Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Wicken don't Play With Me!

Hey, I run with a whole coven of people that don't know squat about wicken shirts (er, better make that shirts that wick, or wicking shirts)

There is this "theory" that some fabrics take the moisture away from your body and therefore cool you down, just as evaporation of sweat would do. Well, I used one of my "tech" shirts while running in Colorado, and voila! it worked so well, that my shirt was dry when I finished and two days later when I went to run again, I mistakenly wore that same shirt, because it was dry (on the car ride to the trail I notice a strong odor, so the sweat may evaporate but the stink is there to stay!)

Well, there must be something in the atmosphere when you cross the Florida State Line that renders these tech shirts useless. I think it's the Christian Right in the Bible Belt that has worked to destroy all things Wicken! Who knows? But I did find one way to give the tech shirts a little nudge and relieve the moisture issue:

9 comments:

Roger said...

I read this cool book about an ultra runner that lived in Florida, I think it was called Hellgate. I found this passage about Wicken Materials...

"Every clothing company that manufactures outdoor gear has a line of high tech fabrics that wick moisture away from your body to help keep you cool and dry. During the Florida summer, they are absolutely useless."

I guess the writer musta talked to Andy. Well said Mr. Author, well said.

Mr. Matt said...

Hey, I think I presented a viable solution (pun oh, yeah) in the video presentation.

Anonymous said...

Well duh. The fabric likely does wick the moisture away from your body. But, it can evaporate only if the surrounding air can take in more moisture. If it's 100% humidity, how can the "wicked" (that's one syllable) moisture evaporate? It can't, so it just stays put.

Mr. Matt said...

Unless you use my "Solution." you gotta watch the video, I figured it out, the manufacturers will be callin'!

The Professor said...

Please use the proper terminology...it is a hydrophobic multichannel hollow-core polyester fiber.

Mr. Matt said...

Ladies and germs, that is why he is the Professor and I'm not!

superdave524 said...

Everybody's workin' for the wickened...

Arlene said...

You look good in yellow!

Star said...

Apparently you'd do anything to take off your shirt for a camera. Since the wikin' doesn't work, you're not going to start running naked, are you?