WoolWeenies Club

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

I personally won't support and don't trust '100% merino wool' from China, and I just won't buy it no matter how cheap.

---

I only check in on this thread from time to time, so maybe this discussion has already occurred, re ethically raised/manufactured wool products?

I don't know anything about Kombi, but Icebreaker seems to make a priority of looking at sustainability and ethics at every stage of production -- there's quite a bit of space on their website devoted to this topic.

Icebreaker does send its raw wool to China for processing, and as someone who was trying to boycott anything made in China long before it was fashionable to do so, I was initially disappointed to learn this, but as I watched their videos about their production facilities, I felt reassured that they are processing their wool in a manner that is kind to the environment and humane to their workers.

I like supporting companies like this, even if it is a little harder on my pocketbook. I figure that for a quality product that supports ethical practices, it's probably money well spent, and if I take good care of my woolens, they'll last a good while.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PamNY

Has anyone tried merino base layer pieces by Kombi? It's less expensive than Smartwool or Icebreaker, but I don't want inferior merino.

Pam

---

Yes, Pam...I have, and honestly I wouldn't purchase a Kombi piece again. For starters, the top I bought from Sierra Trading Post was not 100% merino wool...infact, it was only like 12% merino and the rest was some other material, I forget what it was. It was really cheap (like $15) so I should have known that I was getting what I paid for. It doesn't wick moisture nearly as well as some of my other 100% merino wool tops do...and the fit isn't all that great either. It has these weird seams on the sides (I suppose they would be "princess seams"), that make it fit awkward on me. I would steer clear of Kombi stuff.

I went to a thrift store today and scored bigtime.

Two comfortable fitting black turtlenecks- one was all merino and $12, and the other was 100% cashmere and was $22 ..."as is". Just had a few tiny holes in one elbow that I can easily darn. :D :D :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

Says their merino wool items are from China.
I personally won't support and don't trust '100% merino wool' from China, and I just won't buy it no matter how cheap.

---

Judging from the origin statement on STP, that threshold would eliminate a bulk of theiir merino*, including Icebreaker and Ibex (from my really quick scan of their available products). Most of the Smartwool socks are USA, but "imported yarn" - and some are Korean. Perhaps older stuff from thrift stores would get you non-Chinese stuff (is China your only distrust??), but even then, you never know....

* Of 296 items with the word "Merino" in it...100 also have "China" in the product description.

IME most Smartwool socks (and other garments) come from China. You can still find some US-knit SW socks, but not by mail order - you have to read the label on every pair.

I have yet to see anything from Ibex that comes from China. Just browsing their website I'm seeing a lot of final assembly done in Fiji, which is new. Still, not to discount wages and hours, but the most toxic parts of the garment trade are in spinning and dyeing, which is still done in NZ for the vast majority of their product. And their website discloses fiber, fabric and garment source for every item they sell, which is admirable in my book.

Beyond country of origin labeling, I'm not sure what else we can do. TransFair is starting a pilot project next year to certify cotton apparel and linens, but that's next year, and they don't mention wool. :(

IAE I don't trust a re-seller's representation of country of origin, since with many brands, the same garment is made at multiple factories (which is why you have to read the label on every pair of SW socks).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OakLeaf

I have yet to see anything from Ibex that comes from China. Just browsing their website I'm seeing a lot of final assembly done in Fiji, which is new. Still, not to discount wages and hours, but the most toxic parts of the garment trade are in spinning and dyeing, which is still done in NZ for the vast majority of their product. And their website discloses fiber, fabric and garment source for every item they sell, which is admirable in my book..

