Why Lamilite Keeps You Warm Even When Wet
We all know or should know that water touching the human body draws heat from the body. Therefore, it is very important to help rid the body of the water as quickly as possible. As I have written many times, wearing my fishnet long underwear is the best first layer. But where does the water go once it leaves the body, after all you are wearing several layers of clothing in the cold situation that you are in? It goes into the clothing that you are wearing and will be absorbed unless you have your neckline open, it will exit through the neckline. If the temperature is cold enough that the neckline must be closed the water will be absorbed some place in your clothing. When it is cool enough it will ultimately cause you to cool as well. That does not happen if you happen to be wearing a Lamilite insulated outer garment. I have documentation showing that all of the different Lamilite insulated products produced by Wiggy's tell a far different story. Lamilite neutralizes the negative effects of water.
Lamilite has demonstrated that it has some quite remarkable properties or qualities that set it apart from all other insulations that exist or have ever existed. Lamilite is more efficient on an ounce for ounce basis than all other insulations; an example is my sleeping bags. I will only refer to one, but it holds true for all. The model Ultima Thule is rated for use as cold as -20 degrees F having a weight of five pounds in the regular length (80 inches) and regular width (31inches). In actuality the Ultima Thule has performed for an extensive number of people at temperatures of -40 degrees F. I have chosen not to re-rate this bag's temperature capability.
Lamilite will compact as small or smaller that any other sleeping bag that actually performs at an equal temperature, and it will recover continuously; an example is the fact that Lamilite insulated bags are the only bags that can be vacuum packed under 20 plus tons of pressure and left that way for years and return to full performance capability in an hour and full loft in a few hours. There are no other companies in the world who make sleeping bags that can be put through the process and perform afterwards.
And last but not least of the attributes of Lamilite is the plain and simple fact that it is completely unaffected by water. Every other form of insulation known of regardless if it is natural or man made loses its ability to retain heat when it gets wet. The subject most often written about to me is the fact that my products sleeping bags, jackets, etc. still performed even though they were wet. Lamilite neutralizes water !
Why is this so? There are technical reasons that explain this phenomenon. The continuous filament fiber is made from polyester which has a minimal ability to absorb an insignificant amount of water, it is then bathed in silicone and heat set at about 455 degrees centigrade. By applying the silicone the absorption is eliminated. What I use is a continuous filament fiberfill batting that is significantly heavier and therefore denser in construction. This density is what keeps the water from saturating the fiberfill. If you review the letters I have received you will read as I have how people have slept in the rain or a leaking tent and regardless of how much water has fallen on to the bag it has not made its way through the fiber. The lightest weight that I use is 4.8 ounces per square yard (L-6 Lamilite), and that is the weight of my warm weather bags; Nautilus, Desert bag, and Over bag. The inner bag for the system that I sell to the military is most often the Super Light. I use the L-15 Lamilite which is 10.8 ounces per square yard. The approximate total amount of fiber filaments used in one Super Light is 22 million. As you can see the density of the Lamilite insulation is substantial. The density of Lamilite is such that it leaves little room for water to get through it. In addition that same density is what restricts the heat you are generating from getting out and that same heat is what dries the bag of the moisture you are also generating. The heat drives the moisture out and can be seen as frost on the exterior of the bag in cold (less than +32 degrees F temperatures).
Another example of Lamilite not being adversely affected by water is in handwear. I have seen, heard and experienced wearing gloves and mittens insulated with Lamilite that have been submerged in cold water. Yes your hands get wet but they don't get cold. The cold water gets into the handwear but one there it warms to the temperature of the hand so your hands stay warm.
How about footwear? I was lost on a hunting trip near Gunnison, CO. in 1995. I was in a blizzard for a day and a half. I was between 11,000 and 12,500 feet altitude. I walked through streams. My boots were leather with foam as insulation. If that was all I was wearing on my feet I more than likely would have lost them if I had been found. I was wearing my Joe Redington Muk Luk's. They are insulated with Lamilite L-12 (9.6 ounces per square yard) and they had water inside of them. I was in them for 3 1/2 days before I took them off in the cooks tent upon my return, there was no ice even though the temperature during my whole experience was never higher than 0 degrees F and for most of the time was between -10 and -20 F. had they not been Lamilite insulated I doubt that I would have come out unscathed. Actually had all of my clothing not been Lamilite insulated I doubt the out come would have been the same.
BOOTS AND TEMPERATURE RATINGS
I believe it is reasonable to expect a sleeping bag manufacturer to place a reasonably accurate temperature rating on a sleeping bag. I further believe temperature ratings can be applied reasonably accurately to outerwear garments. However, I believe it is very difficult to temperature rate boots. Excluding mukluks or over boots as additional articles to wear a good leather boot that is insulated in my opinion is not particularly effective below 0 degrees F for very long especially when you are sitting still. At least when you are moving the muscles in your legs are generating lots of heat for your blood to pick up as it travels to your feet. But without that movement you will experience cold feet if you do not have over boots at minimum on.
Wicking is a word that has been used for some time now in the outdoor industry to describe an action that is not possible with respect to the materials being referred to. Wicking can only occur in materials that absorb liquid. Those materials are cotton, wool, silk, rayon, etc. IT CANNOT OCCUR WHEN THE MATERIALS ARE POLYESTER, POLYPROPYLENE OR NYLON. The example I always offer is a wick in an oil lantern. The wick is cotton, it absorbs the oil and when you light the wick the oil travels up the wick. The movement of the oil traveling up the wick is known as wicking. If you were to place any of the synthetic materials I have noted in an oil lantern to do the same job you will have a fuse and an explosion will occur.
Some years ago I received a call from Exxon purchasing; they ordered a large number of my Joe Redington Muk Luk's for their crews working in Siberia.
If you want warm feet in very cold temperatures get the muk luk's. If it's too cold for the muk luks it's too cold to be outside.
I have periodically mentioned that I was lost on a hunting trip here in Colorado during the month of November 1995.
During my experience I had 1 ½ days of blizzard and when it ended I was back where I should have been the first day. The storm was over but the sky was still clouded. I was in a large meadow and above me was a single engine search plane. I could not see him or he me and I am sure he didn't have a heat sensor. But I could hear him and had the sky been clear he would have seen me.
Trust me when you are moving through waist high snow you are giving off a significant amount of moisture. That is basically what I faced, waist high snow, and even though the snow I was in was mostly dry powder when it is waist high it requires lots of energy. I was wearing the fish net underwear I make and I can tell you from my experience my skin surface was dry because all of the moisture I generated moved through the large holes away from my skin surface. Some went out my neckline the rest through my clothing. I was not wearing anything that was advertised as water-proof breathable.
For the record on the second day when the storm hit me I encountered two 20 year old boys who were wearing synthetic long underwear and were freezing. I built as large a fire as I could and had them take off their underwear and try and dry it as best they could. Those boys are alive today, to the best of my knowledge. I sent them fish nets for Christmas that year.
Never forget that water produced by your own body in a cold situation, and it does not have to be arctic conditions, is your enemy. Therefore, what you should be wearing are articles of clothing that are not affected by water!