Articles About Staying Warm

The January / February 2010 issue of Mushing Magazine includes in the issue an article titled “The Physics and Physiology of Staying Warm”. The author is Rob Loveman. Below is the letter to the editor that I wrote expressing my disappointment that they would publish such an article. Actually I was not disappointed to read the article but disgusted!

Over the years that I have been a manufacturer of insulated products I have read articles in many magazines about the subject of how to stay warm, insulations and in some case’s how to use them. To date I have yet to read one article that was in any way shape or form even close to being accurate. In virtually all case’s the authors of these articles have no background in the subject of insulation; the single most important component of an insulated product. They further have even less knowledge of the proper fabrics to use to surround the insulation and remarkable as it may sound they have still even less knowledge of construction of an insulated product. As I say in my letter to the editor, Rob Loveman does not have enough knowledge of the subject(s) to fill the rectum of a gnat.

What galls me about the publication is its irresponsibility in publishing this article. Mushing is a “winter” activity! People do not mush in July. Therefore, I believe the management has a responsibility to its readers to make sure they are presenting factual information in the publication. Not only didn’t they do this they readily admit they never even gave it a thought, since the submitter of the article said he was a scientist. Einstein was a scientist too, big deal, I doubt he had any knowledge of the subject(s) either. In my opinion the management of Mushing Magazine should present an apology to its readers for publishing this article!

Wiggy’s has been the single largest seller of sleeping bags ever in the Alaskan market place. Our store Wiggy’s-Alaska sells over 400 bags a year and we ship via mail order an additional 200 bags a year at least. Why because they work in Alaska and Alaska has an unforgiving environment! No other sleeping bag retailer or manufacturer has ever sold sleeping bags in the $200.00 to $560.00 price range in those quantities in the Alaskan market. As a point in fact I do not believe any retail store in the world sells even remotely close to those numbers in the price range. Wiggy’s is also the major supplier of parkas to the police departments throughout Alaska, as well as the workers on the North Slope (oil field) countless people who live in Alaska and of course dog musher’s by the dozens. How about the SAR community, they all use Wiggy’s clothing and sleeping bags as well as our hypothermia bag, which has saved numerous lives both on Denali and the ocean, the Coast Guard carries them on their helicopters and cutters. Then of course all of the fighters that fly from Eielson and Elmendorf AFB’s have Wiggy bags vacuum packed in their ejection seats as well as the survival kits given to personnel boarding transports which contain a special snowsuit that converts to a sleeping bag. Then there is the military survival school located in Greeley, Alaska that uses our Antarctic bag. In essence Wiggy’s has been the manufacture to go to when you want to stay warm while in Alaska. This has been the case since 1988. Where has Rob Loveman been all these years? Doesn’t he know that Wiggy’s supplies more Iditarod musher’s and musher’s world wide with sleeping bags and clothing than any other company? Doesn’t he know Wiggy’s makes the Joe Redington Muk Luk’s, Joe Redington being the “Father of the Iditarod”? He mentions the Steger Muk Luk’s, only he doesn’t know that Will Steger told me had he not had my Muk Luk’s when he dog mushed across Antarctica he would have had frozen feet. So much for the Steger brand of Muk Luk’s! He also mentions the boots made by Northern Outfitters; to the best of my knowledge no musher’s use them any longer because they were difficult to walk in and they also failed to keep feet warm.

He references a publication “man in a cold climate” written by two British students of human physiology. They apparently have a formula that he references, I quote; “delineate how much insulation is necessary to stay warm. Insulation required varied by a factor of roughly eight depending on activity”. He does not show the graph if one exists nor does he state the differences in thickness for one activity versus another. I did research the publication but could not find the information about thicknesses etc. Unfortunately he does not know that all of the graphs and charts published showing the various thicknesses needed for various temperatures are not close to being accurate. Lamilite out performs everything out there and I have found that I need to make my products thicker than the published thicknesses for virtually every temperature range noted. But what do I know, after all I have only been working with insulations since 1961 and have been producing the only sleeping bags in the world that have a zero failure rate as well as the warmest clothing in the world.

In a word the article is gibberish. The man hop scotches around from subject to subject intertwining one with another all to come up with a nonsensical article, which to the ill informed looks good. Maybe someday one of these publications will look for an article written by a person who actually has knowledge of “How to Keep Warm”.

At this time I do not know if the management of Mushing Magazine will publish my letter to the editor. If they do fine if not fine. I have seen so many of these erroneous articles over the years that I have become hardened to them.

To follow is the letter to the editor.

