Brain Dead

BRAIN DEATH is a noun, BRAIN DEAD is an adjective.

Brain death is a medical term and brain dead is commonly used to refer to someone who is not thinking.

The basic definition for either is according to Collins English Dictionary is; irreversible brain damage and loss of brain function.

Recently I received a solicitation that originated with the Canadian government for sleeping bags for their military. It called for a down sleeping bag system that would be capable of performing as low as -40 degrees C, with a weight of 5 and ½ pounds I believe. This solicitation is set up as a must be from Integral Designs “no substitutions”. I have never seen or heard of any down bags that will actually perform at -40 degrees C or F made anywhere in the world that are any good for more than one or two days.

In June 2003 the Defence R&D Canada-Toronto published a report titled “Frost in Arctic sleeping bags”. The report is 10 pages long and can be found on the internet, just type the report name in a search engine and you will be able to find it to read. It absolutely confirms that down is not an acceptable insulating medium for use in cold weather clothing in addition to sleeping bags. The following is the EXECUTIVE SUMMARY;

Explorers and modern adventurers have long been plagued by problems caused by frost, ice and liquid water in their sleeping bags after many nights in extreme cold weather. (From what I have heard it is not “many” nights but more like less than one week when the frost starts showing up). This history is reviewed. Ice builds up in the insulation making it much heavier, stiff, and colder to sleep in. The possible sources of this water include sweat evaporating from the skin of the user that condenses or sublimates in the insulation (it is not possible but is what happens), water from wet clothing worn or dried in the bag during the night (I do not believe the water in the clothing leaves the clothing at all, not enough heat is retained to actually drive the moisture out of the clothing), water vapor from the air in the tent that diffuses into the bagand condenses and water or frost that falls from the tent ceiling. Quantitative investigations reveal that the weight gain during field use is highest during the first couple of nights and then reduces to a constant value on the second or third day ( here they contradict the after many nights statement note above), of about 50 g per night. This is probably because of a significant reduction in insulation value on the second and third day when the damp sleeping bag has been left in a compressed state to freeze. (The reduction of further absorption is initially because there is no more material i.e. down clusters to absorb the moisture; however the new moisture getting into the down is simply condensing and attaching to the previously frozen water, just like you see icicles getting longer.)

The question I have is why would the Canadian government want to purchase down sleeping bags in the year 2016 when they have a very solid report showing that down is not an acceptable insulating medium that they sanctioned in 2003?

Does the term brain dead apply, in my opinion yes. Someone is just ignoring their own findings and the end result will be very uncomfortable soldiers who are issued these bags. Is it any wonder why so many Canadian soldiers over the years have purchased Wiggy’s bags.

How about all of the mountaineers who in my opinion brutalize themselves with down sleeping bags as well as other articles of clothing that retain moisture which I believe makes their activity more difficult which it is to begin with. And these individuals promote these products to wannabe mountaineers because these products are fashionable.

The better your clothing is and sleeping bag whereby it is not adversely affected by the environment specifically moisture the more capable you will be in accomplishing your outdoor ends.

This can be applied to a multitude of products that are on the market today that do not perform as I have made note of in the past, and regardless how often these products fail the companies making them do not give up. the outdoor industry doe have a multitude of brain dead people working in it.