I understand the pilot's interest in 100% cotton clothing vs. purely synthetic clothing when it comes to fire hazard. My question is, does a mostly cotton blend (like 65% cotton/35% poly) suffer from the same "melt to your skin" problem, or does the presence of the cotton mitigate the poly?

I like the lighter weight & faster drying of the cotton/poly blends, and there are more style choices out there w/ blended fabrics, but I don't want to set myself up for a fire hazard problem. If the blended fabric has the same problems as pure synthetic, I'm willing to stay w/ 100% cotton.

There is some new fabric called XGO by Polarmax,available from Brigade Quartermasters (probably others too) which is a synthetic material designed for use in areas where fire is a constant.It's designed to be able to protect you from heat,flames,bacteria-ie your own sweat.It's also not supposed to melt so it's for long term use.They have shirts,boxers etc.May be worth checking out.

I always wear 65/35 clothing while welding, never had a problem with it melting. I don't know how it would react in a true fire situation though. I like it a lot more than 100% cotton clothing, it's more durable and quicker drying. There's also Nomex clothing if you are really concerned about it, but it'll cost you quite a bit of $$$.

While I understand the need for natural fibers for pilots or steelworkers or people who are regularly exposed to fire danger, I do think the whole "melting to your skin" fear is being exaggerated for everyday clothing. If you're in a fire hot enough to melt your clothes, you've got much bigger problems to worry about. If there is a cause for concern, you could always wear a cotton underlayer.

Back in the late 70s, the US Navy went from issuing dungarees to something they called "Utilities" Dungarees were cheap all cotton material non-dress uniform for doing day to day work. Utilities were 1005 synthetic replacements. Toward the mid 80's the Navy determined after a number of fire-related adverse outcomes that Utilties were not suitable attire, and switched us back to dungarees again.

Personally, I found either one to be worthless. When we fought a mainspace engineering fire, I was glad I was wearing the cotton; the synthetics would never have made it.

In Baghdad, all we wore were synthetics. Cotton under the body armor was just too much. You sweat too hard, and the synth would pull the moisture out to exposed areas better, the cotton stuff would stay wet against your skin to the point of wringing wet.

Other than firefighting, I've never had an occasion where synthetics would've been that hazardous.