*shrug*

I have a ton of wool. and I hike in jeans all the time. I have a ton of other technical pants. I've yet to kill myself. I also... hike in cotton t shirts in the summer preferably.

I'm pretty sure I did the Inca trail in jeans... I did have an alpaca sweater, hat, and gloves, if that's any consolation.

I guess it depends what you call "hiking"... lots of times... I just consider things taking a walk in the woods as opposed to a hike. If I'm walking in the woods, no worries wearing jeans - they're thick and abrasion resistant and I can stick a wool layer underneath. If I'm actually doing a strenuous up a mountain hike, I probably am not wearing jeans. But in either case, I've got a backpack with an emergency kit, matches, and emergency blanket.

I spent the last week swaddled in wool - skiing when it's -10 Fahrenheit with 20-60 mph winds... I won't say I was warm on the lifts, but I never got frostbite, even with just 1 layer of smartwool socks on my toes (my friend skiing with me did get frost bite on her toes). dachstein mitts did keep my fingers warm, but the loss of dexterity really annoyed me. I had merino wool glove liners underneath.

Black diamond patrol gloves or whatever those are - weren't very warm in such conditions, which was funny given that they've been wayyy too warm the last couple years while skiing.