I understand Patagonia has made, and maybe still does make, base layer stuff that does not dry out as fast as Capliene. That was to promote the cooling effect by slowing the evaporation rate off of the base layer. I don't use Capliene in really hot weather simply because it's too warm. A light, loose fitting nylon or cotton shirt, that stays wet, works much better. I have no agrument with those that say as the moisture evaporates off of the body, it takes heat with it. My position is that the longer and the wetter the base layer garment gets, the worse this gets. Therefore, it is vital that it dry as fast as possible. Nobody uses cotton, for instance, as a base layer in cold weather. Stays wet too long and absorbs watter too much. Patagonia has lab tests which show the relative merits of each of it's base layers. The Merino Wool base layer stuff dries about 40% as fast as Capliene. But it is also much warmer. My thought in buying it is that I'd get both in one garmet. It didn't work out that way. Some of it might have to do with the area where I was - SW Montana on the east side of the Rockys. However, if it were going to dry out any where near as fast as Capliene, I would think that it would there. Might be that I couldn't get Capliene to dry out enough or fast enough if I spent days in very wet weather. However, I've used it for day long working in hard rain. Gets and stays dry if used it with a pit zip garment. Better than anything else I've used. That also depends on how warmly you are dressed overall. If too warm, anything will get wet quickly when exercising hard. So, maybe that's the important difference. Really wet, day after day wet weather. Where nothing can dry out might give the warmth edge to wool. I don't know. I do have some doubts. E
