Steven
Member
Short answer - black will be warmer when the sun is out but you already know that.
If you think of it in terms of BTU's, it's easier to understand. There are two sides to every garment. With the sun shining there is a huge amount of BTU's striking the outside of the garment and a lesser amount coming from body heat warming the inside of the garment. What that means is that the net transfer of heat is through the garment towards and onto the body. Simply said, the outside of the garment is getting more heat than the inside.
If your garment was silver or something that reflected heat, especially in the infrared, it would block the BTU's being absorbed by the garment, hence (assuming it blocks enough BTU's) more of the heat would be coming form the inside of the garment, i.e. body heat, with the net result of heat being transferred outwards through the garment. Of course this is only theory and there are other factors to be considered.
Air movement outside and inside the garment also plays a role.
I wish someone made a jacket, silver on the outside and black on the inside that was also reversible depending on whether the sun was out or if it was dark. In theory, with the jacket reversed, the silver should reflect the persons body heat back to the wearer on the inside, it should feel warmer. It would be interesting to see how/if that would work. I think the jacket would also need to be able to be vented to allow air cooling and closed when the temps got to low.
I do know they make heat reflective camping pads (for sleeping bags) that work on that principle.
The down side is what respectable motorcyclist would be caught dead wearing a silver jacket? Maybe a nice copper color?
Well, that's my 2 cents...
If you think of it in terms of BTU's, it's easier to understand. There are two sides to every garment. With the sun shining there is a huge amount of BTU's striking the outside of the garment and a lesser amount coming from body heat warming the inside of the garment. What that means is that the net transfer of heat is through the garment towards and onto the body. Simply said, the outside of the garment is getting more heat than the inside.
If your garment was silver or something that reflected heat, especially in the infrared, it would block the BTU's being absorbed by the garment, hence (assuming it blocks enough BTU's) more of the heat would be coming form the inside of the garment, i.e. body heat, with the net result of heat being transferred outwards through the garment. Of course this is only theory and there are other factors to be considered.
Air movement outside and inside the garment also plays a role.
I wish someone made a jacket, silver on the outside and black on the inside that was also reversible depending on whether the sun was out or if it was dark. In theory, with the jacket reversed, the silver should reflect the persons body heat back to the wearer on the inside, it should feel warmer. It would be interesting to see how/if that would work. I think the jacket would also need to be able to be vented to allow air cooling and closed when the temps got to low.
I do know they make heat reflective camping pads (for sleeping bags) that work on that principle.
The down side is what respectable motorcyclist would be caught dead wearing a silver jacket? Maybe a nice copper color?
Well, that's my 2 cents...