I define my "retro" as what I used to do when I first went out into the mountains, and in my case, wool actually happens to be in my modern gear closet (merino, that is), while back in the 80s I wore cotton T-shirts, jeans, running shorts, and cotton socks as liners inside of wool socks. Why? guess that's what I had and the budget allowed no fancy clothing, but it worked. Perhaps not as good as the gear I have today, but that's the point - it doesn't really matter as the endless online gear discussions tend to make it appear. Yes, cotton doesn't dry fast, is heavy, but that's what we had.
Same here. I started hiking in the 60's and BP'ing in the 70's. Blue jeans. Cotton "T" shirts. Cotton Flannel shirts. I did have a nice down bag and a nylon down jacket. We used flannel pajamas as long johns. When we first started, we used a coffee can on a long wire fashioned into a bail. Later we "upgraded" to a little butane stove, and then when they stopped making canisters for that stove, we got a little Optimus 8R. Wish I knew what happened to that little 8R.
HJ
