sustainability versus biodegradable

A TESTIMONIAL AND SUSTAINABILITY VERSUS BIODEGRADEABLE

I work for a water dept. in Illinois. I'm looking for some recommendations for gear to go under our high-vis rain gear this spring. We hydrant flush at night the first week in April and it can get down to below freezing and usually rains or snows on us. I have the vest liner, Wiggy socks, fish net top, Ducksback balaclava and will be looking into your rain gear later for fishing in my boat. I want something to wear under our crappy work rain gear but also wear under the rain gear I'm going to buy from you for fishing. On a side note I've had your vest liner for over a year and love it! Super lightweight and surprisingly warm! I've worn on water main breaks, sewer repairs and many other job tasks that can be cold and always sweaty and has done an excellent job of keeping me warm and drying fast. Your socks are the only thing keeping my feet warm this winter. Even during this last week’s neg. 24 deg. days. This last week was a good test for your fishnet top. It did a phenomenal job at keeping me warm and dry after trudging through 2ft of snow locating utilities. When I did sweat I dried extremely fast. Thanks for your help and great gear!

Ryan

I read advertisements from other companies where the testimonial quote comes from one of their paid field users who are considered technical advisors. I never read comments such as Ryan’s a man who has used his own money to buy one or more of my products and choses to write to me expressing his experience with it or them. I am sure the testimonials from other companies will never come from their customers because the buyers of their products have yet to do it so what will make them start now.

I did suggest he get one of the liner jackets to wear in conjunction with the liner vest.

Thank you Ryan for your testimonial.

Jerry,

I am writing to inform you of my latest experiences with your products. This past week I was on a ski trip in Colorado. All of the previous dozen or so times I have skied involved me being very uncomfortable due to the cold, especially my hands and feet. This was the first time I was able to use your products on the mountain and I can honestly say I was never once cold.

Instead of my normal wool socks I wore your Lamilite socks. I wore my fishnet base layer, Barren Grounds Parka, and Renegade mittens. I noticed a thin build up of ice on the outside of the parka and recognized this as perspiration moving through the garment. I was never once cold and never once uncomfortably warm, it was amazing, really.

One of the worst times in the past was the 10 or so minute ride on the lift back up the mountain. I assume this was because the moisture I generated from activity (skiing) was trapped inside my clothes and causing a deep chill when I was now sitting still in the high winds. This chill was nonexistent with your garments. I exclusively recommend your products to everyone I speak to regarding cold weather gear and would like to say thank you for making unbeatable USA-made products.

One question I do have for you is what product you would recommend for leg-wear while deer hunting? I live in Oklahoma so the vast majority of the time I will be wearing the clothing here. I was not sure whether leg jackets or which bibs would be optimal for this use.

Again, thank you for your time and making a great product.

Jesse Greer

I advised Jesse to definitely get the leg jackets.

A second unsolicited or paid for testimonial.

Jesse’s experience with staying warm on the lift going back up the mountain is because he was wearing the fishnet top and as he observed his perspiration moved out of all the layers he was wearing to condense on the outside of his Barren Grounds Parka.

SUSTAINABLE GARMENTS VERSUS BIODEGRADEABLE GARMENTS

The information available on the outdoor retailer web site for the OR show was for the most part showing products were virtually non-existent. But the talk of the show was “biodegradables”.

For the past 4 years or so the outdoor industry has been shouting from the roof tops that they had to reduce their foot print and make sustainable products. To the best of my knowledge this concept has been dying on the vine. I suspect they are not seeing consumers play ball with them. So they have changes their tack and now the word of choice is biodegradable. I can only assume they are trying to make themselves sound more responsible to the general public.

These companies are working feverishly to use components such as polyester, wool or even down after reprocessing. Does this sound like they are making “sustainable” products? I think not! Some companies are making biodegradable materials from vegetables fiber waste. One such company is primaloft. They are making their non-functioning fiberfill they claim is a form of insulation from vegetable waste. I take exception to their reference that they have insulation in the first place of worth. You can put kapok which is used in cheap flotation vests between two layers of material and call it insulation. But it’s worth is insignificant, same with primaloft; it is insignificant. But they claim it is made from recycled polyester and vegetable fiber so it will degrade quickly in the land fill locations. Will it work better than the 100 percent polyester fill they have sold for years; absolutely not.

I view this as a ploy to make people feel guilty if they don’t buy a garment that will bio degrade.

So much for their sustainable products.

My reality is just the opposite, I chose to use only first quality materials and make products such as sleeping bags and clothing that last for years as so many have learned when they purchase Wiggy products. So the Wiggy foot print gets smaller each year and Wiggy products never see the inside of landfills. They are the most sustainable of all similar products that can be seen at the outdoor retailer trade show. They also work versus those seen at the trade show that does not work.

MUKLUKS

This winter has brought me many orders for mukluks. However, some people who order them use them with soft sided footwear like my sock or Sunwalker’s or the soft sided mukluks made by Steger Company. This causes problems when walking and causes damage to the mukluks. I looked at the information on the web site and it states “Using the mukluks over any insulated boot” and “The end result is the warmest over-boot in the world.”

So any who are considering buying them must know that they are to be worm over any foot wear that is stable as a 10 inch boot is, if not you can expect that you may very well damage them because you have used them in a manner they were not made for.

Actually I want people to take the time to read as much as possible on the web site about the products they are interested in purchasing and in the event something is not clear take the time to call more so than sending an e mail.

Also keep sending me your experiences so I can share the information with more customers and potential customers, what you have to say is very important since I cannot be doing all of the things that my products are exposed too.