PREP long johns thermal underwear

[Intestinal Fortitude]

OK . . . so in your opinion, what is "the best" thermal underwear?

wool? cotton? cotton/wool? microfiber fleece? silk? silk/wool? cashmere? something else?

thicknesses?

 

[Walrus Whisperer]

Depends on if you dont want itchy wool next to your skin.....

 

[Intestinal Fortitude]

Depends on if you dont want itchy wool next to your skin.....

if wool, merino wool and cashmere certainly not itchy - can be pricey

 

[2dollarbill]

good ole cotton works for me. Temps below 30 have me wearing some long ones or I'll be whining like a little girl.

2db

 

[raven]

Depends.
Are you wearing anything else?
Does wool itch your "nethers"?
Have you ever put silk in the dryer . . . and successfully been able to wear it a second time?
Are you familiar with "Monkey Butt Powder"?

Three categories seem to apply. Moisture wicking, Durability, odor retention.
You can get more info from

How to Choose Base Layers | REI Co-op

In order to stay dry and comfortable, you need to choose the right underwear (base layer). Learn how moisture-wicking fabrics differ and what works best for your outdoor adventure.

www.rei.com

 

[summerthyme]

Silk is a wonderful base layer, and much warmer than you'd suppose. For bitter cold, silk with wool over, and then some type of wind blocking fabric will keep you TOO warm if you're not careful, especially if you're active.

Cashmere feels wonderful, but doesn't hold up to the abrasion long johns are subject to.

Years ago (at least 20!) I found a sale on a top name brand wool long john's, which were lined with a soft polyester wicking knit. They were normally $30 a pair, on clearance for $3! I bought 12 pairs.

Hubby and I have worn them ever since... I've still got 3 new, unworn pairs in the cedar chest! Of the ones we've used, and washed, and used... I've replaced the elastic, and twice on a couple of pairs. Worth it, because the fabric is still holding up remarkably well.

Some of the new high tech synthetics are warm... the 'Omni-heat" (Columbia brand?) stuff has a heat reflective liner that holds your body heat in... again, if you are active, they may be too warm. But for something like ice fishing, or riding snowmobiles, they are great. Also, for older folks whose thermostats and body heat doesn't work like they used to.

Above all, avoid cotton!

Summerthyme

 

[summerthyme]

Depends.
Are you wearing anything else?
Does wool itch your "nethers"?
Have you ever put silk in the dryer . . . and successfully been able to wear it a second time?
Are you familiar with "Monkey Butt Powder"?

Three categories seem to apply. Moisture wicking, Durability, odor retention.
You can get more info from

How to Choose Base Layers | REI Co-op

In order to stay dry and comfortable, you need to choose the right underwear (base layer). Learn how moisture-wicking fabrics differ and what works best for your outdoor adventure.

www.rei.com

I found a fantastic deal on silk jersey knit fabric a few years ago. $7.50 a yard is a deal, compared to $48!

It was labeled dry clean only. I'm not dry cleaning my night shirts and long johns! So I cut a 6" x6" measured square of fabric and ran it through a regular (cold water) wash. It came out of the dryer looking like new, and exactly the original size!

So, I made night shirts, base layer turtlenecks, and sock liners. The night shirts got the most use, and after 9 years, are dying... NOT the silk fabric, exactly... but I sewed them with polyester thread, and over the years, it wore out the silk at the seams.

I've got several more yards left, and will get making more, but this time, I've got silk thread to sew with.

Summerthyme

 

[BadMedicine]

The plain fleece pajama bottoms that a lot of "pajamas" are printed on these days are synthetic and great for wicking moisture away from body & insulating. Can be doubled or tripled up. Layering is best especially if you're going to have varying activity levels.. MOST IMPORTANT in very cold and windy weather is DO NOT SWEAT.. slow and methodical, or layer down! Stay dry! hard to dry clothes in cold weather once wet!

 

[Publius]

Polypropylene long underwear is what the military is using these days, can be found as military surplus and civilian market and may be priced on the high end.
One problem with this fabric is sweat and they can smell bad just after one day of use some get away with wearing them three days in a row! When you can smell your self it's bad.
Clothes dryer is hard on this product so air dry on a hanger is best.

 

[GB Appling]

I agree with the layers method with soft, cuddly and silky next to your skin. lol

 

[teedee]

My father used to have some long johns called duofold (sp). they were wool with a inner lining of cotton? that worked very well. I now have several pairs of silk lowers, they keep you warm without getting to hot inside the house.

 

[Scrapman]

When I was a skinny young lad I would wear sweat pants as my base layer .

