Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Finally getting to chime in on this, now that I finished my summer tunic and got to test it.

I decided to try a lightweight wool over my linen shirt and pants. I had previously done linen over linen, and ended up soaked. With the wool over linen, the undershirt was still soaked, but the over tunic remained dry, implying that the over tunic was wicking away moisture from the under tunic and evaporating it (which is what wool over linen is supposed to do, from my research). Overall, I was at most as hot as the linen over linen, and I felt more comfortable.

For reference, we were outside when it was in the low 100s F, and did a short hike with full kit.



Edit: Also, my undershirt is very loose. I definitely agree that loose clothing is very helpful in staying cool. I tried to keep the short sleeves loose as well.

awesome looking kit and it is interesting what you say about wool/linen, maybe a thin wool surcoat would have done me better than the linen one I made?

Possibly! It's hard to tell for sure, but a lightweight wool tunic is never a bad thing to have. I don't know that I would have tried this experiment if I had a nice linen tunic or if I hadn't found this particular wool. It is very easy to work with and very comfortable.

My apprentice and I posing in front of our booth a few weeks ago. My shirt, jerkin, pants, and cloak are all linen, so it breathes really well and keeps me pretty comfortable in the southern California summer. I do have a leather jerkin and boiled wool cloak for the one or two months of the year where I need the warmth.

My apprentice is wearing leather, fur, and mail, so he was not nearly as comfortable...

This all linen, that day it was in the high 90's in SoCal. Was as comfortable as I could be.