a few subjects of importance

A NEW MARKET FOR THE LAMILITE SOCKS THANKS TO A CUSTOMER AND OTHER SUBJECTS

“I love your products. The socks are superb; I'm an all-weather motorcyclist and I'm spreading the word amongst my fellow riders”.

Greg

Thanks to a number of customers Wiggy’s produces products neither I nor any person employed at Wiggy’s is responsible for, the customers are. In addition there have been improvements to a variety of products that were suggestions from customers, and finally a customer has offered a recommendation so to speak of a product Wiggy produces that has merit for a new market. Greg has made one of those suggestions that my Lamilite socks be worn by bikers who ride during the colder months. This is a market that I would never have given thought too even though I sell many sleeping bags to bikers. They are mostly the Nautilus a 40 degree bag or the Ultra-Light a 20 degree bag. So cold weather was not something I gave thought to with respect to bikers.

The Lamilite socks are an excellent product for bikers. A biker is stationery just sitting on a bike regardless of the weather and if their feet get cold after all they are creating a wind chill therefore they would have to stop and get into a warm location just to warm their feet... I am quite sure that would come to an end, however if the biker is also wearing a pair of Lamilite insulated leather boots they would further guarantee warm feet while on the bike going down the road.

Greg thank you very much for the efforts you are presenting in favor of my product.

During the past 30 years; yes Wiggy’s bags to start out with has been in the field since 1986, time flies. I have received from customers suggestions to make a change in a product now and then and in some cases the suggestion made sense and I incorporated it in a product. Then I have been asked to make a product and after careful evaluation I have incorporated the product into the line. And finally someone like Greg suggests a new market for an existing product and it makes sense. Then there are people who read about the success that people have been having with a Wiggy’s bag such as staying warm when the bag is wet and ultimately sleeping and finding their body heat has dried the bag. So, a fellow in Canada soaked his Wiggy’s bag and then slept in it and discovered when he woke that the bag as well as he was dry. This was an action that I personally did not know of when I started making the Wiggy’s bag’s it was learned from my customers. He has a video on you tube. In addition I have received hundreds of testimonials many of which I have on the web site or placed in newsletters such as the one from Greg.

Then there are a host of forums that expose a product to customer scrutiny that a manufacture has no control of, they have been very good for Wiggy’s.

(I wonder if Gore is happy to see Andrew Skurka’s video about the failure of the Gore-Tex).

Having experienced all of the positive press is very gratifying and it has brought to me a number of guys who present themselves as writers for this magazine or that magazine directed towards hunters, backpackers or other people who go into the bush. Now they want me to give them a bag so they can review it and write about it when they go on this upcoming hunt or whatever it is they specialize in in the outdoors. I have asked the hunters who is paying for the hunt from transport to the guide etc. Therefore they have to pay for the bag. Once they own it they can obviously say what they want. I always also ask where they were 25 years ago. Believe it or not they tell me they just heard of Wiggy’s. Now that the Wiggy’s bags are the largest sold high quality bags in the world they want to get a bag that will keep them warm so they think that they can get a freebee by telling me they can do for me what I have already accomplished. They do not like it when I tell them to order whatever they want on the web site. I am also getting calls from retailers because they are not selling the trash from China regardless whose label is sewn on it. They too have unhappy customers, i.e. because they are not sleeping because they are cold. There are no cold sleepers you do not sleep when you are cold.

FIRE RETARDANT SLEEPING BAGS

The past two years has brought to me a number of people inquiring if the fabrics that my sleeping bags are made with have been treated with fire retardant chemicals. The answer is an unequivocal NO!!!! I have asked some of the questioners why the interest; they tell me because they read that tents are treated with fire retardant chemicals. The reason is because it is a structure and that has been the case for years. But sleeping bags to the best of my knowledge have never been fire retardant treated.

OR EQUAL

For anyone who has never seen a solicitation published by a government agency the term “or equal” is common. Recently two solicitations appeared on the FEDBIZ.GOV web site for sleeping bags. The first asked for a Western Mountaineering 0 degree model “or equal”. Since I do not have a GSA contract I cannot bid directly but all of the GSA contract holders can bid my SUPER LIGHT 0 degree bag or any other brand that the company selling them regardless if they are made in USA or not. Since the dollar value is less than $100,000.00 the government can buy Chinese made product. So much for the BUY AMERICA ACT OR THE BERRY AMENDMENT. About 6 or so companies that I know of bid the Wiggy’s Super Light. The selling or bid price for the Wiggy’s bag would probably been about $180.00 on average. Keep in mind the contracting officer has to go with the lowest bid.

The bid was given to the company that bid the Western Mountaineering bag at a cost of $570.00 each. Wiggy’s Inc. sells in excess of 2500 sleeping bags each year and it is growing in the state of Alaska for a very good reason, Alaska is a very wet environment and Lamilite is totally unaffected by water in any of its forms. DOWN IS NEGATIVELY AFFECTED BY ANY OF THE WATER IN ANY FORM RENDERING IT USELESS. The end result is that the members of the military who will be issued these bags will not be comfortable. If down does not work for civilians who are human beings why will it work for members of the military who are I believe human beings as well.

I told the company that did receive the order that he number one did not care about the men who would be using these bags and number two he wasted my tax dollars as well as yours by offering a sleeping bag in the first place that would not work. All he was interested in was making a sale.

I would like to know what the justification was to not go with the lowest bidder which might not have been a Wiggy bag, and if so that too would be a mistake since Wiggy’s bags have no equal.

The second solicitation was a Wiggy’s Ultima Thule vacuum packed or equal. Since I worked with the Air Force in Alaska starting in 1993 or so they have only purchased Wiggy’s bags and for good reason. They tested them for about two years before they started putting them in the ejection seats of the aircraft they fly. Normally they come directly to me as a sole source. This time they went out on competitive bid. The price to the government was $395.00 each. When it went out on competitive bid all bidders were told $395.00 each as well. The low bidder offered a bag vacuum packed for $240.00 each.

The contracting officer number one does not know there are no equals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Number two why did he now take the lowest bid? My opinion he is not concerned about the safety of the pilots since when they go through the life support training they are in a Wiggy’s bag. So, if the pilot has to bail out in the arctic he will not have a Wiggy bag to get into so he may just die by freezing to death. This contracting officer is a politician.

What is also disconcerting is that the GSA bidders will never protest a low bid when they are told that the potential product that is being purchased will not work!

The next time I see a bid for a Wiggy’s sleeping bag that states WIGGY’S OR EQUAL they will have to show me what the equal is, otherwise I will not allow my bags to be bid.

As many of you know I believe beyond any doubt that there are no sleeping bags that are equal to any model of Wiggy’s bags regardless where it is made or what insulations are used, nothing on planet earth is comparable in any way shape of form is equal to continuous filament fiber otherwise known as Climashield. With respect to vacuum packing there is only one sleeping bag ever made that when vacuum packed will when released from the blister packaging return to its original loft thanks to Climashield continuous filament fiber!

If you happen to be an Air Force pilot who flies aircraft that have a survival kit for cold weather flying such as in Alaska you might want to ask if there is a WIGGY’S BAG in the ejection seat. A number of years ago and this is for Air Force pilots; I spoke with General Chuck Yeager who was a Wiggy customer and he told me that the pilot’s life was worth more than any airplane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He didn’t get to be 93 his current age by being a pilot who took unnecessary chances; as he told his son a good friend of mine that he always knew away out if he encountered a problem. A word to the wise is sufficient.