH base layers and they just aren’t comfortable when wet, which Merino manages to remain and you don’t get that horrible cold shirt feel when a blast of air hits damp merino.

It’s the socks that really win though, regularly just barge through cold fords with Wool socks on knowing that within a couple of minutes the warmth in my feet will have heated up the wet sock, something that just doesn’t happen with other fabrics.

I’m super sweaty and I find merino stuff not good at all like you said.. holds it in – stays wet for ages. And the 100% stuff is its not very durable at all.

But I do wear lots of icebreaker because the cut makes my biceps look bigger than they really are.

Love it in socks. Not impressed for base/mid layers, gets way too sodden with sweat and then colder than cheaper synthetics.

The solution to the smelly Hellies is occasionally splashing some white vinegar on the worst areas and chucking some in the washing machine too. Kills all the bacteria!

You ain’t gonna beat a good old fashioned string vest as your base layer.

I’ve got a Castelli Coolmax one. In all seriousness, in very warm or very cold conditions it’s bl00dy brilliant at shifting moisture away from the skin.

Some cheap Under armour base layers on amazon today (£7.70)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Under-Armour-Sonic-Compression-T-Shirt/dp/B00884KX52?

i’ve had synthetic layers that smell awful as they come out of the washing machine

Ditto, most of the synthetics I’ve had have to go after a year or two because the smell just gets too bad, even when just washed in proper baselayer anti-stink stuff. In fairness have a Pearl Izumi Minerale one now which seems to be holding up well, time will tell.

One of my howies NBL’s is 7 years old and apart from a few holes from brambles it’s still comfy, warm and relatively benign on the nostrils.

SportPursuit have SuperNatural merino back on sale. The 140gsm long sleeve tops are lovely. (£30)