October 2009

October 9, 2009

IS IT POSSIBLE FOR THEM TO LEARN?

I received the following two emails from one a civilian and two from a SGT in the US Army.

From:]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 12:32 AM
To: wiggys@wiggys.com
Subject: XXL 100 in. long Antarctic bags

Dear Wiggy,

In 2006 I and three others, including my son, ordered 4 XXL 100 in long Antarctic bags from you.  We were looking for the BEST bag in the world for an Alaskan caribou hunt and we definitely found it.  Your sleeping bags performed perfectly and they are truly amazing in their capabilities.  We slept on half inch waffle foam sleeping pads.  Each morning we would throw our bags back and there would be puddles of water in the waffle indentations.  No moisture was present inside the bag though.  Our body moisture through the night was transferred to the outside and away, keeping us warm. 
We just recently returned from our second trip to Alaska on an unguided caribou hunt and this time the weather was much colder.  Here is an amazing testimonial about your products:  My son, Clinton Connor came in from a really hard day of hiking while caribou hunting.  It had been raining all day and he was cold, wet and exhausted.  It was so cold, he didn't want to take his clothes off before crawling inside the Wiggy's......so he just took his boots off, and crawled inside.  The next morning, (after staying warm all night) he awoke to find sheen of water had condensed on the outside of the bag and of course under it in the waffle pad.  He brushed the water off but noticed that the inside of the bag was still dry.  To his amazement, HIS SOAKING WET CLOTHES HE SLEPT IN WERE NOW ALSO DRY......
Our outfitter, Brad Salsaa of Weguidealaska.com also uses your products.  At his departure point in Kotzebue, he had a young man who was his "helper."  He helped the hunters load their gear into the planes, put away their gun cases, packed the food and supplies, etc. 
Upon returning from our hunt, he began asking me about our sleeping bags and why were they all the same.  So I told him.  He told me he was going on a caribou hunt at the end of season as a bonus from Brad.  I asked if he had a bag and he said no.  He was a nice young man and very helpful to all of us so I just gave him my Wiggy's.  You would have thought I handed him a winning lottery ticket. 
Just wanted to pass this along to you and let you know I will probably be ordering another bag from you soon.  I had you make me a spare which is the XXL Antarctic but with a 40 in. width at the shoulders, tapering down to the standard mummy at the foot, 100 in. long.  The bag I gave the young man was the standard 36 in at the shoulders and it was just a tad too small for me.  I am 6 ft 7in. and 320 pounds.  I like to have two of everything I might ever need for the outdoors, just in case something happens to one or I take a notion to give one away to a deserving young man.

Thanks again for making the best piece of hunting equipment since the Model 70 Winchester.

With Best Regards,

Rodger D. Connor

From:] ******,joeseph SGT MIL USA
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 5:25 AM
To: wiggys@wiggys.com
Subject: Reqest

Dear Sir or Madam,

I’m sure you guys get these kinds of e mails all the time but I appreciate you taking the time to read it and consider. My name is SGT Joseph ********. I am a squad leader in the 10th Mtn. Light Infantry Div. currnently stationed at various outposts in far northern Afghanistan. I am writing this on behalf of my soldiers and nco’s which total 8 small for squad but were kind off under manned right now. As you probably know with the billions of taxpayer dollars going to armored vehicles for Iraq and rebuilding both countries the dismount/maneuver elements like us get the raw end of the deal because the budget is more than slim by the time it reaches us. So the equipment that we get is mostly worn out or ruined after a very short period of time. So most of us have resorted to buying our own gear but allot of the guys just simply can’t afford to get the stuff they need due to the fact that they would rather due without over here than there families due without in the states. The men that work with and for me over here are the real tip of the spear soldiers here, these are combat arms frontline soldiers the ones who take the fight to the enemy majority of the time. One of our big issues here is when we patrol at high altitudes in the mountains for days or weeks at a time our gear leaves a lot to be desired in the way of warmth and durablility especially our sleeping bags and outerwear it just isn’t made for the extreme conditions we face here in Afganistan. Anything you guys could help with at all whether it’s a factory second customer return or prototype anything at all would be immeasurably helpful and would be a huge mroal boost for these guys. Even if you don’t have extras and could part with some things at cost I could purchase and give to these guys. I’m not trying to give you a guilt trip or scam some free stuff. I’m just trying to do something good for my soldiers. They push there self to the max physically and mentally everyday for me and there country. I appreciate your time and consideration thanks again and god bless.

