To keep warm in a cold climate needs effective insulation to stop the body heat escaping. Mammals have hair or blubber to insulate their bodies, but man has no blubber and relatively little body hair, so he has to rely on clothes.
In the wild, mammals have two kinds of hair on their bodies. The longer, guard hairs are stiff and can stand erect when the animal is frightened or angry, like the hackles of a dog. Below them lies a dense layer of softer underhairs, which trap air next to the skin. Air is a poor conductor of heat, so a layer of air, trapped in the underhairs, retains the body’s heat and keeps the animal warm in cold weather.
When it rains, or the animal goes into water, the guard hairs mat together to form a waterproof layer which prevents the skin and soft underhairs from getting wet and losing their insulating properties. When the rain stops or the mammal gets back to dry land, a single shake clears the water from the guard hairs.
By using the natural qualities of wool, man can mimic the behavior of wild mammals. Clothes worn next to the skin trap air which is kept warm by the body’s heat, creating a warming layer all over the body. A waterproof coat prevents the clothes from getting wet and losing their insulating properties.
Picture Credit : Google
