COMBATING REYNAUD'S

RAYNAUD’S DISEASE (a testimonial)

They Work For Wisconsin Weather

I have had my Sunwalkers for 10 years and they do everything as advertised. I go out in the woods to cut wood and I have never had cold feet while wearing these in my pac boots. I have Raynaud's, which is a condition where you get cold feet and hands due to circulation issues and the Sunwalkers keep me toasty. I'm ordering another pair if these ever wear out. Not so far though!

Kurt from Wisconsin

WIGGY’S PAC BOOTS

Every now and then I receive an e mail from someone asking about the pack boots I used to make and due to very slow sales after 10 years I pretty much gave a way a little over 3000 pair. Literally every e mail sings praise for them. I had been making the Sunwalkers for years before I decided to make the Pac boots thinking they would sell well since they made not only had the Sunwalkers as the insert but also a Lamilite insulated shaft. At an original price of $160.00 I expected to sell them easily, not the case.

Since I sold off what I had ultimately at $10.00 per pair with the purchase of an additional $150.00 they were gone in 6 months.

Since then I have made the tall Sunwalker and recommend that people buy the lowest cost Pac boot they can find and throw away the felt insert and replace it with the Sunwalker. That is what Kurt did 10 years ago and as you had just read. I do not recall if Kurt called and asked if the Sunwalkers would have been a benefit for him with the Reynaud’s problem, but if he did I would have said yes!

As you see even people with Reynaud’s or diabetes who suffer the same basic problem are having success wearing Lamilite insulated products that are for the first time keeping their extremities warm. Now if the Lamilite is so good at keeping the extremities of people who have on going illnesses such as these mentioned Lamilite will work better at keeping healthy people warm ; period!!!

This information is very important to know since the general public is being bombarded by a variety of companies that make outlandish claims about what they are selling that will ultimately NOT keep anyone warm. Of course foot and hand wear are paramount with respect to staying warm.

For those who are neophytes to proper dressing for cold weather the first erroneous bit of information that has been around for 70 years is to wear a hat if you want to keep your feet warm. Sounds good to keep the blood going into your head warm so it will be warmer when it gets to your feet, but that is not the case. Just the opposite is true, if you keep your feet warm and I might add hands then your head will be warm as well.

Wearing the most expensive wool socks within waterproof footwear will unquestionably result in having cold feet. The same is true if you wear gloves, you will unquestionably have cold hands. When this happens your capillaries carrying blood into the extremities will constrict and you will experience all of the same affects as a person with Reynaud’s. What is of great importance to know is that you want to allow all or most of your body produced moisture to move away from your skin surface as fast as possible, wearing wool socks and wool gloves will only absorb the moisture which gets cold and them draws heat from your extremities so they get cold, and then other negative actions occur.

It is unfortunate that companies that market waterproof boots; mainly made that way using goretex, wool socks, and wool or other close knit material garments that either absorb body produced moisture or simply stifle its movement away from your skin surface because if you do not get rid of the moisture you will unquestionably get cold.

This year I have received several calls from people who will be trekking up Mount Kilimanjaro. I have never been on the mountain but from what I have learned it is just a very long walk from sea level to 19000 feet. That means lots of sweating and when I have explained to the callers who have bought my sleeping bags that they should start out with fishnet underwear they have yet to buy it. I also tell them about my Lamilite socks and again no takers. Since the climb is not technical these walkers believe they should be wearing what mountaineers wear. What they do not know is that every mountaineer is a glutton for punishment. They one and all get chilled because they are wearing close knit base layer garments. Why because companies pay them to wear the stuff so the companies can say their garments have been on Everest.

I continue to be appalled by the boot companies who consciously chose not to drop the goretex as is evidenced by what they have shown at the SHOT show and I believe those who exhibit at the OR show next week or in two weeks as well.

What I believe is pitiful is the mere fact of life that these companies have unquestionably know interest in learning from their failures. They may have sold lots of goretex infused product but that does not means it works. These companies go on the basis of “there is a sucker born every minute” way of thinking, if you want to call that thinking.

So Kurt from Wisconsin ; Thank you very much for your testimonial.

NEW TESTIMONIAL

Hi Jerry! Just wanted to comment on your Baffin Boot article. This was a great discussion, because I almost bought into their crap! I went with another company instead, (also based out of Canada ), but as you recommended I wear the Lamilite socks with them. These boots also have a supposed temperature rating to

-100 degrees. I wouldn't bet my feet on it! I have used them now down to about 0 degrees and feet where fine. I did however find a company that I'm sure you have heard of called Canada Goose (jacket and clothing manufacture), based out of Canada as well. They sell the worlds most expensive non-functioning jacket starting at 500.00 - 1500.00 dollars. I figured that if your just going from your car to the coffee shop it is wonderful - the thing is that if anyone where going camping with me wearing this, I wouldn't let them come along, as I would not want to be responsible for their death! This is why people that spend a lot of time in the great outdoors during the winter should make an investment in Wiggy's gear that will last a lifetime!! Thanks again Jerry!

_Brady Hyland

I asked Brady for the name of the company and suggested he get a pair of the tall Sunwalker's to replace what I believe are felted inserts.

DELIVERIES

Until this winter Wiggy's has been very good on deliveries of merchandise with in two weeks or there about. This year things have changed.

in September we received for us a large order for out Urban Ducksback parkas from the Marine Corp. Once in production I could not stop and production finally was complete by early November. However, from August on orders came in at a rate unexpected. The rate of orders has not been restricted to just parkas, but to almost all products. Mittens and socks have been selling at an incredible rate. How about sleeping bags; the Antarctic mummy and hunter rectangular models have been almost as many as the Super lights. The reality is that Wiggy's has been having a banner year and doing our best to get product out the door as quickly as is possible.

I have been unsuccessful until recently to find additional sewing operators, but as an employer I am not alone even though our pay scale far exceeds the minimum wage and I offer some medical insurance.

I have had calls from customers and what I have just written I have told them and I am happy to say all have been understanding.

As for the future, right now I am not experiencing a slow down in orders and at the time we get the order we are telling the customer 4 to 5 weeks. So far all are accepting the waiting time. In some instances I have told customers that I can not accommodate their time frame and will not place their order in front of any existing orders, that would be  very disrespectful of people who are waiting.

This has been the most difficult letter of information I have ever written.

For one and all who have been good enough to place orders with me and wait you have my sincerest appreciation.