Wool absolutely has a place in the backcountry. Synthetics have there place (especially for things like baselayers and waterproof outer shells), but in the winter one of the primary advantages of wool is that it still keeps you warm when wet, and will not catch fire from embers. This means that when it is really cold you can get really close to your fire and not worry about your clothing melting on you or catching fire.
Really? I cannot recall one documented case where a campfire caused synthetic clothing to catch fire enough and melted on a person. Yes if you are careless and doing dumb a$$ things such as playing jump the fire and fall in, then you deserve to be burnt...
Really? I suppose polyesters aren't included in that history of yours. I have a few poly shirts with multiple melts (usually pin holes from sparks, etc.) I've never melted poly onto my skin but I've always heard warnings about polys causing more severe burns because it melts onto your skin and therefore retains the heat next to you longer.
I use both synthethics and merino wools. My preference as of this year is merino wool for my base layer. My synthetics are lighter and are slightly better at evaporating heat but overall, the wool is the better performer. I'm switching to add more merino to by closet but I don't have much outer layers of wool yet and I wear merino and smart wool socks 100% of the year.
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