---

That's one reason I am a big Ibex fan. They also buy their wool from ranchers who participate in a program that promotes humane treatment of sheep in commercial sheep ranching of New Zealand. I still check their country of origin when ordering a particular item, just out of habit, because I think I did notice some Chinese items a few years ago in their offerings. Haven't checked lately, but I do check any items that go into my shopping cart.
I'm not going to 'save the world' by avoiding Chinese wool products, but I believe China is the worst offender in terms of both worker and animal abuse (that's one major reason their products are so cheap), so I won't buy their products if I can help it. Just my preference.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OakLeaf

I have yet to see anything from Ibex that comes from China. Just browsing their website I'm seeing a lot of final assembly done in Fiji, which is new. Still, not to discount wages and hours, but the most toxic parts of the garment trade are in spinning and dyeing, which is still done in NZ for the vast majority of their product. And their website discloses fiber, fabric and garment source for every item they sell, which is admirable in my book.

---

My Ibex bike jersey (I think it's called "Spin") says "Made in China".
My Ibex shak jersey says "Made in USA of imported fabric".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 7rider

My Ibex bike jersey (I think it's called "Spin") says "Made in China".
My Ibex shak jersey says "Made in USA of imported fabric".

---

Current model Shak jersey is fiber and fabric from NZ (as with most of their stuff), final assembly in USA.

"Spin" jersey is apparently discontinued. IAE you can look up any item on their website.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OakLeaf

"Spin" jersey is apparently discontinued. IAE you can look up any item on their website.

---

Yes, I couldn't find it on their site. (it's about 2 y.o.)
Coincidence perhaps that it, um, is probably my least favorite piece??? ;)

Icebreaker has some excellent videos showing their production and manufacturing processes:

http://www.icebreaker.com/site/philo...ntsupplychain/

If they truly are treating their workers well and keeping their environmental impacts to a minimum, then I don't mind that the wool originates in NZ but gets processed and finished in China.

I am filled with sadness over my one Icebreaker piece. It's at least 5 years old, but it has been shrinking and shrinking and shrinking... until after trying to wear it last week, I decided it was over.

My love affair is over. Sigh.

None of my Ibex has shrunk. (oops, I take that back, a recalled jacket I had shrank. But it was recalled, so who am I to complain?)

(oh, and I treat my Ibex and my Icebreaker exactly the same: machine wash in cold with Ecos detergent and drip-dry.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KnottedYet

I am filled with sadness over my one Icebreaker piece. It's at least 5 years old, but it has been shrinking and shrinking and shrinking... until after trying to wear it last week, I decided it was over.

---

I'm sorry to hear of your loss, but glad that you posted this. I've been thinking about ordering some Icebreaker...maybe I'll hold off.

OTOH, I did get two new Smartwool tops today- a lightweight long sleeve v-neck, and a short-sleeve microweight tee :)

I had a sweater that was exhibiting that kind of behavior. Yesterday I washed it and brutally stretched it before blocking it to dry. We'll see what happens...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KnottedYet

I am filled with sadness over my one Icebreaker piece. It's at least 5 years old, but it has been shrinking and shrinking and shrinking... until after trying to wear it last week, I decided it was over.

---

So you got 5 years out of it? That sounds decent.

I picked up an Icebreaker tank top w/ shelf bra and a jacket when I was NZ earlier this year. I couldn't resist the sales, and the exchange rate was in my favor. Also have two thin base layer tops that I acquired in last winter's post-Christmas splurge. I wear them all the time. So far, so good.

I will let you know in 5 years if any of these pieces are still holding up or not.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NbyNW

So you got 5 years out of it? That sounds decent.

---

Oh yes, very decent! But I loved that thing, and my heart is broken that I can't wear it any more... :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KnottedYet

Oh yes, very decent! But I loved that thing, and my heart is broken that I can't wear it any more... :(

---

My husband has a strategy where if he finds something he likes, he will go back and buy several more of the same exact thing. So later when they alter the style to something he doesn't like or discontinue it altogether, he's got reserves, or he's been rotating so many pieces that they don't wear out as fast.

I realize this is kind of off the cycling topic, but...Anyone have favorite wool gloves for winter sports such as skiing?

My little Smartwool liner gloves were all I brought on my last backcountry trip - it wasn't supposed to be that cold/snowy - they got trashed!

