[Cyclopath]

This is something I've learned over the past few years, with lots of experimentation. Cashmere is simply the best insulation you can wear, while you're out and about being active. Cashmere (wool from goats instead of sheep) is very warm, but it's also very light. I've heard that its warmth-to-weight ratio is eight times better than merino wool, but I don't have a way to know if this is actually true or not. Definitely, it's in the right ballpark, though. A very thin sweater, like a merino base layer, adds a lot of insulation. Like merino, cashmere is warm when wet. (And doesn't get stinky BO smell!) But, through some kind of magic, it loses its insulation power when you sweat, and gets it back when you stop sweating. I've read it's the combination of heat + humidity that turns the warmth off, but, again, I don't know. What I know is that I sweat much less in a cashmere mid layer than I do in any other mid layer (fleece, merino, etc) even with the same base layer and same shell layer. I climb every hill in Seattle in a merino base layer and a cashmere sweater in the winter, and I feel great afterwards, not all clammy like in polar fleece. Also it's very soft, like wearing kittens! So the down sides, the reason people don't already know and practice this secret knowledge, is that cashmere is typically very expensive, and says "dry clean only" on it. Well, be patient, and go to the thrift shop. A lot, maybe. Suddenly, when the price goes from $100+ for a sweater to $10, plus or minus, you don't care so much about sweating in it, or throwing it in the wash.

[Slugman]

I started off a little dubious, and I do have a way to know if claims are true, it's called the internet. So I got on that thing, and did some searching. It turns out your claims are basically true. Many websites of an authoritative nature said that cashmere is eight times warmer than sheep's wool, while also being lighter. That is close enough to your first claim to call it correct. I also found info about cashmere keeping you cool because it transports sweat away from your body and allows it to evaporate, thus cooling you if you are sweating. That is basically your second claim. This myth is not busted!

[Cyclopath]

I've noticed that after I spend a few hours on the bike, climbing Queen Anne and Beacon Hill and Magnolia, and all that, I'll come home and my (100 % merino) base layer is pretty wet, and the inside of my (overpriced) goretex jacket is also wet with sweat, but my cashmere sweater that was between them is almost perfectly dry. That happens a lot, and I still haven't completely understood it.

[Slugman]

That makes sense. The cashmere is faster at transporting moisture than the merino wool or the Gore-Tex. Plus the cashmere fibers are hydrophobic. The material just doesn't want to be wet.

[ChrisSJI]

Interesting! Thanks for sharing.

[Dayhike Mike]

You had me at "It's like wearing kittens." Is that why they call it "Pet-agonia"?

[mbtigger]

[Allison]

There's a ton of cashmere in thrift stores. I have a bunch of repurposed cashmere stuff. If you think moths like wool, wait til you see how much they like cashmere. IOW, keep them in Ziploc bags.

[Cyclopath]

[Slugman]

My GF has a friend who scours the thrift stores for undervalued items, and she has several times found cashmere of the finest quality for very cheap. Vicuna, too, a sweater.

[Cyclopath]

Hmmmm, I accept Vicuna as thanks for sharing my wonderful knowledge.

[Zeno Marx]

If you check the ritzy department stores in the Spring, you can find cashmere sweaters for dirt cheap. Two seasons in a row I found tables piled with them at $5 each. 100% cashmere. turtlenecks and crew necks. I bought maybe ten of them. They still aren't as comfortable as the couple I've found at thrift stores for a $1. First thing I do when I stop to set up camp is throw on a cashmere turtleneck. Perfect cool-down and get cozy gear. *not always the most appealing color choices on the clearance tables, but who cares?

[LewisGoes]

I almost always have a cashmere sweater in my pack. I always thought that it was lightweight AND warm. I didn't realize that it was fo reals.

[JennieEl]

So what does happen when you throw it in the wash? Do you need to wash it on gentle cycle, or can you just throw it in a sweater bag and then into the regular wash? Is it durable? I tend to beat my stuff up. And I love merino, but I sure can't afford it any more.

[Zeno Marx]

I handwash my cashmere in the sink. And now I've been using baby shampoo for low suds and easy on the natural oils. only takes a couple minutes. I'd use the handwash cycle on the new front loaders and not think twice about it.