Why Merino?

At Base Outdoors we believe in a “leave no trace” philosophy. While we recognise that this is not always 100% possible when considering the materials used in the products that we use to access the great outdoors safely. We often encounter extreme climates when we explore the outdoors and our equipment must be up to these challenges. The often long distances that are hiked and the need for extremely light materials is another consideration when selecting outdoor equipment.

Our philosophy is to use natural materials wherever possible and if this is not feasible because of performance issues and weight requirements then we use the synthetic material that will have the least environmental impact and construct those products to have the longest useful lifespan possible. For more on this, please read our environmental and fair trade policy.

Now and then a natural product not only meets the performance goals required but is better in our opinion the manmade equivalent! Merino wool is such a product!

Merino wool has been specially developed by the master product development team known as “Mother Nature, Evolution and Survival”. The extremely thorough process of constant development and natural selection over millennia has meant that New Zealand Merino sheep can inhabit the Southern Alps of New Zealand. This harsh environment which sees extremely high temperatures in the summer and severe cold temperatures in the winter requires a different type of wool than sheep which inhabit the much more forgiving lower altitudes. The result is a wool with exceptional properties including some of the below.

Although the below properties make Merino ideal for the outdoors it is just as useful for your day to day situation and fantastic for kids and babies.

SOFT/COMFORTABLE/NO ITCH

Merino wool is extremely fine, unlike traditional wool is much softer and doesn’t itch! Traditional wool can drive you crazy! 100% pure Merino garments just feel great next to the skin! Thought you would never wear wool again because of the itch? Merino is a different animal!

INSULATION PROPERTIES (WARM IN WINTER, extremely goodCOOL IN SUMMER)

In cold weather Merino wool’s unique insulation properties mean it is incredibly effective at keeping you warm, its weight to insulation ratio is exceptional. Merino also breathes so on those hot summer days the fabric will also keep you cool. Much like insulating your home well you get the best of both worlds. Merino is excellent at transporting moisture away from the body so when you start sweating you don’t have the clammy feeling that polypropylene will often give you. Merino will hold up to 30% of its own weight in moisture before you even start to feel wet. Also critical is it still retains much of its insulation properties even when wet.

ODOUR RESISTANCE

Let’s face it if you have been on a multi-day hike you know that at some point things start to get a little “funky”. Manmade fabrics are very efficient at holding odours. On the other hand, the excellent breathability of Merino means that garments made from it don’t build up the same odours as manmade synthetics. It's lightweight means it also dries extremely fast, ideal for those sometimes brief opportunities you get on the trail to wash your clothes.

FLAME RESISTANT

Merino fibres are naturally flame resistant, unlike synthetic fabrics which are often highly flammable and also melt which can be a real hazard when you are close to open flames such as campfires or cookers. Merino is perfect for kids’ garments for this reason also.

BIODEGRADABLE

Merino is, of course, a natural fibre which means unlike synthetics when it has reached the end of its useful life it will happily biodegrade. Manmade synthetic materials are polluting the environment, and some studies are showing these fabrics are responsible for much of the microplastics entering our waterways, these same microplastics are also entering the food chain.

We hope you have found this summary of Merino’s properties useful, and there is a mountain of information available online that goes into much more detail about this issues. Merino is truly a great alternative to manmade fibres and we hope that you will give it a try!

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email or call us as we are happy to help.