Thermal underwear
We have a tradition of calling functional underwear for sports the word “thermal underwear”. This is not entirely correct, but tradition is tradition. The prefix “thermo” misleads the buyer and questions are often asked: “How warm does this underwear heat?” or “At what temperature will this underwear keep me warm?” In addition to warming, functional underwear can perform many other functions, but since “thermal underwear” has come into being, let it be for the sake of simplicity. But don’t forget that “Functional underwear” is more correct.
| Classification of functional underwear. | |
| 1. Classification by type of material (regardless of thickness) Functional underwear can be made of polyester (lavsan), polypropylene, wool, cotton or mixtures thereof. Purely synthetic materials wick away moisture better and are more durable. The addition of cotton or wool makes the linen more pleasant to wear. Modified polypropylene is by far the most successful material for underwear - it has almost zero absorbency and therefore removes moisture best. | |
| Classification according to the type of “work performed”. | |
| Functional underwear can perform several functions - warm, wick away moisture, or both at once. During physical work, human skin releases a fairly large amount of moisture, which, accumulating in the fabric of ordinary underwear, sharply reduces its thermal insulation properties. Warming and evaporating this moisture requires additional energy. This is especially noticeable when practicing water sports, when moisture also enters from the outside. What is important here is that, for example, polypropylene does not absorb water at all, and you do not waste energy on warming this water - it drains quickly and the laundry dries in a matter of minutes, even on the body, without feeling discomfort. Those. modern functional underwear effectively wicks moisture away from the body (either into the atmosphere or into the outer layers of clothing), which reduces heat loss from the body in cold weather and adds a feeling of comfort. Series of linen of increased thickness, in addition to draining water, have sufficient heat-insulating properties, which allows them to be used as sweaters. | |
| About the use of thermal underwear. | |
| The traditional use of functional underwear is its use as the first layer in a multi-layer clothing system. This is a generally accepted clothing system today, which involves the use of several (from 1 to 3-5) layers of clothing, where the main purpose of the first layer is to remove moisture from the body, the next layer is usually made of Polartec and provides thermoregulation, and the next provides protection from wind and precipitation and is made of membrane fabrics such as Gore-Tex. Various intermediate options are also possible. | |
| The properties of thermal underwear depend on five components: fabric composition, fiber weaving, fabric weaving, type of processing, cut and quality of tailoring. Fabric composition - as already mentioned, one of the best materials today is polypropylene. Polyester is slightly inferior to it. Fiber weaving - almost all modern thermal underwear fabrics are made of microfiber - this is a very thin fiber of various sections, which, when woven into fabric, creates a unique feeling of comfort due to the high density of fibers. Type of treatment - high-quality linen must have a special antibacterial treatment to reduce unpleasant odors during prolonged wear. Compared to conventional impregnations, TG900 fiber stands out. Granules with an antibacterial composition are included in the fiber structure and provide a longer lasting effect. But, unfortunately, all these compositions are not very durable and are washed out after 2-5 washes - since it is impossible not to wash the clothes. | |
| Now some tips on choosing underwear. | |
| 1. If you need underwear for everyday wear, then you can choose almost anything - woolen, with the addition of cotton, purely synthetic, etc. You just need to not make a mistake with the choice of thickness - thin underwear for warm weather, thick for winter. 2. If you are an athlete, a skier, snowboarder, or are fond of winter fishing, then the right choice would be both underwear with the addition of natural fibers and purely synthetic ones. What is important to you is both the ability of the laundry to wick away moisture and its thermal insulation properties. 3. If you are a climber, hiker, kayaker, yachtsman, then your choice is limited to 100% synthetic fabrics in both winter and summer. Only such underwear can provide comfort and warmth for many days with continuous wear. And once again about the main thing. Functional underwear should first of all effectively remove moisture from the body - this is its main task. You can achieve warmth with the help of a puffer, but it will not replace high-quality linen. There are many companies around the world that produce functional underwear: TG 900 Moira, Litex, Levron, Helly Hansen, Craft, VauDe, Lowe Alpine, Big Pack and many others. The quality of the linen from these and other reputable companies is very high and their properties differ very little, which cannot be said about the price. For example, a Moira shirt+pants set costs 44 euros, and Helly Hansen costs about 100 euros. This does not reflect the difference in quality and properties - the price depends on the marketing policies of the manufacturer and seller and on the “promotion” of the brand.
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