Post by katrinaacaster on Nov 20, 2013 0:18:55 GMT
Our Beyond the Aether games will be held at an outdoor campsite in the coastal range forests of the Pacific Northwest. Many of these games will be in the chilly months, and all of them have the potential of being rainy. I would like to bring some attention to the subject of fiber content, and how it might affect your health, or at least your comfort, while playing Beyond the Aether.
You might be thinking that fiber content is a really bizarre thing to consider when altering a costume for safety. We alter our costumes and designs for safety when skirts are too long, goggles inhibit our vision or corsets are impractical: the obvious things. Fiber content is subtle and gets overlooked, especially when it comes to costumes, who's natural habitat is indoors, usually!
There is this saying among sailors, campers and conservationists: "Cotton Kills". Once wet, cotton REMAINS WET (unless the air is exceptionally dry--rare in a Washington State Forest). This can turn an average, chilly, moist day into an invitation to some potentially serious health concerns. Your sweatshirt or turtleneck soaked up moisture like a sponge, stays cold (or cool) and sticks right to the skin. Most of these things that we think of as thermals are made of cottons, and they won't dry by lying them out at the end of the bed overnight.
Let's talk about thermals now. I'm sure that anyone that's been LARPing, camping, hiking or sailing has some great advice when discussing layers....
You might be thinking that fiber content is a really bizarre thing to consider when altering a costume for safety. We alter our costumes and designs for safety when skirts are too long, goggles inhibit our vision or corsets are impractical: the obvious things. Fiber content is subtle and gets overlooked, especially when it comes to costumes, who's natural habitat is indoors, usually!
There is this saying among sailors, campers and conservationists: "Cotton Kills". Once wet, cotton REMAINS WET (unless the air is exceptionally dry--rare in a Washington State Forest). This can turn an average, chilly, moist day into an invitation to some potentially serious health concerns. Your sweatshirt or turtleneck soaked up moisture like a sponge, stays cold (or cool) and sticks right to the skin. Most of these things that we think of as thermals are made of cottons, and they won't dry by lying them out at the end of the bed overnight.
Let's talk about thermals now. I'm sure that anyone that's been LARPing, camping, hiking or sailing has some great advice when discussing layers....
