What do y'all use? I just moved down to Wilmington NC and the heat is KILLING ME! I'm hoping to find something lightweight (even if I have to sacrifice some durability) that doesn't hold the sweat like jeans or Carharrtts.
Tim

I wear Dickies carpenter style. There are 2 different thicknesses, get the light weight. Best bet is buying them in the fall/winter and they are half worn out by hot weather.

PS.
There should be a national working man's Holliday for whoever invented Gold Bond Powder!

Kilt and knee pads.....jock if its windy.

BDU fatigues best thing going!

Propper BDU pants , ripstop cotton

I wear acu combat pants when its hot....knee pad pockets with knee pads in them. Long top/bottom polartec powderdry base layers.

The base layers and most of my clothes get soaked with sweat pretty fast. But that's OK....water soaked clothes are more thermally conductive than dry clothes thus they wick away body heat from your skin. Just like swimming in water keeps you cooler than walking. Wet cotton is bad if its cold out but good if its hot out.

Gold Bond Body powder every morning and after shower in evening thru the whole summer.

Go Commando, then you can throw a little water on them and cool down fast as well as dry out fast.

Tru-spec 24/7 ripstop.

If you find something that cool in the deep south in summer let the rest of us down here know, lol.

In my experience Marty is right on...

We've all been told forever to wear "loose" clothing. That is a misnomer... You don't want CONSTRICTIVE clothing. But fabrics should ride close enough to the skin to be wetted by wicking sweat from it. Once the clothing is soaked, the slightest breeze feels amazing.

I also have had good luck with the little cooling wraps with the beads in them that swell and get cold when placed in water... I tie them around my neck. It keeps the direct sunlight off the skin of my neck (major arteries and vessels in the neck) and helps cool all the blood flowing through that area.

Long sleeve shirts seem to be the opposite of what you'd want... But again, when you get hot your blood vessels dilate and are closer to the skin. Long sleeves keep the sun off your skin. And if they ride on the skin they have the added benefit of being wetted by the sweat they wick up.

Working in the heat indoors can change things up. No sun beating down, but usually no air moving either. In that case a fan is about the most effective thing going.

Mike

I was leaning towards a loin cloth myself.

Thanks for the replies everyone.
My new job will have me working in an air conditioned shop 30% of the time, but I want to stay comfortable the other 70%!

Dickies

Style is not so important as fabric, natural fabrics are inherently cooler and breath better than any synthetic. Cotton and linen top the list of cool fabrics, but even light wool is cooler than poly-fabrics.
I find cotton khaki pants to be choice for work. Cotton flannel shirts will keep you as cool as any thing, they are much better at cooling than at keeping you warm. Transient laborers from sunny Mexico go farther by wearing white cotton t-shirts under the long sleeved shirt.
Drink lots of water, it will take lots of perspiration to stay cool.

Watch the cheaper BDUs a lot of times the waist adjustments won't hold they like the should they act like a after thought or prop, the USGI ones are the best ones I have found.

I prefer a skirt when it's hot and sticky , hubbs wears the green dickies work pants

I wear cotton khaki pants year round. Just dont work very hard and you can stay comfortable. Oh, I am retired.

I wore painters pants or carpenter style jeans, and would go down to a uniform rental place and buy returns for really nasty jobs and just pitch them after. My Bro was a flat roofer and when his would get too heavy with tar, he'd just throw them in the kettle and wear another set. LOL

This is the top I use for base layer in the heat. I also use the same for a long bottom and boxers of the same material. Really no issues with swamp butt or rashes if I use Gold Bond regularly. You can find these on ebay for around $10 a piece.
Makes working in the heat and being wet more bearable. I wear them everyday.

I moved North. I couldn't take the heat anymore.