some thing to think about

I received the following e mail I believe as a response to last night’s article. After reading it I have reprinted an article from Textile World on line magazine about a “new” form of insulation from Columbia Sportswear that will have in the same conditions as happened that you will read in the e mail seen below.

Jerry,
I watched a program on the Weather Channel about survivors of different situations and this particular show was about blizzards. I watched three "reenactments" of different situations. One was an Alaska pilot, another was a man trapped in his vehicle for two weeks and the other was about a beautiful young couple on a hike. All three situations involved blizzards that came out of nowhere and the victims were totally unprepared for the circumstances they were in. In every situation, I thought of you and your products. How these "victims" would have been "saved" or at least, aided by your clothing and gear. I was watching intently about the young, married couple who went for a day hike up the mountain. Coming back down, they were caught in a blizzard. The husband was telling the story and he showed photos of how they were dressed and what they carried. Both were wearing medium size back packs but I am not sure what they were carrying in them. Their winter clothing consisted of very "fashionable" winter coats that clung to the body and showed off the shape of the wearer. The husband explained how they were huddled up together and both were shivering uncontrollably. Then he noticed his wife wasn't shivering anymore. She died in his arms because of fashion and ignorance. I thought immediately that if they would have worn your parkas OR had one of your sleeping bags, she would have made it.
I even read many of these "survival experts" on the internet who just regurgitate what others said on their web sites. A lot of that information is just wrong and will get people killed in a true survival situation.
About 25 years ago, I used to teach outdoor survival to Hunters' Education Classes for Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries. I would show people how to set up a small back pack or pouch with water, food, shelter, fire starter items, compass, etc. and how to use them. The goal was to teach safety and preparedness while outdoors. In winter, it doesn't take much to put together a small kit to keep you warm if everything goes "south". I didn't know about your company and its products back then, but I do now. My survival kits always include your products today. It is so easy to buy your winter gear and put it in a vacuum bag and keep in your trunk for emergencies, just like the pilots in the Alaska Command. (Using the vacuum bags shrinks the entire package down to a very small package that packs, out of the way.) I only wish I knew about your company 25 years ago! I spent many cold nights in the field that could have been spent much, much warmer!
Thank you for your honesty and your outstanding products!

Chris

As many of you know if you have read the story of my experience getting lost and then spending 3 days in a blizzard and surviving, all because my clothing was Lamilite insulated. I have read or been told about people losing their life because they were wearing what is referred to as winter clothing supposedly made for use in the winter months. What you are about to read is erroneous information about an insulation.

Quality Fabric Of The Month: Warm & Fuzzy---“UNMITIGATED B/S” (my comment)

November 14, 2018

Omni-Heat™ 3D’s vertically oriented fiber pods enhance the fabric in multiple ways.

Columbia Sportswear’s Omni-Heat™ 3D thermal reflective technology brings a new warm experience to clothing and footwear. (IT STARTS OUT DEEP S***)

By Rachael S. Davis, Executive Editor

Portland, Ore.-based Columbia Sportswear recently launched Omni-Heat™ 3D thermal reflective fabric technology. The fabric is based in part on Columbia’s patented and most successful insulation technology Omni-Heat Reflective, which pairs a breathable fabric with the reflective, heat-retaining foil component of a space blanket in such a way that permits moisture vapor transfer to occur so that the fabric is comfortable to wear while providing warmth.

Heat is not ever reflected back to the source in a clothing item. The foil is not vapor permeable so moisture cannot get past it, it is not transferred.

It does not provide any warmth.

The patent-pending Omni-Heat 3D technology amps up both heat reflection and retention to create an entirely new warm experience, according to Andy Nordhoff, senior public relations manager.

Andy keeps to having relations with the public because you have absolutely no “knowledge” of insulation(s)!!!

First, the reflective aluminum foil is laminated to a base fabric in a “tri-star” pattern. Then, small pods of vertically oriented fibers are attached to the fabric using a printed adhesive and an electrostatic deposition process.

I suspect the tri-star pattern is the knit pattern. It is then laminated to the aluminum foil and the fibers are attached to the aluminum. This cannot be a cheap process. But it sounds good doesn’t it! And all for naught, since what they have created is not capable of being a form of insulation of any degree.

