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Berry Amendment Compliance Definition

The Berry Amendment Compliance is a federal regulation that requires Department of Defense funds to be spent on U.S. manufactured items in order to protect the United States industrial market during times of war.

The Berry Amendment is intended for companies that wish to acquire Department of Defense contracts. This amendment applies to products such as food, clothing, tents, materials, and tools. Some exceptions include if the product is unavailable from a U.S. source, purchasing from allies, perishable food or emergency items for personnel located outside of the United States, and purchases at or below the simplified acquisition threshold. These determinations can only be made by specific officials who must provide supporting documentation.

I am sure that most of my readers have never heard of the “Berry Amendment” but as a supplier of a textile product I have become very familiar with it.

Every GSA contractor that sees a solicitation for a textile product such as a sleeping bag, reads within the solicitation among other things the that the sleeping bags must meet the requirements set forth in the Berry Amendment. That means the following.

All of the component’s nylon, insulation, zipper and thread must be made in the USA of domestic components. These are all of the components that are used to make a Wiggy’s sleeping bag.

In addition, the sleeping bag must be made in America.

I must be ready to support that my sleeping bags meet the Berry Amendment Compliance if the military buyer wants proof. That means the GSA contractor would come to me for this documentation. This would never be a problem for me because I have for the last 38 years of being in business have always bought my materials from domestic suppliers.

I know of two other companies that supply the US military with sleeping bags [the no sleep variety] who make the large contract also buy from USA suppliers so they meet the Berry requirement.

Aside from them I do not know of any other companies that supply small quantities as I do to the military [my sleeping bags go to SF units] who are Berry Amendment Compliant. There are companies that may get orders but if they tell the GSA contractors that give them these orders they are lying to the military buyers if they claim the products are Berry Amendment Compliant.

One thing that they who are selling the Wiggy sleeping bags to the military is that they are made from pure finish fabrics which means they have not been applied with any chemicals: PERIOD.

Since the materials I use are not subjected to any chemicals any members of the military who are chemically sensitive are not subjected to chemicals. Every other product [no sleep sleeping bag] offered to the military is loaded with chemicals. Why do I say that, because these no sleep sleeping bags are made in Asia, most likely China and the materials are loaded with chemicals!

This leads me to the subject of “TRACEABILITY”. Years ago, the companies that use down as the form of insulation in no sleep sleeping bags decided to show how they were and still are that they can trace the down back to the duck farm it came from. At the time I asked if they could trace it back to bird it came, no because the bird was dead. Can they trace any of the components that are used to make these no sleep sleeping bags such as the nylon or the fiberfill, etc. no they cannot. Do they even want too? I think no, just the down.

I have never thought about traceability for my sleeping bags since all of the materials that I use are made in the good old USA. Since the material that I use comes from S.C., N.C., or TN. I don’t have to look far to trace where they come from.

I am very proud to say that Wiggy’s is the largest sleeping bag manufacturer in America [I also believe the world] because Wiggy bags are by far the best with respect to quality and performance. I also believe Wiggy’s has been helped by the huge number of people who have told me they support a company that makes their product here in the USA.

MY compliance with the Berry Amendment is my guarantee that when you buy a Wiggy product it and all of its components are Made in America.