 

[nomifyle]

I'm in the south and its cotton for me. I've got tights I can wear too. I usually just use my long underware are pjs if its particularly cold. I have some flannel lined satin night gowns and pjs. I bought them before I moved to the woods, for living here. In New Orleans they generally would be too warm except maybe the night gowns if the weather was really cold. I lived there many years with just a natural gas heater in one or two rooms and the bathroom for heat. The cold there is very damp.

 

[Millwright]

Try some base layer.

That under Carhartt pants is about the most I wear in winter...and I hate to be cold.

Get some firehose pants, jeans suck in cold and wind.

 

[Griz3752]

OK . . . so in your opinion, what is "the best" thermal underwear?

wool? cotton? cotton/wool? microfiber fleece? silk? silk/wool? cashmere? something else?

thicknesses?

Application & Activity Specific I think
Static position? On foot or XCountry Skies?
Temp range?

Like most cold weather solutions, layering is where to start.

 

[Sacajawea]

Most base layers come in lightweight, mid-weight & heavyweight densities. I mostly wear lightweight ones thru the winter, because I'm in/outside a lot. The light & midweights are synthetic, but the "work outdoors" ones are wool.

 

[WalknTrot]

My heavy ones are polypropylene but I hardly ever wear them because they are too hot. Of course, we all grew up with plain old cotton waffles, and even they always worked pretty good. Whatever you're wearing, don't make it so heavy you sweat, and try to avoid falling in the lake or swamp - and you'll probably be fine.

 

[Genevieve]

I have a set of the polypropylene, a set of the cotton "waffle" knit and I have some fleece lined leggings that work darn good (wish they made fleece lined tops to go with them). I just layer a tank, thermal henley and fleece shirt with the leggings

My problem is gloves that will keep my hands warm

 

[KFhunter]

How long between washin? Wool best for extended use without washing

 

[ainitfunny]

Well, I PAID $65 a pair for COLUMBIA OMNI-HEAT base layer (mens) and got two pair. Very much woth it.
And I have bought everything else!

Long Johns been my special focus of attention since i was a kid, freezing in MICHIGAN WINTERS.

I have focused on COLUMBIA OMNI-HEAT
REFLECTIVE LAYER ( like MYLAR layer) clothing since they first came out. I have a Omni-Heat HAT, LONG JOHNS, Down JACKET with omni-heat lining, VEST, SNOW PANTS, and i 'm getting a pair of omni-heat gloves.

I'm low income, But COLUMBIA omni-heat is WORTH IT, BETTER THAN EVERYTHING ELSE! I could sleep in a snowdrift, no problem!

 

[Warthog]

100% Polypropylene is what I had on in the winter working outside on night shift. Morgan Mills Performance Wear. Probably operating out of China or India by now, but were made in USA in late 90's!

 

[mistaken1]

Cotton sucks up moisture and does not like to let go, bad deal for extended stays in the cold.
Military surplus Gen III can be found pretty cheap and works well.
Some of the Gen II stuff contains silver to reduce bacteria and odor.
Layer 1 and layer 2 for underwear.
Layer 1 is a very warm silk weight and layer 2 is a waffle fleece that is really warm.
All of it is moisture wicking.

Extended Climate Warfighter Clothing System

Mission: Personal protection from extreme weather environments

www.military.com

Extended Cold Weather Clothing System - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[AlfaMan]

Polypropylene long underwear is what the military is using these days, can be found as military surplus and civilian market and may be priced on the high end.
One problem with this fabric is sweat and they can smell bad just after one day of use some get away with wearing them three days in as row! When you can smell your self it's bad.
Clothes dryer is hard on this product so air dry on a hanger is best.

I do the polypropylene long johns too. I work outside all winter and the .mil poly long johns are the best things I've found. I just use the bottoms; I'd roast wearing the tops along with the bottoms. No sweat/smell issues in my instance. But then again I'm outside all day long inspecting so don't have much opportunity to warm up either.

That and a pair of jeans, my bright yellow reflective safety coat, safety vest, fingerless gloves, steel toed safety boots and to top it off my afghanka hat (along with the mandatory knee pads) and I look like a reject from a Village People video shoot But I'm safe and warm and my customers know I'm there to do the job-not half a** an inspection then duck inside for 15 minutes to warm up off and on all day...............

Buy them from Coleman's surplus in PA-they sell new very cheap and lightly used/issued even cheaper.

And if you're wearing long johns; don't forget to wear a hat. A huge amount of heat radiates out of your noggin and can chill you very quickly.

