Favorite wool and other natural textile active wear

Andy why specifically are you looking at wool for a Sunhoody? The Sunhoody is an odd layer and while it's often worn as a baselayers I'd say it's safe to say it's a layer that's more likely to be scraped up a chimney than any other layer. With this in mind I'd suggest a cotton tencel blend(around 50/50). 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110016816300102#:~:text=This%20is%20due%20to%20the,and%20softness%20against%20cotton%20fiber.&text=Figure%202.,and%20thickness%20of%20this%20fabric.

Thin wool layers really don't hold up well to any sort of abrasion and drying time is primarily dictated by fabric thickness and GSM(believe it or not) so cotton doesn't leave you at any disadvantage there. 

that guy named sebwrote:

Andy why specifically are you looking at wool for a Sunhoody? The Sunhoody is an odd layer and while it's often worn as a baselayers I'd say it's safe to say it's a layer that's more likely to be scraped up a chimney than any other layer. With this in mind I'd suggest a cotton tencel blend(around 50/50). 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110016816300102#:~:text=This%20is%20due%20to%20the,and%20softness%20against%20cotton%20fiber.&text=Figure%202.,and%20thickness%20of%20this%20fabric.

Thin wool layers really don't hold up well to any sort of abrasion and drying time is primarily dictated by fabric thickness and GSM(believe it or not) so cotton doesn't leave you at any disadvantage there. 

Thats a great point.  I had wool in mind because I have seen it go from sheep to yarn to finished product and know that can be done with a very small footprint.  And I have been wearing wool base layers for years so it's familiar.  And I use my sun hoody as more of a do it all base layer in 3 seasons, when having wet gear can sometimes be a problem.

But on your suggestion I will look more into cotton/tencel.  I think the last time I took a cotton anything into the backcountry was when I was like 12, hiking in blue jeans.  So the idea is very foreign, but I'm very open to experimenting with stuff I haven't tried so- onward.

Consider post-consumer if you really want to minimize impact. For years now I've used exclusively thrift store knit sweaters for everything from skiing to climbing. They're cheap so you don't mind wearing them out and if you're into that kind of thing they can be repaired pretty easily by darning.

Biggest disadvantage is packability but when weighed against the well known list of advantages. I consider myself an ultra-heavy athlete and I just don't mind saving space for a bulky wool sweater. 

The biggest advantage I notice that people don't mention often is that with a wool sweater, I don't feel the need to take it on and off all the time. That's to say it's comfortable at a much wider range of temperatures and activity levels than synthetics. 

Jack Mullenwrote:

Consider post-consumer if you really want to minimize impact. For years now I've used exclusively thrift store knit sweaters for everything from skiing to climbing. They're cheap so you don't mind wearing them out and if you're into that kind of thing they can be repaired pretty easily by darning.

100%

My wife is big into Depop and Poshmark which have pretty decent selections of used premium apparel.  Ebay too.  I don't know if it's the competitiveness of the PNW area thrift shops but I have a hard time finding much worth buying my local Goodwill and indie thrift shops.  Worth a look when I'm passing by though.

Army surplus is a good source for wool stuff -- especially pants.  I used to have a great pair of wool pants that were Belgian and another that were US army surplus.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-arent-we-losing-our-minds-over-the-plastic-in-our-brains/

A topical article. 

https://phys.org/news/2025-03-chemical-trojan-horse-polymers-everyday.amp

While not directly talking about dyes, this is pretty much what I was referring to regarding the break down of dyes in natural fibres. 

Ibex