wiggy's water wear

WATER WEAR

I should start calling the clothing that I produce “water wear”!

This morning while working out I saw a segment of the show “Mountain Men” where a guy was gingerly crossing a river in Alaska by chopping the ice as he went along to make sure it was thick enough to support his weight. Recently as a result of one customer writing to me about seeing a person competing on the Alone program using a Wiggy bag I tuned in for a while. Never did see one of the contestants using my bag but I am sure there are a few who do.

What do those in Alaska and those who compete on Alone have in common? They all have to deal with water. They are not alone with that problem. Every person who goes into the bush has the same concern. Is the problem solvable; ABSOLUTELY! Clothing, to include underwear, socks, shoes, jackets as well as sleeping bags that are not affected by water! What if any of the items mentioned were to get wet and as a result still functioned as if they were dry, you would have one less thing to be concerned about while in the bush. Even if you broke through the ice and were soaked! Once out of the water you would not necessarily freeze to death if you were wearing Wiggy’s clothing. It would have to be -40 degrees or lower for that to happen. So should I call it Wiggy’s Water Wear?

It is now common knowledge that a wet person getting into a wet Wiggy’s bag will get warm and be able to therefore sleep, and find themselves dry in the morning as well as the bag being dry. That is the nature of Lamilite insulation; wet or dry it does that which it is supposed to do retain the heat produced by the person wearing a Wiggy’s garment or sleeping in a Wiggy’s bag.

When I observe the clothing that is being worn by people who participate on these programs I am not surprised to see them uncomfortable. They always refer to being chilled and trying to stay warm as well as dry. They like so many appear to believe that fleece such as Polartec will keep them warm and manage the moisture coming out of the human body. If you have a fleece garment regardless if it is Polartec or some less costly garment which is more than likely no different than Polartec soak it in your sink, ring it out and put it on and see how long it takes to dry. While it is still wet if you live in an area that still has temperature in the 40/50's go outside and note if you stay warm. I suspect you will not be warm. I am equally sure the fleece fabric will not dry very fast.

I now make an array of garments that will function to keep a person warm regardless if the garments happen to get wet. Keeping warm means that the heat your body is generating will drive the moisture with in the garment out. As this process takes place the amount of heat that is being drawn from the body to drive out the moisture reduces because there is less and less moisture to get rid of. Therefore, body heat production is lessoned.

What all of the companies like TNF, Columbia, and Arcterx (?) etc. offer is non-functioning fashion garments with the promise of working. Of course their garments will work for the urban campers. Urban camping is a hotel with a color TV not connected to a cable. This same attitude is very prevalent when it comes to the clothing worn by the military in the field; the soldier has to look good in the uniform as much as the soldier has to look good in the class A uniform. Even if it doesn’t do the job!

What do I know (?) the fact that I have been there and done that maybe irrelevant to some, but I do know what I am speaking about and guarantee if you tell me where you are going and the conditions you expect to encounter I will dress you so you do not die because of having the wrong clothing, you will not ever be uncomfortable.

CORRECTION: yesterday's newsletter had Pope AFB in South Carolina , It is in N.C. and now a part of Fort Bragg.