Is there anything that is more solid, grippy (for hanging onto poles, etc.), durable, and...dare I say...waterproof (or close to)?

- Mariposa

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mariposa

I realize this is kind of off the cycling topic, but...Anyone have favorite wool gloves for winter sports such as skiing?

My little Smartwool liner gloves were all I brought on my last backcountry trip - it wasn't supposed to be that cold/snowy - they got trashed!

Is there anything that is more solid, grippy (for hanging onto poles, etc.), durable, and...dare I say...waterproof (or close to)?

- Mariposa

---

I've been on the quest for the perfect winter glove for a long time. I really like a lot of the Ibex gloves but they simply don't have anything beyond lightly weather-resistant soft shells. Unless I'm really missing something, in which case I'm sure y'all will gladly enable me... :eek:

For mildly cold (30-40) my new favorite glove is the Shak Two Layer glove. It picks up lots of moisture, though.

For moderate cold (20-30F) I've been reasonably happy with the Ibex Kilometer II gloves that are wool inside/climashell outside, but again these are absolutely not waterproof only water resistant.

For cold cold (<20F) I finally got tired of crappy cheap ski gloves and splurged on these Black Diamond Guide gloves and have never looked back. Leather palm, full goretex liner, and stuffed with gobs of soft wool fleece stuffed inside. I actually can't wear these when it's warmer than 25F because my hands overheat. I luff them! :D

Oh wow Dianyla, my husband and I both have those Black Diamond Guide gloves (in black) and yes they are insanely bulletproof for the very coldest conditions! Great for snowshoeing, hiking in the dead of winter, and blizzard wear!

For me they are too bulky for biking though (prolly wouldn't be biking in sub zero anyway).
My best system for biking in the cold for over an hour is to wear some thin cashmere 'ladies' fashion gloves as a fuzzy soft wool liner, then good pair of polartec-lined windstopper women's gloves, then last on top of those a pair of men's Manzella brand ski shell gloves which are quite warm, lightweight, & windstopper. This last pair is loose and slips on well over the other two gloves and is thin and flexible so that I can still work the brifters. The leather grips well on my handlebars. They are loose enough to allow another layer of air to keep my hand warm.

I have a pair of Cabella mittens that rock for very cold weather. I can't wear them above 25 degrees. If it's super cold (like below 5 degrees) I can fit a pair of silk liners underneath, or liners that hold chemical heat packs.
I used these hiking in Lake Placid when it was -14 degrees out and there was no snow for x country skiing.

I'm not sure of the quality (but I'm about to find out), but Cabela's has wool base-layer bottoms and tops in the Bargain Cave for $19.95. Only one color choice.

Deb

I also have the BD guide gloves. I find their liner is overkill for skiing, so I tend to use other glove liners & just use the shell. I have a pair of insulate ibex gloves that I like.

Mostly for skiing I just tend to use a goretex outer gloves and have various liner gloves that I use inside. I do like to use a softshell glove as a liner, so that if I take off the bulky goretex glove, the glove I have underneath is still waterproof.

I have a lot of icebreaker, and none of it has ever shrunk on me.

I went to TJmaxx yesterday, and they had a ton of smartwool, icebreaker, and various other brands of merino wool socks (keen included)... the ski socks ran about $10, and the hiking socks a bit less.

They also had a lot of merino wool sweaters, etc.

They also had marmot and cloudveil jackets... There were some really nice cloudveil ski gloves for about $50, and they had some of the cloudveil run don't walk baselayers for about $50 (Okay, not merino - but I love the run don't walks)

I did manage to avoid buying the socks, because I have more merino wool socks than 10 people need - but did get a couple merino wool turtle neck casual sweaters.

Wow, I have never seen any Smart Wool or Icebreaker or anything good at the TJ Maxx by me. They have some Nike stuff, but that's it. And none of it is in my size. Maybe I should go look tomorrow.

