can a sleeping bag or outerwear garment be dangerous

THE DANGERS OF AEROGEL

The following e mail was received on Friday evening from a customer who obviously knows quite a bit about the aerogel product.

Hello again,

I was just catching up on email I missed and noticed your news and commentary on Aerogel. You were told correctly about that stuff absorbing oil. I have several blocks of it. It's the same variety that NASA used on the Stardust Mission to fly up behind a comet, Wild 2, and flip up a plate covered in Aerogel to capture dust particles. They later returned this plate to Earth to study the pristine particles.

Anyway, holding a piece of Aerogel in your hand is as close to having nothing in your hand while still having something in your hand. No kidding! You cannot even feel the weight of the stuff. It's also extremely delicate. It fractures like glass including forming conchoidal chips just like a windshield. I can literally place a 1/2" thick piece of it between a plumbing torch and my hand and not feel any hint of heat even after several minutes of heating. I believe it actually is the most efficient insulation in the world but I doubt very much that it would work in any kind out outdoor application for warmth. It's far too delicate and definitely not gel-like in the slightest. I'd be very concerned about inhaling any particles of it as it would act just like silica dust and destroy your lungs over time.

If you hold it with bare hands, even momentarily, your skin will turn white because the oil and moisture is instantly pulled out of your skin. I've put drops of distilled water on it and it just gets absorbed. I placed that piece in a sealed container in a warm location and the water did come back out of it but I could not discern anything about vapor permeability or how well liquid moisture moves through it. It's also very difficult to see. It looks like a faint blue smoke in some light and looks nearly transparent in other light. It's extremely difficult to work with in solid form and I can only imagine that a powdered form would be a nightmare to handle as it is hazardous to your eyes, skin and lungs.

Thank you,

Bill Cotton

Since I became knowledgeable of the primaloft company and the bean company working together to put on the market in finished products specifically sleeping bags and outerwear with a polyester blend with aerogel I wrote about it from the perspective that the addition of the aerogel dust would not make the primaloft product a better insulation than it is which in my opinion is a worthless insulating medium. My opinion is based on the fact that it has been a failure from its inception, except in garments used while bone fishing off the coast of Key West Florida in July.

That said the information that has come to light from Bill explains the dangers that the addition of aerogel presents. The primaloft people are in my opinion going to any length they can go to, too try and sell their non-functioning product. Why the bean people are so quick to jump into this product so quickly without any proof that there is a benefit is not a shock to me. The bean people just like the rei, dick’s, cabelas, bass pro and who knows how many smaller retailers also require no proof that what they are being shown actually does what the company selling the product actually performs in whatever manner it is supposed to.

It seems to me all of the very large companies have no real interest in offering products that work, they are illusionists. They, companies such as north face and columbia hire people to use their products in I believe controlled situations so they can take pictures and say they are using their stuff in horrible environments. Well if it works for these people and they say it works it will work for me, that is until you are in a similar situation and find out the garment or sleeping doesn’t. north face with their “heat seeker” insulation that lets you know when you are cold to seek heat.

Wait till next year and it will be improved is their response to their failure, they are like politicians, nothing changes. And like politicians they cannot be shamed when the new product is no different than the old.

As for buying a product from bean if it contains primaloft/aerogel be it a sleeping bag or clothing item they should be labeled that you are buying this product at your own risk in my opinion!!!

The following e mail came to me while I was writing this commentary article so I decided it should be included.

Dear Jerry,

5 years ago, I went on a pack in Elk hunt in Colorado. While preparing for the hunt a well-known outfitter sold me a sleeping bag that they swore would work really well it was the size of a football when in its stuff sack. It had the latest and greatest insulation. That combined with the hammock they swore was the best way to sleep almost ended my trip early. The first night after hiking all day it began to snow I woke up freezing cold with a killer head ache (mild altitude sickness) which went away after two days. I spent the next nine days in my friend’s tent sleeping on all my clothing with the horrible sleeping and the hammock as my only insulation. When we came off the mountain I stuffed both in a gas station garbage can.

Weeks later at home I started looking for the warmest sleeping bags and found Wiggy’s. It has been a love affair ever since. I have never been cold again. Since then I have been on several similar trips and have lived in comfort with my ftrss bags, ground pad and one-man single person bivy shelter. Not to mention hours of sitting totally still in all conditions well into the late season with my all of my coats, vests and leg jackets as well as mukluks. I love that I usually pack the leg jackets, mukluks, and vest into my stand or bling and add them as needed.

Recently I started wearing Wiggy’s every day in the fall and winter. I am a contractor and often work outdoors all through the winter. Your boots, jackets and vest keep me warm all day. One of the things that I always notice is when I put on one of your products the feeling of warmth that sets in almost immediately. I always notice it in my back first. Just comfortable warmth. Unlike many other coats and outdoor gear, I have tried they always take forever to warm up if ever and you have to have layer upon layer to stay warm. I have put your barren ground coat on over a tee shirt in January to blow the driveway and been comfortable the whole time. You have my sincerest thanks for your products.

Warmest Regards,

Mike Isom

Unfortunately Mike did not name the brand of bag he was given because if he did you would all know what to stay away from. But taking into consideration what he has said about the Wiggy’s bag and other products lets one know what brand is best to buy and for his comments I am very thankful.