Preparedness

Before the year 2000 started, people all over the country were preparing for a disaster that never happened. However, many preparedness companies started in business and many are still in business. Many more have sprung up over the past 14 years, which is a good thing. I know this because almost all of them write to me wanting to have my products on their web sites. I refuse all of them because I can't lower my prices to make room for a reseller to make a profit. Truthfully I also do not want to sell my products thru resellers. I prefer to counsel my customers so they get as close as possible to the bag that is best for their needs which resellers can't do, nor do they want too.

If you have ever gone into a camping equipment shop and inquired about a sleeping bag, they basically show you a rack with a variety of bags for different temperatures and tell you to choose one. In the event that you begin to ask technical questions the overwhelming amount of times you should be wearing waders and have a shovel when you hear the response. Periodically I have called REI or even a company such as Mountain Hardwear and queried the representative about this bag or that bag only to find out that they know nothing about the bags I have inquired about. Sometimes I have suggested that they go to the Wiggy web site to get an education. I am quite sure if I went into almost any shop that sells sleeping bags I would get equally erroneous information. I also know that if they were to carry Wiggy bags and represented them truthfully there would not be a need for any other brand of bag in the store. This I know very well because my retail store in Anchorage Alaska has sold for the past 6 years at least 2000 bags a year and I ship about 600 more to mail order customers. But, nobody ever comes into the store asking for any other brand. The stores in the lower 48 just don't think of providing their customers with the best products available. It is for this reason that I do not solicit any retail stores to sell my products. Although the buyer I guess from Dick's wrote to me when they were starting to open their Field and Stream shops asking to sell Wiggy's bags. I wrote back that he should call me to discuss the opportunity. He never did call or write, so I got his answer by non-communication. In truth I probably would have turned him down.

For those of you who are taking steps toward being prepared you are welcome to call so I can guide you with the best choices. One of the many benefits of the Wiggy's brand of sleeping bags is the quality of the Lamilite insulation. Any Lamilite insulated product can be compressed as small as you are capable of getting it and if and when you need it all you do is remove it from the stuff sack and all of the loft returns. It is for this reason that Wiggy's has been the sole supplier of vacuum packed sleeping bags placed in the survival compartment of the ejection seats of Air Force fighters and now bombers. There is a special page showing what I developed with the Air Force survival instructors on the web site. Another wonderful characteristic of Lamilite is the fact that it is not affected by water, the insulation works even if it has gotten wet.

While I respect the many people who are actively making preparations for a possible catastrophic event I also believe it is prudent to be prepared with survival equipment in your vehicle. Every winter there are stories about people getting stranded in their cars without survival equipment and are lucky to be found alive. Nothing can take the place of a sleeping bag. Being in the car protects you from the elements, but running the engine can be deadly. Also, with cell phones they need to be charged so using all of the fuel to stay warm would not be a good thing, hence a good sleeping bag. There is a long list of items to choose from which I will not mention. But as I have told many who told me my bags are too heavy for back packing; you can have all the greatest food in the world but if the bag does not keep you warm big deal. I further believe that of all the items one takes into the back country the sleeping bag is the most important, so it is with survival equipment in your car.