I was surprised, because while I've seen smartwool at tjmaxx and marshall's before, I've never seen icebreaker - even if it's just socks.

iI'm going to try going back in a couple of months and seeing if there's any remaining on clearance. I'm hoping not enough people really know what icebreaker is and it won't sell well.

Thank you for all the replies!

I ended up getting some gore-tex mitts at a used-gear store.

I figure I can wear my thin-ish wool gloves underneath as liners. They just breathe so well. :) I hope they still breathe through the gore-tex outer layer.

Sad, though, that the wool-glove manufacturers don't appear to offer any truly waterproof gloves or mittens. I would sure love that.

I was just packing for my ski trip and realized... I have waterproof wool gloves.

They're the smartwool competition gloves, waterproof leather outside, wool inside. I got 'em 3 or 4 years ago at sierra trading post and I've been using them for skiing ever since.

Here's what they look like, and I don't know if you can still get them. I have the women's version, and the red/black's kinda dumb... but they're very warm wool gloves.
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/2...s-For-Men.html

While I'm bragging about favorite wool pieces... I also have a smartwool blanket that I absolutely love and it's much softer than those throws that ibex sells:
http://trail-running.sierratradingpo...n-Blanket.html

And I further remembered what I do when it's really cold while skiing 'cause a friend who used to own an outdoor store in New England highly recommended it and 'cause the bf used to use 'em when he used to mountaineer & ice climb.

Dachstein boiled wool mittens. Kinda old school, but they keep your hands warm.

I have some goretex shell mittens from outdoor research (another sierra trading post) that I put over them, but the wool is supposed to resist getting wet & remains insulating if wet and a nice/icy shell is supposed to form around them that is insulating:

copied from elsewhere:
Ragg wool is the most natural of all spun wools. The natural lanolin remains in the fibre to repell water and remain warm even when wet. Boiled wool products are made by knitting them and then "boiling" them to tighten the weave and shrink them down to size this results in a very dense fabric. The boiled wool process results in a better insulated product.

http://www.joe-brown.com/outdoor-equ...lnmitts-2.html

some reviews here:
http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/review/...3/v/1/sp/#6382

and in case anyone ever wanted a merino wool sleeping bag, I use these in the summer or for a liner when travelling:

http://www.amazon.com/Slumberjack-Me.../dp/B0009J1F4W

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Catriona

And I further remembered what I do when it's really cold while skiing 'cause a friend who used to own an outdoor store in New England highly recommended it and 'cause the bf used to use 'em when he used to mountaineer & ice climb.

Dachstein boiled wool mittens. Kinda old school, but they keep your hands warm.

copied from elsewhere:
Ragg wool is the most natural of all spun wools. The natural lanolin remains in the fibre to repell water and remain warm even when wet. Boiled wool products are made by knitting them and then "boiling" them to tighten the weave and shrink them down to size this results in a very dense fabric. The boiled wool process results in a better insulated product.

http://www.joe-brown.com/outdoor-equ...lnmitts-2.html

some reviews here:
http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/review/...3/v/1/sp/#6382

---

Do you know if these Dachstein mittens be purchased anywhere in the US? I've tried looking myself but am coming up 'empty handed.'

Almost all the websites I'm pulling up selling them are in the UK. I bought mine from campmor a few years back. From the forums of people looking for them, at somepoint, ortovox bought dachsteins and you could buy them under the ortovox name:
http://mountaineer.com/store/merchan...egory_Code=020

That place has 'em for $50, which seems to be a lot for wool mittens.

I'll ask my friend up in New England, 'cause from what I could tell they were pretty big with the vermont/new englander crowd.

From reading this thread, if you get a really really big pair of ragg wool mittens, you can boil them yourself till they shrink down:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/arch...hp/t-2379.html

The person saying how to do that is DebW, I wonder if it's the same DebW on here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Catriona

I'll ask my friend up in New England, 'cause from what I could tell they were pretty big with the vermont/new englander crowd.