“The fibers do two things,” said Dr. Haskell Beckham, senior director, Materials Innovation. “First, they provide a little air pocket between the fabric and whatever it’s against — so if it’s a base layer, that is the skin — which adds additional insulating capacity. But more importantly, what the fibers do is lift the reflecting component off whatever the fabric is next to, which allows the reflectors to reflect the infrared radiation emanating from the body while minimizing heat loss via conduction, thereby maximizing the heat retaining properties of the fabric.”

The fabric features a “tri-star”
foil pattern

In addition, the comfort and wearability of the fabric are enhanced because the fiber pods can act as tiny wicks that help pull moisture away from the skin and move it to the exterior of the fabric.

I read Beckham’s bio and he does not have any history in the field of insulations and how insulations work. Fibers do not provide little air pockets, bubble wrap provides air pockets. These fibers must be very unique in order to somehow “lift” a reflection off or something; quite remarkable. He obviously does not understand that radiant heat leaving the human body does not stop going away from the body it just keeps going. It maximizes nothing. My suspicion is the fiber pods are synthetic and therefor have no capacity to wick anything. The reality is that if you are wearing a garment made with this material ALL of the moisture coming out of your body will STAY AGAINST YOUR SKIN.

A suggestion to Beckham is to tune into my web site and start the process of learning about insulation.

The fiber pods also give the fabric a very soft hand. “Woody Blackford, Columbia’s vice president of design and innovation — the named inventor on the patent who came up with the concept for the technology — likes to say that whereas Omni-Heat Reflective is warm, Omni-Heat 3D is warm and fuzzy, which I think is a nice way to describe the technology and how it feels,” Beckham said.

Woody should stick to designing things for good or bad is irrelevant but stay away from innovation because based upon the subject of this article you have not innovated anything. I have several patents and have several copies of patents for other sleeping bags and almost all of the patented bags were never made. While Columbia will make a lot of these garments they will not be warm and fuzzy. Woody what you are not doing is “thinking”, what you speak of as technology is not.

The company is not willing to share specific data from fabric testing because the numbers depend on a variety of factors including base fabric composition and color, among other variables. However, Columbia claims the data shows Omni-Heat 3D is a superior product in terms of radiant heat reflected and heat retained compared to other fabrics it has tested.

The company will not share specific data from fabric testing because the stuff does not work as they are claiming. If it did work why not publicizes the findings. Because they found it does not work.

“The enhancement that we get over the base fabric by adding the reflective component and the vertically oriented fibers is a lot more than you’d expect based on a simple linear combination of what you get from the air gap or the reflective component alone,” Beckham said. “I think what’s nice about the technology is that we can apply it to a number of different types of base fabrics, which makes it widely applicable.”

Beckham the material is supposed to add warm and it does not. It is irrelevant the number of different fabrics you apply the process too these fabrics do not now have the capability to “enhance” or improve the insulating capability.

“It really is a head to toe platform,” said Nordhoff. “We have it in 26 styles — hats, gloves, base layers, ski jackets, ski pants, and a couple of new styles of boots built for really harsh cold winter conditions.

All of these companies have “platforms” which is a word that sounds nice but the meaning does not apply. As for processing materials with these supposed benefits for use in footwear in “really harsh cold winter boots” fringes on insanity. All of the boots that Columbia has made in China are no different than all of the other boots made for the Wolverines of the world in one major regard; THEY TRAP EVERY BIT OF MOISTURE THAT COMES OUT OF FEET THAT ARE IN THEM. This guarantees you will have cold feet if you wear them.

“From what we have researched, there is nothing like this technology on the market,” Nordhoff added. “Unique may be an adjective that is thrown around all too often, but in this case, I do think it’s appropriate.”

I totally agree that “there is nothing like this technology on the market” and that is a good thing. In this manner if a consumer buys a product made with this nonsensical material it will be a onetime mistake. Will other companies try to copy it; no!

November/December 2018

It is absolutely amazing to me to observe the number of companies who are trying to create; unsuccessfully I add an insulating material or a combination of materials that will work to keep people warm. They are doing this without one ounce of background or knowledge of how insulations work or how the human body works.

The young woman who perished in the arms of her husband is a worst case scenario as far as I am concerned. I am very sure that there are thousands more who have for the past few winters suffered being very cold in what these companies like Columbia put on store shelves that “promise” to keep you warm in “harsh cold winter conditions”.

Should a company that promotes garments to be worn in “harsh cold winter conditions” be held accountable when their garments do not perform as advertised; I believe the answer is an unquestioned “YES”!!!