lamilite

WHY DOES LAMILITE, CLIMASHIELD, CONTINUOUS FILAMENT FIBER WORK SO WELL AS AN INSULATION? THEY ARE ALL ONE AND THE SAME.

I have written an enormous amount about Lamilite but until now I did not understand the physics of why it works so well. Now I can explain it.

There are several factors that contribute to its success.

Factor number one, the most important is to leave it alone with respect to its loft. When the continuous filament now comes off of its web forming machine it is now Climashield and it can be configured in several different weights or thicknesses. They produce between 3 ounce and 15 ounce weights. I use primarily 6,12 and 15 ounce.

When I receive a shipment of the Climashield I further process it by laminating it to nylon and it now becomes Lamilite. What is important to know is that the loft of each of these 3 products is that it has not changed. It is the same loft level as it was when it was first made. Remember loft to begin with is the start of staying warm.

The reason for the lamination is as a cutting as sewing aid which makes the manufacturing more efficient as well as the long term life of our products.

Now to where the physics takes place. You get into one of our sleeping bags, for example the Super Light 0 degree rated bag. But before you actually get in it you may or should note the thickness of the sleeping bag that is uniform from the foot end to the head end. That means the heat from your body only goes up, skyward. That heat is going from you to the nylon. Once it leaves the nylon it is now in the fiber heating and attaching to the fibers. The Super Light has the L-15 or 15 ounce weight Lamilite. If you were to cut a section that is 18 inches wide out of the sleeping bag and started to count the continuous filaments individually you would count approximately 8 million strands or more. The thickness is between 2 and 3 inches. The warm air does not move very quickly. All of the filaments have a crimp so they are touching each other in various places and the movement of heat transfer is almost insignificant. It is for this reason that trapped heat causes the vapor to move out of the sleeping bag. The density of the fibers keeps the warm air movement at a minimum but vapor movement is constant.

Because heat movement out of the sleeping bag is so slow it has a very positive affect on your body. Because your body heat loss is so slow your metabolic rate is slowed and your consumption of the food you have eaten prior to getting into your sleeping bag is slowed.

When you have eaten and gotten into a poorly insulated sleeping bag you lose body heat rapidly so your metabolic rate is fast. Once all of your food has been consumed you start getting cold.

The slower the consumption of your food the slower the heat loss the longer you stay warm. This is a trad mark of Wiggy bags.

Layering the insulation significantly enhances the level of temperature rating. When you use a Super Light 0 degree F sleeping bag with the over bag rated for 35 degrees F that has the L6 Lamilite the combination is rated for -40 F. The temperature capability is disproportionately more efficient  to the new weight.

When we make our Antarctic bag we use the L-15 3, layers and one layer of L-6 for -60 degrees F. Considering the number of filaments in excess of 24 million the loss of heat even when you are in a – 60 degree environment is insignificant. Of course, there are other things to take into consideration, i.e. you are generally clothed. But what is interesting is that a person who is wet and clothed in the Antarctic bag does warm and therefore, will cause the moisture to dry.

An additional interesting fact is that the Antarctic bag weighing 7or 8 pounds is remarkably light for that extreme temperature.

You now know the physics of continuous filament fibers capability to perform as an insulation. You must also realize the weights that are now established that perform as they do in Wiggy’s bags have been in use for the 37 years that Wiggy’s has been manufacturing sleeping bags.

The physics of insulation further demonstrates that continuous filament is in a class by itself.