 

[bracketquant]

Polypropylene outside, when working. The layers on top of that are determined by how much work, for how long, and what the weather is.

Cotton inside, when not working, other than throwing another log in the wood stove.

 

[Red Baron]

I do the polypropylene long johns too. I work outside all winter and the .mil poly long johns are the best things I've found. I just use the bottoms; I'd roast wearing the tops along with the bottoms. No sweat/smell issues in my instance. But then again I'm outside all day long inspecting so don't have much opportunity to warm up either.

That and a pair of jeans, my bright yellow reflective safety coat, safety vest, fingerless gloves, steel toed safety boots and to top it off my afghanka hat (along with the mandatory knee pads) and I look like a reject from a Village People video shoot But I'm safe and warm and my customers know I'm there to do the job-not half a** an inspection then duck inside for 15 minutes to warm up off and on all day...............

Buy them from Coleman's surplus in PA-they sell new very cheap and lightly used/issued even cheaper.

And if you're wearing long johns; don't forget to wear a hat. A huge amount of heat radiates out of your noggin and can chill you very quickly.

I fully agree about the modern mil-spec polyester long johns. I have two sets of the tan middle weight garments. I even have the matching balaclava.

These guys are fairly reasonable,

Polypropylene Cold Weather Drawers - Genuine Military Coyote - New - Ammo Can Man

ammocanman.com

Genuine Military Coyote Polypropylene Cold Weather Undershirt | Ammo Can Man

New Genuine Military Coyote Polypropylene Cold Weather Undershirt. Stay warm in the harshest environments with these underwear shirts made specifically for US Marines.

ammocanman.com

 

[Publius]

I have a set of the polypropylene, a set of the cotton "waffle" knit and I have some fleece lined leggings that work darn good (wish they made fleece lined tops to go with them). I just layer a tank, thermal henley and fleece shirt with the leggings

My problem is gloves that will keep my hands warm

You may want to do a search for Air Force Flyers N-4B Mittens (military Surplus) and they may not be the style you want but price is right. I have a few pair and they are quite warm and intended for extreme cold weather (arctic) and medium size I have room for layering of gloves if needed and it does not get that cold around here.
There is also Outdoor Research they carry gloves and mittens and the price they ask for their products I think will put you off.

 

[SurvivalRing]

I wear micro fleece, and it works for me…and it gets damn cold here in Wyoming. While working at the Honor Farm, I wore cotton long johns, and supplied Wrangler jeans, long sleeve shirts, and pricey Carrhart overcoats. I wore two pairs of wool socks, and a T-shirt under the dress shirt with the ag logo embroidered and DOC patches.

I also supplied my own balaclava, which helped tremendously. Out in the corrals or hay yard, in the dead of winter, it easily hit 20 or 30° below, before wind chill. In nine years, I never got pneumonia, frostbite, or snowblindness…so I got that going for me.

Here in retirement, I layer up for the cold when walking the pupsters, and THEY have warm doggy coats, too…but they provide their own long underwear.

I’ve got several pairs of winter gloves, including very warm wool gloves that are awesome, with those little rubber dots that provide texture for grabbing things in the frozen north…of the southern Wyoming Rockies.

My van is still running perfectly, and is cold proofed down to 40° below. With the snow we’re expecting the next couple of days, I’ve got no worries…but I do have two throw pillows, two quilts, a twin size inflatable air mattress and a manual air bellows pump to inflate it…just in case…

 

[AlfaMan]

I fully agree about the modern mil-spec polyester long johns. I have two sets of the tan middle weight garments. I even have the matching balaclava.

The guys are fairly reasonable,

Genuine Surplus - Military Clothing & Footwear - Page 1 - Army Surplus Warehouse, Inc.

armysurpluswarehouse.com

Coleman's surplus is probably the best military surplus store I've ever seen. They have literally everything it seems.

 

[Jackpine Savage]

I grew up with cotton thermals. When you worked up a sweat, shoveling, playing, etc, they would get damp, and then you would get cold. They make great shop rags

When I started winter camping I discovered polypropylene by Helle Hanson. They were heaven compared to cotton. But like someone mentioned the fibers held body odor. After a few days camping you were ripe to say the least.

After Helle Hanson came Patagonia Capilene. It's similar to polypropylene but the fiber doesn't hold odor nearly as bad. Capilene is still my gold standard. But unfortunately Patagonia is pretty woke. Cabelas MTP is very similar and I would recommend it.

Most of the poly types come in light, medium, and heavyweight. I use mostly the light and medium. The heavyweight stuff is nice when you standing out on the ice fishing or sitting on a deer stand.