From reading this thread, if you get a really really big pair of ragg wool mittens, you can boil them yourself till they shrink down:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/arch...hp/t-2379.html

The person saying how to do that is DebW, I wonder if it's the same DebW on here.

---

Yup, same DebW. I believe I mentioned Dachsteins very early on in this thread. I've had mine for 30 years. I bought some for friends from Campmor about 7 years ago. I've not actually tried boiling my own.

Wore my Wallaroo boxers (Sugoi) for the first time today for running. It was around freezing point and I was planning to be out for at least 90 minutes.

I was skeptical (I don't wear boxers generally) but I completely forgot about them as soon as I walked out of the door. Very comfy, didn't grip me or pinch me in any way. And my bum stayed nicely warm.

I was a wool-lady on my run: only my shoes, my tights and my windbreaker jackets were not made of wool. I had wool socks, a thick-ish Icebreaker top, wool boxers, wool bra, wool gloves, and wool beanie.

My name is Grog and I am a woolweenie.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kmehrzad

Do you know if these Dachstein mittens be purchased anywhere in the US? I've tried looking myself but am coming up 'empty handed.'

---

I was wondering the same thing! How ridiculous would shipping be from the UK?

I wore one of my Shaks, with a Craft base layer and my Go lite jacket, with the sleeves off, along with my Jones Ware hiking pants and Ibex boy shorts, for a snowy hike today. I felt very wool-ish! I even changed into my Smart Wool liners after i warmed up and took off my heavier gloves.
I love my Jones Ware pants. They look like yoga pants and are wide on the bottom, so my hiking boots fit underneath. Plus, I had them do a semi-custom sizing, since I was sort of in between sizes and the length. It only cost $10.00 extra. I even wore them cycling last week, just had to put a band around the ankle.

Well, while we're on the subject of what wool we wore, here's what I wore for my snowy hike today. Ibex Loose Tights on the bottom, and on top, an Icebreaker midweight zip-neck with a lightweight Icebreaker tank underneath and an Icebreaker vest over top. Also a Smartwool lightweight hat, wool mittens, and wool socks. I would have worn a pair of my Icebreaker boy shorts but both were in the laundry. The only non-wool pieces of clothing I had on were my sports bra and shoes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

For me they are too bulky for biking though (prolly wouldn't be biking in sub zero anyway).

---

Yeah, I don't bike in weather that cold anyways! :o

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

then last on top of those a pair of men's Manzella brand ski shell gloves which are quite warm, lightweight, & windstopper.

---

Oh yes, I love Manzellas too. My favorites are the thin silkweight ones. I trashed my last pair backpacking in Iceland (they did not hold up scrambling on rough rocks) and replaced them immediately upon returning home. When I'm generating enough heat from body activity and I just need a thin glove that blocks wind but doesn't hinder dexterity, they're my favorite choice. The men's version fits my hands (broad palm, stubby fingers) very nicely.

Geez, can you tell I'm a bit of a Glove Ho? :rolleyes:

and all other Patagonia stuff, wool or not...

Just did a bunch of holiday shopping on TE and Ibex.com.

Yikes.

Does anyone own a pair of Ibex Energy Tights? What are your impressions and how is the fit/sizing?
Thanks in advance.

I went on a short hike with my cycling group today. It was about 25, but the wind was blowing hard enough to make it feel like about ten degrees F.
When I got there, one of the women (who was wearing jeans :eek: and regular sneakers) said, "Oh my God, aren't you freezing?" I was like, "why would you ask that?"
I had on my wool Jones Ware hiking pants, Ibex boy shorts, Smart Wool socks and hiking boots on the bottom. On top I had a base layer (not wool), an Icebreaker top, and my Go Lite jacket, along with mittens and a hat (not my coldest weather hat, but a good one).
It turns out that she thought that because I wasn't bulked up with thick puffy stuff, I would be cold. I told her one word: wool.