the meaning of a con artist

Con artist

A person who deceives other people by making them believe something false or making them give money away!!!

Source: Cambridge University Dictionary

For over 40 years I have claimed with justification that there is not now, never has been nor do I believe ever will be a fabric made by man or any other entity that will have two distinct characteristics. One is being water proof and the other being vapor permeable.

Those who claim otherwise are in my opinion Con artists, and the number of them has grown precipitously in the ensuing years. Why is that so, “money”? Yes the “money”!

Initially there was one company that was offering such a product that was deceiving people with false information; gore. However as the product was gaining ground in sales other companies around the world joined them. Did one of these companies step forward and say the gore product does not work but ours does and here are the reasons theirs does not work and why ours does? No, they said ours works as well as the gore product, which means it did not work either, so they continued to perpetuate the con job.

The con artist group keeps growing by leaps and bounds because once one manufacturer is getting good sales for garments made with material processed with the film others join in and did them ever. The number of brands that market bogus garments that use these non-functioning materials numbers in the many hundreds or possibly in the thousands.

Let us not stop there with the number of con artists; how about ALL of the retailers around the world who sell garments made with these materials, aren’t they members of the con artist community as well. After all have you ever been in an outdoor store or hunting store that does not sell a garment made with one of these materials, of course not and why; the “money”.

Just imagine if R.E.I., L.L. BEAN, BASS PRO, CABELAS, DICK’S or the numerous other sporting goods stores ever looked in the mirror and realized they are “con artists” as well.

As I have noted in the past, no one has ever asked for demonstrable proof that the gore product and all that have followed in their footsteps for the proof. Why not, because they all like the “money” from the sale of a product that simply put “does not work”.

If you take the time to ask the owner of one of these stores if they have ever seen absolute proof demonstrating that these materials work as described they cannot say yes and if they do they are lying.

Throughout the selling chain isn’t it curious that not one person has ever asked for proof of performance? There have been many consumer buyers of products that contain these materials who have voiced their experience with a lack of performance and if they went back to the store or manufacturer their complaints would have fallen on deaf ears. I have in the past heard comments from people in the outdoor industry state that they know goretex doesn’t work but they still will not end their use of the material because no one else is, of their competition.

Maybe I should have said a band of thieves too. Honesty in the outdoor industry is at a low level. I cannot imagine the number of sleeping bags I would have been selling for the past 25 years if I chose to reduce the weight for a regular length and regular width Ultra- Light bag from an average of 3 ¼ pounds to 2 ½ pounds and still claimed it was rated for plus 20 degrees F. Actually I did make one of that weight for about 100 guys who frequented a hunting web site. I reduced the weight of the fiber and reduced the weight of the nylon to accomplish what was asked for. However, I told them no guarantee about the temperature rating. Well it didn’t perform and when I told them I did not think it would they in total became angry. The reality is I would have needed a separate customer relations person to tell all customers who would have bought one had I made them that they must have been doing something wrong to get cold. It was not the bag! That would have done wonders for the reputation of Wiggy’s. It can be gut wrenching sometimes but I am here to deal with complaints versus having a customer relations employee. That is why you get a menu when you call these very large companies. What you do not get is satisfactory answers. I wonder what it would be like to call gore and ask how they can prove the unprovable.

There is no shortage of con artists plying the outdoor industry with all of the natural additives that are supposedly being mixed into the yarns etc. to make your life better.

There are companies who claim insulations that do not insulate. The list goes on and on.

I always state buyers beware because the government agencies we pay for that is supposed protect us from consumer fraud doesn’t.

TARIFFS

To my Canadian customers I read that there is now a 25% tariff on sleeping bags made in the USA that are shipped into Canada. Wiggy’s is the only manufacturer in the USA that makes sleeping bags. They are I am proud to say the finest sleeping bags ever made in the history of sleeping bag manufacturing and now the Canadian government is making them more expensive for Canadian consumers. The government has not hurt Wiggy’s but the citizens of Canada. Then again I can’t stop the US government from doing as they have. All I can say is for the Canadians to visit the USA and come to Grand Junction, CO.