View Full Version : Using Hemp?
Odd Man Out
10-13-2013, 19:39
Merino Wool is often promoted as an ideal fabric for hiking due to its durability, comfort, wicking, and anti-stink properties. Clothing made of hemp is advertised as also having all the same properties. It also has the advantage in that it can be woven into lightweight fabrics (rather than just knits, like wool). Anyone have experience with this fiber (for clothing!) and can comment?
kayak karl
10-13-2013, 20:11
i was told it tends to break down in areas that get a lot of use and this increases when it is worn wet. similar to Dacron.
wannahike
10-13-2013, 21:29
Wool will keep you warm when it is wet, hemp won't. But I do think for a hot summer hike hemp could work and I agree with kayak karl that it isn't as durable. Wool can be a lightweight woven fabric too, but then it is cut and sewn and looses some of the lovely properties of a knit, like stretch and bounce back.
Hemp wears out quicker. Been there done that I'm a wool guy.
I have a hemp/cotton blend tee and a dress shirt of Rayon that is derived from hemp and very pleased with both. The Rayon dress shirt could easily be mistaken for silk. One of the great advantages of hemp is that it can be a very economical fiber to grow(certainly more economical than merino or cotton for example). Gee, they call it weed! Another advantage that I knew of is that hemp blends well with some other fibers. As far as hiking in hemp or hemp blends apparel I can't say YET what might it advantages be. TO ME, it seems the time has come to put aside the ridiculous demonizing of hemp for political reasons and competing markets(cotton for example) and allow hemp plant benefits to be more widely available to our society. This is not advocating the illegal self medicating use of marijuana. This is about promoting a very economical fiber and a plant that has some highly nutritious parts like the seed.
I have a hemp/cotton blend tee and a dress shirt of Rayon that is derived from hemp and very pleased with both. The Rayon dress shirt could easily be mistaken for silk.
I had no idea rayon was made from wood pulp (cellulose)... I thought it was fully man made like nylon. I guess you do learn something every day.
Odd Man Out
10-13-2013, 22:07
...TO ME, it seems the time has come to put aside the ridiculous demonizing of hemp for political reasons and competing markets(cotton for example) and allow hemp plant benefits to be more widely available to our society. This is not advocating the illegal self medicating use of marijuana. This is about promoting a very economical fiber and a plant that has some highly nutritious parts like the seed.
You can't get high from fiber hemp, so I don't see a good reason for the prohibition. My dad grew up on a farm in Nebraska. When visiting that farm when I was a kid (late '60's), we would still find hemp plants growing as weeds left over from WWII when they they were asked to supply hemp fiber for the war effort. Sorry to hear about the durability issue. It's advertised as being very durable - maybe not "thru hiker durable".
I have a hemp/cotton blend tee and a dress shirt of Rayon that is derived from hemp and very pleased with both. The Rayon dress shirt could easily be mistaken for silk. One of the great advantages of hemp is that it can be a very economical fiber to grow(certainly more economical than merino or cotton for example). Gee, they call it weed! Another advantage that I knew of is that hemp blends well with some other fibers. As far as hiking in hemp or hemp blends apparel I can't say YET what might it advantages be. TO ME, it seems the time has come to put aside the ridiculous demonizing of hemp for political reasons and competing markets(cotton for example) and allow hemp plant benefits to be more widely available to our society. This is not advocating the illegal self medicating use of marijuana. This is about promoting a very economical fiber and a plant that has some highly nutritious parts like the seed.
Getting high from hemp would be from carbon monoxide poisoning or something similar. The best uses of hemp would be paper and fuel. It's debatable how much more efficient then pine trees for paper but the study I saw stated it was 8 times more paper per acre per year.
Odd Man Out
10-13-2013, 22:14
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp_for_Victory
FYI
Tuckahoe
10-13-2013, 22:26
Merino Wool is often promoted as an ideal fabric for hiking due to its durability, comfort, wicking, and anti-stink properties. Clothing made of hemp is advertised as also having all the same properties. It also has the advantage in that it can be woven into lightweight fabrics (rather than just knits, like wool). Anyone have experience with this fiber (for clothing!) and can comment?
My experience with hemp fabric is in the context of historic clothing and reproduction material culture. I find hemp to be rather durable, more so than cotton of an equal weight fabric. It doesnt develop mold or mildew in damp enviroments, nor does it break down as quickly compared to cotton. Like cotton its not going to keep you warm when damp, but like linen it seems to dry out much quicker than cotton.
I wore a pair of hemp breeches in my forge daily for a bit more than a year. And they survived me, my sweat, the ash and coal dust, fire and sparks and the constant wear and tear that I have put clothing through better than linen or wool. The pockets never frayed nor wore out from constant rubbing. This was the toughest piece of clothing I have ever used and the only reason I dont have them is I lost too much weight to be able to keep taking them in.
I have used twill fabrics where the warp yarns were going hemp and the weft yarns were wool and that stuff wore like iron. It is a great fiber to blend with wools, linen and synthetics.
Another Kevin
10-13-2013, 23:38
Did you know that 'canvas' is a corrupted form of 'cannabis?'
Maui Rhino
10-13-2013, 23:44
You can't get high from fiber hemp, so I don't see a good reason for the prohibition.
