complaint?

COMPLAINT SORT OF

The above was the title for the following testimonial. I do not think “sort of” is accurate; I believe it is a great compliment not a complaint.

Hi Jerry,

It was a Wiggy's Christmas for me, a Ducksback zippered jacket, fish net underwear, socks, 2nd layer shirt - SO, with the temp at 0 F I put on the fishnet underwear, my jeans, a flannel shirt, my Ducksback jacket and went out to snow blow the driveway. The task usually takes about an hour and after about 30 seconds I had to remove the hood as I was getting too warm, after finishing the job I came inside and almost immediately had to take off the top fishnet as I was WAY too warm. I ventured out several times today without the top fishnet on and just the jacket and found it was a bit cool without the fishnet underwear. I am amazed at how warm the fishnet keeps me in zero degree temps, great stuff Jerry; I will not use any other brand. By the way, the Ducksback stayed perfectly dry even with blowing snow (my beard was caked). When I wore your sweater to do the same task, it got soaked, but I stayed warm although the temps were only in the low 20's when I did that. Great bags and clothing and thank you for making my Merry Christmas a warm one.

– Jim Kennedy

I am very appreciative of Jim’s review of his experience because it is very telling. Note that he was very warm while working wearing the fishnet underwear. When he decided to remove the top and go out again in the same conditions he found he was not warm, but cool. The basic reason was the mere fact his sweat was not getting away from him so it caused him to be uncomfortable. While he doesn’t say it I suspect he put them back on to get warm again.

As for the sweater which probably had a Supplex shell, if it did allow moisture to get into the garment, big deal, the moisture does not change the heat retention effect of the Lamilite; it works regardless if it is wet or dry. There is no other material sold as insulation that performs like Lamilite. Of course I do not believe there is another insulating material other than the continuous filament fiberfill, Climashield on the planet.

The importance of human use of my products versus spending money to have them tested on machines is incalculable to me. The first time I was involved in a test of sorts was in 1990 when the Marine Corps ordered 200 bags which I named Desert bags because they were set to go to the middleeast in Gulf war 1. Since the war ended very quickly the Marines sent them to 29 Palms, California for a unit to use. When I found out that they were issued to a unit of 200 men, obviously in their late teens or early 20’s to use. 200 men wearing the same clothing, eating the same food and involved in the same activity for one month. They experienced temperatures as cold as 27 degrees. I was told by the major who ordered the bags after the fact that all 200 guys slept well for the month. Now that is what I call an excellent way of testing a product. The Desert bag is a 2.5 pound tapered rectangular model and it has been a part of my line of bags ever since.

In the mid 1990’s when the Army created the bastardization of my two bags system they sent about 24 to the science advisor to the Alaskan command for test and evaluation. Actually there were 2400 sent all over the country. The reports that came back from all over the country were negative. However, since I knew the science advisor he told me the bags failed and retained lots of water. He had already been using my bags and said they never retained water. He was instrumental in my bags being purchased by the Alaskan paratrooper unit. Once again human testing versus machine testing gave real information. The military test of their concoction was the most successful failure to that point. They surpassed that with several years of trying to correct the bags problems with thousands being produced each time all to no avail. Of course their machines said they would work, really?

You now know why I will not ever submit my bags for machine testing. I prefer to hear from my human customers who can easily tell me if my products work or not. Maybe the testing laboratories speak copper manikin. Who knows but I do believe they listen like the copper manikin. Seems that there are more and more robots being used for all sorts of things, so maybe they need robot wear.