an other scam

AN OLD SCAM

For several years I have presented the various scams perpetrated on the general public coming out of the products sold emanating from the textile industry; specifically the area of the industry classified as the outdoor industry.

They include the water-proof breathable non-sense, electrically heated clothing, a garment that wicks moisture, under garments that are breathable, etc. The one area of a scam being perpetrated on the general buying public that I have not addressed that can have potentially devastating consequences are ALL sleeping bags made with chopped staple fiberfill as the form of insulation.

Is it by design versus a conspiracy that ALL of the companies other than Wiggy’s either make their own sleeping bags or have them made with chopped staple polyester fiberfill. Since the continuous filament fiber Climashield is only made in the U.S.A. and ALL of the other brands of sleeping bags are made in China #1 and then Sweden, Norway, England and who knows where else in the world these companies chose NOT to buy Climashield because it is more costly than the chopped staple fiberfills available. ALL of the people who manage these other companies have consciously decided to scam the general public by writing in their literature what they perceive incorrectly so (they either actually know or if not they are stupid that chopped staple is not good) are the theoretical benefits of their fiberfill used as insulation.

Historically throughout the 1960’s as camping developed there were a number of companies that made expensive down bags. They noted as the market grew that they were losing business to companies that made inexpensive polyester fiberfill bags. These down bag makers would not use the cheaper chopped polyester however, that all changed when Polar Guard continuous filament fiberfill was introduced in 1968. The chopped fiberfill was $0.50 per pound and Polar Guard was $3.25 per pound. The higher price got their attention and Polar Guard bags were being made and during the 1970 and onwards Polar Guard took over the market place with as I was told by one company owner by at the least 60 percent of his sleeping bag sales, he also made down bags. Then there were some high end companies that did not make down bags only synthetic which meant Polar Guard.

The sales of Polar Guard got the attention of 3-M who tried to sell their Thinsulate Lite Loft a chopped staple fiberfill, and their position in the market place in sleeping bags lasted 2 or 3 years I guess. It was a dramatically successful failure. There may have been others to try from then until Albany International brought to market their Primaloft a chopped staple fiberfill product which also as I expected was a successful failure as sleeping bag insulation, not that they didn’t try. Today you can go to the web site of any number of companies that sell sleeping bags and they ALL have their own chopped staple fiberfill insulation with glorious wording that is factually erroneous about their product.

If you are an American company getting your bags made in China or any other Asian location the fiberfill I believe comes from China. If you are a European company the fiberfill processing company used in Europe also gets their fiber from Asia, probably China as well. I know this because there is a U.S.A. company that brings in millions of pounds of fiber for I guess all purposes aside from fiberfill use from Asia, most probably China. How much is made in the U.S.A. today is minuscule compared to 40 years ago. However, the continuous filament fiber used for Climashield is made in the U.S.A. That is what is used for me to make Lamilite.

Now for the potential danger of sleeping bags made with chopped staple fiberfills (I say plural but I really think they are all the same regardless what name is given to them). We know and it has been documented hundreds of times that people who get into a wet sleeping bag when they too are wet as is their clothing that is made by Wiggy’s with Lamilite they warm up very quickly and during sleep they sleep because they are warm their body heat dries them, their clothing and the bag as well. Now let’s get into ANY brand of sleeping bag made with chopped staple fiberfill and note if we have the same result? The answer is an absolute NO!!!

If you are cold due to being wet and the insulation in the sleeping bag does not act to retain your body heat you do not sleep, this is problem number one. If you do not sleep which if you did means you metabolic rate does not slow down, so you consume all of your food very quickly. Still not warming enough to sleep no matter how many layers you put on means that you are further capturing you own body produced moisture in your clothing. Now you have not only your clothing absorbing your body heat but also the moisture trapped in the clothing. This is precisely what happened to the woman who died in her husband’s arms referred to in the recent e mail I published. Can it happen to people in a sleeping bag, absolutely! There have been incidences of soldiers in mass dying in their sleeping bags. How many civilians have perished in this manner is not known or at least I could not find any records but I am sure it has happened. However, I have heard from probably over 1000 people in the past 30 years that they did not sleep because the sleeping bag they were using did not work as advertised. This is a common complaint. As for Wiggy’s there are some who say the bags are heavier that the other brands, but they work as advertised. My response is; “if the work and the others do not is my bag heavier”?The answer therefore is NO!!! In some cases the people who have called did not buy a Wiggy’s bag due to the weight. Now many of them own Wiggy bags.

Regardless of the high price you see for any brand of sleeping bag that is made with chopped staple fiberfill and that includes all companies other than Wiggy’s at this time it is in my opinion a scam.

Is it possible that so many companies serving the outdoor market place are unscrupulous and desirous of taking money from their customers without regard for the quality of the products they are putting into retail stores? I believe so, because this action, not trend has been going on for some time now. It has even entered into servicing the military.

About 6 years ago I was called by the Air Force to help them develop a new survival kit for initially the B-52 bomber air craft. Over the next two years I made various samples for them as they described to me. They tested it for two winters in Alaska. They used survival instructors who would ultimately teach the pilots how to use these items. The only thing I had to do with the program was to make it, if it did not work at first they told me and asked to make various changes, which I did. Yes, I now have it on my web site available for civilians to buy but evert thing about it is Air Force tested and approved.

Recently a company was apparently given an order for their product telling the Air Force it would do what they want. Was it ever tested before it was incorporated, who knows. But there are unscrupulous people in companies that will sell the military whatever they can get away with.

Kjus osmosis jacket article got a number of comments which were all in the same vein as the one below. What I responded to all is that this garment will more than likely not be available next year.

Jerry - I think Hydro-bot may be the same thing as Hydro-Butt - a lot of load of sh*t...

Don