According to people I know in law enforcement, industrial hemp is banned because a cop on the street can't look at the plant and tell it is hemp and not marijuana. Only a chemical test can tell them apart. Several years ago here in Hawaii, some people wanted to plant industrial hemp in a research project. To get a license, they were required to fence the property with a 20ft tall fence, have guards, and summit to regular inspections and testing by the police. The govt was concerned that people would try grow marijuana in the hemp patch.
Pedaling Fool
10-14-2013, 08:25
Several states, through their federal representatives, have been pushing to legalize the growing of hemp, here's just one example: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/20/mitch-mcconnell-rand-paul-hemp_n_3294613.html?ir=Politics&utm_campaign=052013&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-politics&utm_content=Photo
A farmer from Colorado just harvested the first commercial hemp crop in 56 years http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24259474/colorado-farmer-harvests-first-u-s-commercial-hemp
HeartFire
10-14-2013, 09:06
Hemp was originally banned in the US due to lobbying by the cotton growers. It would have put them out of business as hemp has many of the same properties of cotton, but is stronger and cheaper to grow, they knew full well that there was no THC in hemp.
As for wearing it on the trail, it will be the same issues of wearing cotton - it will get wet and not dry out, it will be cold when wet - not a bad problem in the summer, but it will be heavy too from the water. Wool, while it doesn't dry out as quickly as nylon and polyester, it retains it's warmth when wet.
Cotton is THE most heavily chemicalized and water intensive crop grown.
Rayon is a very polluting process of taking cellulose (woody plant based product) - wood scraps etc and making a slurry of it with acids, then it is spun out like nylon. When you see something that is made of "bamboo" it is really "rayon" - when you buy something made of rayon, it doesn't say "made of oak, or maple, ash, etc - There has been some lawsuits against the use of the name 'bamboo' and all of it's supposed antimicrobial properties, as the product is really just 'rayon' and any basic properties of bamboo are lost in the process of making it into rayon.
Also, rayon is not manufactured here in the USA because it is such a polluting process. Several years ago they did start making a 're-formulated' process of rayon here called Tencel or Lycocell - they capture the chemicals and recycle them. So, Tencel is essentially the same as Rayon.
Hemp is very cheap to grow, it's a weed and will grow just about anywhere, needs much less water than cotton, and like flax (linnen) will pull all sorts of pollution out of the ground, so it would be a good crop to clean up areas.
Thank you HeartFire. As I also understand the demonizing of hemp it was in large part a result of the cotton industry who didn't want the competition from the more economical and environmentally friendly to grow hemp plant. What they did, with their assistance from their buddies in gov't, is equate hemp with the characteristics and so called social evils of chronic marijuana drug use. They succeeded then and continue to do so today in the U.S. Hemp, that weed that is still found growing in some legal farmer's fields when growing other crops, typically has such a low THC level that you might as well ingest dried banana peels or take a deep drag from a regular tobacco cigarette if it was your desire to "get high." Hemp has some outstanding possibilities as an economically grown industrial crop having a variety of worthwhile uses. Don't equate the benefits of hemp with illegal "get high" marijuana drug use.
Pedaling Fool
10-14-2013, 10:44
Hemp is very cheap to grow, it's a weed and will grow just about anywhere, needs much less water than cotton, and like flax (linnen) will pull all sorts of pollution out of the ground, so it would be a good crop to clean up areas.That process is called Phytoremediation and several plants have this capability. However, those plants usually need to either be incinerated or composted and the remains specially handled or recycled. Pretty sure you can't use those plants for commercial use, such a making clothes.
Alligator
10-14-2013, 12:26
The OP is interested in hemp clothing, could you guys reel it in some and help him out?
Merino Wool is often promoted as an ideal fabric for hiking due to its durability, comfort, wicking, and anti-stink properties. Clothing made of hemp is advertised as also having all the same properties. It also has the advantage in that it can be woven into lightweight fabrics (rather than just knits, like wool). Anyone have experience with this fiber (for clothing!) and can comment?
What a surprise *this* thread got off track, lol..
But really, no one has anything positive to say about hiking w/ hemp in any form?
The OP is interested in hemp clothing, could you guys reel it in some and help him out?
What a surprise *this* thread got off track, lol..
But really, no one has anything positive to say about hiking w/ hemp in any form?
Historic outdoor fabrics for non desert areas we're waxed cotton, wool, fur and leather. Hemp was mostly used for rope. It isn't the miracle plant for outdoor sports but is excellent for casual clothing, paper, fuel, etc.
Odd Man Out
10-14-2013, 13:12
We're not doing so bad. Posts 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, and 14 all had input about hemp clothing (pro and con). This web site has a good summary of it wonderful properties. Like many sites it says the hollow fiber of hemp makes it especially good at wicking away moisture (for hot weather performance) while at the same time providing insulation (for cold weather performance). They also claim high durability (with posts above coming down on both sides of that issue). But I am always cautious to believe claims made by people trying to sell things. I guess I will just have to put some hemp on my Christmas list and see how it works out.
http://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/characteristics-of-hemp/
HeartFire
10-14-2013, 15:40
OMO - if you do get some hemp clothing, please follow up and let us know how it works out for you.
Odd Man Out
10-14-2013, 16:51
OMO - if you do get some hemp clothing, please follow up and let us know how it works out for you.
will do...
Hemp makes for a nice hat...cool in the summer. I.E., www.tilley.com (http://www.tilley.com)