Merino wool is another great choice. The biggest downside is that it is usually much more expensive unless you can find a deal. Smartwool is one brand.

I have a couple pieces of Duofold that are super warm. But they don't stretch like poly. When physically active I notice that I get fatigued faster when I wear it.

I plan on trying some of the military surplus ECWCS layers. Much of that was made by some of the big names like Patagonia.

 

[tech]

Really haven't needed any in the last 40 years, but have silk, polyester, aramid, cotton, & polypropylene bottoms and tops...and flannel-lined jeans. The jeans are usually enough by themselves but occasionally use the aramid under the work uniform.
Got an alpaca sweater...can't imagine it being cold enough for long johns made out of that material. Maybe in northern Canada or Antarctica.

 

[Codeno]

I didn't have time to read the responses, this is probably repeat.

We have a lot of below zero days here, with quite a bit of wind - serious wind chills many days. For bottoms I wear Duofold's wool cotton blend with Minus 33's Merino wool bottoms over those, under Carhartt duck double front dungarees, which break the wind nicely. On top I wear the Duofold wool cotton blend, under a heavy sweatshirt, under a hooded Carhartt duck arctic coat, which also breaks the wind. Wool stocking cap, deerskin choppers with thick wool liners, waterproof Rocky 800 gram Thinsulate boots.

 

[Intestinal Fortitude]

Try some base layer.

That under Carhartt pants is about the most I wear in winter...and I hate to be cold.

Get some firehose pants, jeans suck in cold and wind.

I have the Duluth firehose pants both flannel and fleece lined. they are great.
I have them "oversize" to wear other layers under.

 

[Codeno]

I have a couple pieces of Duofold that are super warm. But they don't stretch like poly. When physically active I notice that I get fatigued faster when I wear it.

That's interesting, mulling now. ^^^^

Grew up on cotton thermals too, in Denver. Didn't know any better until I moved up into the mountains.

 

[spinner]

I love the wool/cotton Duofolds, but I can't find them this year. They are still listed multiple places, but are unavailable. I have old ones I still wear that are getting thin and worn. I DO NOT like synthetics. I thought I saw that they were discontinuing the Originals, I certainly hope not! Since Champion bought Duofold the Originals have gotten thinner and do not wear as well, but I still like them the best. I have a Duofold union suit that is about 35 years old. It doesn't get worn often, only in the coldest weather, and it is much nicer fabric and WARM.

 

[Meemur]

These aren't heavy duty, but it's generally what I can get teenage girls to wear: Cuddl Duds -- available at Kohl's, Amazon, and other places.

It's extremely hard to get many teen girls to wear thermals -- they think they look fat! Cuddl Duds are cute and do add some warmth.

 

[night driver]

CUDDLE DUDS; FTW!!!

RELIC and I BOTH endorse them for PJ's and cold weather wear!!

 

[Intestinal Fortitude]

Apparently there is another material rarely used but . . .
and that is MOHAIR which is Angora Goat fleece (sometimes called CASHGORA - {cashmere/angora} )

 

[Millwright]

Clearly, cultural appropriation.

Wypeepo wearing dreadlocks.

 

[Codeno]

I love the wool/cotton Duofolds, but I can't find them this year. They are still listed multiple places, but are unavailable. I have old ones I still wear that are getting thin and worn. I DO NOT like synthetics. I thought I saw that they were discontinuing the Originals, I certainly hope not! Since Champion bought Duofold the Originals have gotten thinner and do not wear as well, but I still like them the best. I have a Duofold union suit that is about 35 years old. It doesn't get worn often, only in the coldest weather, and it is much nicer fabric and WARM.

I wore out my old ones too, and like most everything else, the old ones were better (they were all gray), because the wool content was around 40%, and the new are around 25%. The new substandard version are now called "originals", which they are not, and which pisses me off. Duofold had a rich history of their own, but got sucked up along the way by Hanes/Champion. I ordered last time directly from Champion, but I just now went there, and can't find anything but men's duofold tops.

The Carhartt duck double front dungarees which I mentioned above have been ruined also, not at all what they used to be. I taught my daughters at a young age that if something is superior, lasts a long time, needs no improvement, etc., "they" will take it from us, one way or another, whether it be a computer program or a pair of socks.

 

[Meemur]

I taught my daughters at a young age that if something is superior, lasts a long time, needs no improvement, etc., "they" will take it from us, one way or another, whether it be a computer program or a pair of socks.

That was part of the reason I taught myself to sew. A lot of women's fashions are immodest, not to mention that the material gets thinner and thinner with each passing year.