information is vital to decision making

WOW OF A TESTIMONIAL!!!

Hi Wiggys crew,
the new site looks great!

Just wanted to take a minute and thank you for your work.

From the Antarctic Bag & Mitts, our beautiful white Fossil Ridge Parkas & Bibs, Mukluks, even the booties & other odds & ends… these have all become my favorite things, because they’re the equipment I depend on with full confidence. Amazing warmth, breathability and comfort, rugged durability, wash-ability, and the quality of your company itself, standing behind your products & even accommodating custom orders; there is just no one like you guys.

You’ve made winter my favorite time of year. Now when it’s -35, I grab a book, my gear & snowshoes, head out wherever, and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air in total comfort. I’ve used your gear winter camping & adventuring up into Canada, climbing up/sliding down snow, ice, rocks & dirt, been blown across Lake Superior on my face in ice squalls and after the initial shock, even enjoyed the experience of getting run over by the freight train whiteout hurricane, completely warm & protected. Somehow, this stuff shows no wear yet! I don’t get it, but I love it.

I can’t thank you enough for the excellent equipment and your willingness to do custom work to make everything perfect for your customers.

Sincerely,Pete Doering

The Fossil Ridge Parka and Bib are made with the Novasuede material. Of all of the materials I use for outerwear garments the Novasuede stands apart from all the rest of not only what I use but what every other company in the world uses.

Novasuede is 100 percent nylon but it looks and feels just like suede, so much so someone who works with suede may very well be fooled into thinking it is suede. Since this material is used primarily for furniture as far as I know it has an extremely durable water repellent treatment applied to it! Its durability is unquestionably better than any other fabric I am aware of. I use the original Fossil Ridge Parka that I made in 1995 and it has been laundered probably 20 times over the years when I was hunting. Going through any sort of brush the fabric just brushes away the brush. While it is extremely water resistant it is also vapor permeable. Just look at the picture on the web site of me on horseback and you can see all the frost on the parka. The material is as wind proof as any material ever made. The softness of the material does not change when the fabric is exposed to temperatures above 32 degrees or 50 below zero. This is important for bow hunters who are always looking for the softest most noise free garments they can get.

While I make the Fossil Ridge parka with the Novasuede it is available for any of the other garments that I make. You would have to call for pricing since all Novasuede garments are custom made.

The following e mail arrived this morning. I learned something I did not otherwise know.

Mr. Wigutow,

I think most of your customers have accepted the fact that down is an ineffective insulator. We know that it does not vent moisture. You have stated this fact relentlessly.

What your customers probably do not know is that birds DO NOT perspire. They do not emit skin moisture. They have no sweat glands.

So the popular equivalence of suggesting that if down works for geese in the arctic, it will work for us in winter is dead wrong, for natural physiological reasons.

Best,

Will Waller

I think if people have an outlet to present their knowledge they will take advantage of the opportunity as Will has done here. I have no hesitation to publish credible information that I receive from customers that can be beneficial to all who read my articles. The more information one has on a particular subject the better able they are to make correct decisions pertaining to the subject. Now that we know more about down it is obvious that one should not buy any down filled products.

The problem that is endemic is the very fact that you the consumer cannot get information from any of the major brand names of products sold. If you enter a retail store and have questions about the products you really do not get any intelligent answers because the person with whom you are conversing has no knowledge of the product. If you call as I have several times over the years you get a customer service representative who is equally unqualified to answer your questions intelligently. In addition these companies do not have a forum so to speak where you can ask questions. How about the company are professional product testers being available to answer questions, hardly because their heads are in the clouds? Of course these people are gluttons for punishment. They continually subject themselves to very hostile conditions on the mountain just so they can claim to have climbed it. I also believe these climbers are very condescending of people who have not done on the mountain what they have done. That is because those who don’t do what they have done do not have a death wish.

As far as I am concerned the more information I get from my readers the more information my readers will get from me.