Brief description

Clothing and fabrics are body coverings made from animal or vegetable materials to protect the body and maintain temperature.

Use / Function

• Thermal protection: Insulation against cold or excessive heat.
• Physical protection: Barrier against abrasions, insects, and solar rays.
• Transport: Allows adding pockets or anchor points for tools.
• Scale: Individual.

Operating principle

It traps a layer of air near the skin that acts as a thermal insulator. Fabrics allow for breathability (evaporation of sweat) while blocking direct heat loss through convection.

How to create it

1. Obtainment: Tan animal skins (Leather) or collect plant/animal fibers (linen, cotton, wool, silk).
2. Processing: Spin the fibers to create long, strong threads.
3. Joining: Weave the threads on a loom or sew skin pieces together using bone needles and tendons or threads.
4. Technical level: Basic (skins) to Intermediate (fabrics).

Materials needed

• Essential: Skins, wool, cotton, silk, or bark fibers.
• Tools: Scrapers for skins, spindles for spinning, needles (bone/wood), simple looms.
• Substitutes: Large leaves, beaten bark (tapa).

Variants and improvements

• Unsewn skins: Simple capes.
• Sewn clothing: Fitted to the body, more thermally efficient.
• Loom-woven fabrics: Lighter, more versatile, and easier to wash.
• Dyed clothing: Treated with Textile Dye for social signaling or camouflage.

Limits and risks

• Degradation: Organic materials rot with moisture if not treated.
• Parasites: Clothing can harbor lice or mites if not kept clean.
• Flammability: Dry fibers burn easily.