“CLIMB TO GLORY”

Joe ********

The first letter relates a very positive experience with a Wiggy’s bag. The second relates an unpleasant situation because in my opinion the men spoken of do not have a Wiggy’s bag. Some friends and I are going to help remedy their situation shortly.

     As I have acquired more and more knowledge of how well the Lamilite insulation performs I have presented that information to all potential customers hoping that it will further convince the potential customer to purchase a Wiggy’s bag. In this regard I have been very successful. The experience written about in the above first letter I have heard dozens of times. When people go into the bush civilian or military they are always affected by moisture. Moisture when you are in the bush is your single most dangerous enemy. Moisture will absorb and drain away the heat your body produces more rapidly than any other entity that exists. If the insulation that you wrap around your body in the form of a jacket or sleeping bag is adversely affected by the moisture you will be in an unenviable position; moisture is the most efficient absorber of heat on the planet. Lamilite changes that situation as has been evidenced by Clinton Connor and numerous other users of Wiggy’s sleeping bags and clothing including myself when I was lost in the mountains during a hunting trip and lived through a blizzard that was putting 7 to 8 inches of snow on the ground per hour. I did not have a sleeping bag but I was wearing Lamilite insulated clothing. After three days of walking I found that I was not cold even though the temperature went from 0 degrees to -30 degrees F. As I observed and was observed by Clinton and family each of us stayed dry and therefore we were warm.
     One thing I am absolutely certain of is that the Sgt (refer to letter two) and his men are generating significant moisture which is getting absorbed into their clothing. For those of you who have never been in the military please note when you are on patrol you do not ever get undressed before getting into your sleeping bag, as a matter of fact you rarely take off your boots. All of the moisture that has accumulated in your clothing becomes your enemy. When you are at altitude as you would be in Afghanistan things are worse. You are operating at altitude and altitude air density is reduced so there is less oxygen per cubic foot in the air. If moisture is also introduced it too will displace the oxygen in the air (this is the reason firer fighters want the atmosphere to be humid). As far as I know all of the war effort is at altitude. Then there is the factor that most of the young men we send there did not grow up in the mountains of the USA so their body is not acclimated to the altitude and while there is an adjustment you do not ever get to the same efficiency to breathe as the locals who were raised in the mountains. Because of the lower oxygen content the human body must work harder to maintain itself. That means you must have a greater amount of insulation around your body when it is +32 degrees at altitude versus +32 degrees at sea level.
     The powers to be with respect to what is ultimately issued to our soldiers have a mind set that does not allow for the acquisition of knowledge. Is it possible for them to learn; no! Simply put if you do not want to learn, you will not. These powers to be have demonstrated an almost complete lack of interest in acquiring knowledge. 
      The Marine Corps has at this time a solicitation out for a new center zip sleeping bag. Due to a protest that is delaying the solicitation a second solicitation came out through the GSA for 15,000 or so bags versus the original solicitation for 260,000. The president of the company that has won or will just be the contractor making the 15,000 bags has made sleeping bags as I do and had them tested against the current issue bag and seen far better results when the bags were made via my methods is now making the center zip bag as the issue bag is made; quilt construction. When I found out I asked him how he could sleep knowing he was producing a substandard capable product. His response was “I will sleep fine knowing that the customer made the decision. A customer whom is quite capable — most likely more capable than any of us.” The customer being the military as if they know how to make sleeping bags or have any credible knowledge of insulation and how best to use it. So this guy (who has had eight people from his company visit and work at Wiggy’s learning to make sleeping bags to include himself as one of the eight) placates those powers to be who are always working at stifling their knowledge. He is a spineless individual as so many who are hungry for government contracts. Men like him and there are many I am sorry to say are losers. They obviously care nothing of the young men who are fighting to preserve our way of life here which includes men like him.
It became obvious to me this fellow has no respect for himself; so he joins those who chose not to learn; denying knowledge that he has as well as those others have been exposed too that information.
     A prime example of the powers to be desire to evade knowledge was demonstrated to me recently. The Marine Corps has issued a need for a sleeping bag for use at -30 degrees F. When I became aware of this need I told the powers to be of my Ultima Thule model which I rate conservatively for -20 degrees F and the U.S. Navy rates it for -35 degrees F. It should also be noted that the U.S. Navy issued the Ultima Thule a national stock number and purchased several hundred which have been place in all of the 4 man and 12 man survival rafts. Many of the Ultima Thule’s are also purchased by the Air Force in a vacuum packed state and placed in ejection seat survival kits. I wrote to the powers to be all pertinent information about my Ultima Thule and they purchased one. They tested the bag on the copper manikin. The result was the Ultima Thule had a clo reading of 6.29 while the issue Modular Sleep System (MSS) had a clo reading of 6.05. I do not know what the clo readings actually mean with respect to actual temperature, but I do know that the MSS does not perform below 0 degrees F; that is the two bag system, while the Ultima Thule has a reputation for performing at temperatures of -40 degrees F and sometimes even colder. How about weight (?) the MSS weighs in at about 8 pounds while the Ultima Thule weighs in at a maximum 6 pounds for the long wide body size. With this new knowledge you would think the powers to be would further investigate this product. That is unfortunately not the case. They simply deny the existence of a method of manufacture that makes what they have continued to stick with obsolete. They, like the loser deny knowledge.
     Who is adversely affected by their actions (?) the American soldier most importantly and the tax payer who pays for these substandard capable products!