MUSHING MAGAZINE

TO THE EDITOR: GREG SELLENTIN

The article you have published “The Physics and Physiology of Staying Warm” by Rob Loveman is at best erroneous for the most part and can be down right dangerous to anyone who actually believes what he says about fabrics, insulation, etc. since he has basically no knowledge in this area and his discussion of physiology leaves quite a bit to be desired as well.

Mr. Loveman is a nuclear physicist (his bio says experimental physicist since earning his PH.D. in 1984) by trade and an outdoorsman to include dog mushing. He did attempt to race the Iditarod in 2009 but did not finish. I do not know the circumstances as to why he scratched but it could have been the clothing he was wearing. The 2009 Iditarod race was very cold, he might have been very cold, cold enough with his clothing system not working that caused him to quit.

What I find appalling is the fact that Mushing Magazine accepted and printed this article assuming it was accurate. Well it isn’t and that fact that it was printed does not surprise me. Over the years I have seen many erroneous articles on the same subject appear in Backpacker, Outside and other outdoor related magazines, so why should Mushing Magazine not do the same; i.e. publish an article without doing any questioning of its validity. The answer I was given when I asked the question is that the writer; Rob Loveman stated to the editor he was a scientist! Therefore, that gives Rob Loveman a license to write extensively and the article is quite long about a subject he basically has no knowledge of. Actually the knowledge he has would not fill a gnat’s rectum.

He mentions “breathable waterproof fabrics”. Being a physicist he should know that a fabric; an inanimate object can not have both of these characteristics; i.e. be waterproof and have vapor permeable (breathable) capabilities. The most famous of all materials available that is sold as waterproof and breathable is Gore-Tex. It does not work, never has and never will but some how Rob Loveman believes a fabric of this nature exists.

In addition he mentions two forms of insulation that no longer exist; Polarguard and Quallofill. He further mentions polyurethane foam as insulation. He states and I quote; “Polyurethane foam handles moisture better than any other available insulation.” He obviously has no knowledge of the men who have run the Yukon Quest as well as Iditarod sled dog races wearing foam filled clothing made by Northern Outfitters who found out the foam absorbed the moisture from their body and then froze effectively building an ice box around them. Several years ago two of these racers had an article written about their experience of almost freezing to death with this clothing on that appeared in the Anchorage Daily News. He further states and I quote; “One critical note on polyurethane, in order to get the most benefit from a piece of foam clothing, it should not be layered with anything other than another piece of foam clothing. The reasons for this are likely related to complicated dynamic processes involving moisture transport, but knowing why really isn’t critical.” Complicated dynamic process, the man is a physicist he should be able to figure it out, except he can’t because there is no complicated dynamic process going on, just the foam absorbing the moisture and when the first layer is saturated the next layer will get saturated. And of course he states and I quote; “Goose down remains the standard for light weight insulation.” He does acknowledge that down does have a draw back as it is worthless once wet.

On the subject of design he states and I quote; “Nothing pisses me off more than a failure of equipment in the field. Winter out door clothing is equipment.” This man claims spending about 40 years as an “outdoorsman”. With that much background why hasn’t he tried his hand at making outdoor clothing or what ever, perfecting it and then offering it to other people?

He also has his thoughts about heat loss through the scalp. In all the years I have been involved with insulations etc. I have heard that heat loss through the head is this or that percentage but now I am finding out that it is up to 50% of a person’s heat loss. NON-SENCE! I was lost on a hunting trip above Gunnison, Colorado in the month of November 1995. I was in a blizzard where the temperature was -20 F and wind chill of probably -40F and I had lost my parka hood. My hair froze, but I was not cold. The reason I was not cold was simple; I had adequate insulated clothing covering the rest of my body. If 50% of my body heat were lost through my head I would have died. I haven’t checked into it but I believe it is not possible for 50% of the blood being pumped out of the heart goes to the head. There aren’t enough blood vessels to accommodate that much blood flow. I am only guessing now that at best 10% of the blood leaving the heart goes to the head. The idea of wearing a hat will mean that the blood flow from the head to the feet or hands will be warmer than if you didn’t wear a hat. The reality is if you do not have adequate footwear and handwear in a cold environment your hands and feet will get cold even if you were wearing the warmest hat ever made.

He obviously has no knowledge of Wiggy’s Inc. and our Lamilite insulation. He should go to my web site www.wiggys.com and start reading all of my newsletter articles from inception so he can educate himself.

If you are interested in putting your life in danger while north of Jacksonville, Florida during the winter months you can take this man’s advice.

Since this article has appeared in Mushing Magazine maybe you the management of Mushing should ask the many Iditarod entrants and hunters in Alaska what they use for their clothing and sleeping bags. Then ask the police departments all over the state starting in Barrow whose parkas they wear? Wiggy’s is the answer.

Respectfully,

Jerry Wigutow
President
Wiggy’s