     I sent the two e mails to the powers to be so they would be able to read one the performance characteristics of the Lamilite insulated Wiggy’s bag and the opinion of men in the field using what they have been issued. Periodically I send them e mails of this nature so they can read these unsolicited accounts of how products work or do not work in the field. This time the person to whom I sent the e mails past them on to the contracting officer handling the current solicitations. He asked if I had offered a bid with my bags, the answer was no from Wiggy’s. However, one of my customers did bid my bag on the GSA quantity of 15,000. The company offering my bag did not also offer the bivi bag. When these bids come out and they ask for 4 items and you only want to offer one or two the contracting officer will say bid. But they will not ever give you the bid for what you have offered. I have been told in the past it was all or nothing. I told the contracting officer that I personally would not bid on a product that I knew could not be made. His response was others say they can make it. Whether he actually believes that or not I have known idea. I did inform him that I made the very first two bag system in 1993 and my system has a zero failure rate while the bastardized version that has been issued to all soldiers since 1997 has a zero success rate. The reason we know this is because they come out with a new solicitation every two or three years, the problem is they always decide to go with an almost duplication of what they want to replace. They perpetually show total successful failure. They do believe that the new center zip bag will actually perform to the specifications they have published. I do not doubt it will not work, I am positive it will not work. But what do I know about those who say they claim to have the ability and knowledge necessary to accomplish the job of making a sleeping bag to meet the specifications have yet to demonstrate that they have ever made a sleeping bag that would work for any particular temperature range; unless you consider a bag good for Jacksonville, Florida and south in July. All of them have accomplished that, and then again all you really need is a cotton sheet. What I find astounding is the powers to be have also listened to one individual who had been investigated by the NCIS (I was interviewed 3 times by NCIS in connection with this individual). This particular individual has only been successful selling sleeping bags when they were made by Wiggy’s using only Wiggy’s technology for him to sell the bags. Go figure!  
     So what we have is a situation where the deaf and blind are leading the deaf and blind. It does not make the slightest difference how much solid factual information is presented to the powers to be they, continue to wear blinders over their eyes and plugs in their ears.

     I continue to let them know regardless what they conjure up I will still be around making the best sleeping bags the world has ever seen.

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