Winter 2004 

“They [the House of Representatives] are of the People…. Such an Assembly cannot easily become dangerous to Liberty. They are the Servants of the People, sent together to do the People’s Business, and promote the public Welfare; their Powers must be sufficient, or their Duties cannot be performed. They have no profitable Appointments, but a mere Payment of daily Wages, such as are scarcely equivalent to their Expenses; so that, having no Chance for great Places, and enormous Salaries or Pensions, as in some countries, there is no triguing or bribing for Elections.”

---Benjamin Franklin

THE TRUTH ABOUT SNUGPAK BRANDED SLEEPING BAGS

For the past few years I have periodically written about the negative aspects of the sleeping bags made under the Snugpak label. Tragically they are still being marketed in theUSA to the civilian as well as military markets. It is equally tragic that these non-performing products are also sold in other countries around the world. They seem to be getting away with their deception, false advertising by using companies who had developed respectable names in the market place. These mail order companies such as Brigade Quartermasters, Cheaper Than Dirt, Sportsman’s Guide and Lightfighter Tactical Gear to name a few who apparently could care less if the products they sell actually perform as advertised. I believe each of these companies and any others who sell these sleeping bags has now entered the realm of retailers whom I consider no longer respectable. With respect to the military, some sergeant or lieutenant may see one of these catalogs and be impressed with the stuff size and request through their contracting office to purchase these bags. They in turn will go out on competitive bid for these bags and now the prime source contractors who sell to the military bases are compromised and can not offer another product that actually does perform, so one of these companies gets to supply a bad product. The soldier who is issued this bag is getting the worst of bags. We tax payers who pay for these bags see our tax dollars wasted. It’s a bad deal for all concerned.

     Now why are these bags so bad? The answer is all of the following: the temperature ratings given to these bags is very erroneous, as an example if a bag is rated for use at a low temperature of 0 degrees F you can expect that the comfort factor ends once the temperature drops below + 40 degrees F.  I have been to their web site and read their technical information. Having spent my career in the fiberfill industry (from 1961 to the present) what I have read on their site was written by someone with no amount of knowledge of the subject of polyester fiberfill for insulation purposes. For example the following is stated; “The Softie insulation or ‘super fine high thermal’ (I don’t understand the phase) is a combination of fibers with different crimp systems (a crimp in the fiber is a crimp in the fiber, it is not a system) and surface finishes. Some are crimped, some are curled and others are simply left straight. The random nature of the process results in a product that closely resembles the structure of natural down and the way it performs.” As for looks I know the person who wrote this has never looked at a down cluster, if they had they could not possibly confuse it with crimped polyester fiberfill. I would like the person who did the writing to show me the resemblance. Trust me no one will come forward. The next paragraph makes an outrageously incoherent statement “The yarns used are staple yarns as in natural insulations (as opposed to continuously extruded as in most synthetic fills), giving it excellent re-loft abilities when unpacked.” Yarn is not an extruded product it is a spun product. Fiber is extruded and cut or chopped into two inch lengths as a rule and these lengths are referred to as “staple fiber” which is spun to form yarn. Polyester fibers extruded and chopped for use as a fiberfill are then placed in a machine that forms them into a web which is called batting (polyester batting). The fibers are held together with either a resin that is sprayed on either side of the fiber as it flows through the machine or the fiber which is heat set at 475 degrees is mixed with a fiber that is heat set at 150 degrees (a low melt fiber). In either case the fiberfill travels through an oven which is set at 275 degrees. In the case of the resin spayed on the fiber it is dried and the resin is then the binder holding the fibers together. When the blended fiberfill travels through the oven the low melt fiber liquefies joining the remaining fibers and it becomes the binder. The latter method of holding the chopped staple fibers together has become the preferred method since the finished product is softer than using the spraying method. As for this form of fiberfill batting re-lofting when compressed is a pipe dream. For the few years that I have seen these bags I have noted that they have very little loft to begin with and the loft that they do have deteriorates very quickly just from stuffing it in a stuff sack which is amplified when used. It does not have any re-lofting capability as is stated.

     The reference to most synthetic fills being extruded is also wrong. All synthetic fiberfill material is extruded. I think they are trying to say that continuous filament fiber is some how a bad product when used for batting, which of course is non-sense.

     They further state; “Softie (the name of their fiberfill) is easy to care for; machine washable and still retains a lot of its thermal property when wet.” I agree that you can wash these bags in a washing machine, anything can be put in a washing machine however, what they are omitting is a simple fact of life since the fiberfill is perimeter sewn and not quilted it will separate and leave areas that are nothing but holes.

     During my early years selling fiberfill to outerwear manufacturers many were manufacturers of children’s snowsuits. I learned that these snowsuits were washed once or twice a week and when the styles changed from the quilted to non-quilted appearance we had to make a fiberfill that would be structurally stable to go through a multitude of launderings. The construction of fiberfill used by those manufacturers was made on special garneting machines called random webbers. Those batting were heavily resin bonded. If those manufactures used the construction used by Snugpak the fiberfill would fail to stay together therefore, sleeping bags made with this lightly resin bonded fiberfill or low-melt bonded fiberfill will fail today. The many manufacturers of sleeping bags in existence during the time period of 1960 until about 1995 chose not to use fiberfill constructed in this manner, until 3-M Company marketed their Thin-su-late Liteloft. Several manufacturers tried it and in virtually all cases they re jected it after one to four years of use. Why, because they found out it didn’t perform as an effective insulation, it went flat almost immediately and came apart when laundered. The Softie polyester batting has demonstrated that it too performs equal to Liteloft. Another polyester batting offered to the sleeping bag manufacturers has been Primaloft. It too is made the same way as Softie and it too has demonstrated an equal lack of ability to perform as an acceptable insulating medium specifically in sleeping bags. No US marketer of sleeping bags uses either of those products (Liteloft or Primaloft) today.

     One of the “special” features of the Snugpak bags is termed “profiling.” They state; “this bag is a ‘profiled’ (unquilted) bag which uses the no stitch through method of construction.” [When I first got involved with sleeping bag manufacturers I demonstrated how best to use continuous filament fiberfill in the manufacture of sleeping bags. That was 1968 when my work with lamination of polyester fiberfill culminated in the initial product now known as Lamilite. Anyone who has ever read my catalog will have learned when you eliminate all of the quilt stitching in any insulated product you end up with a more efficient product. They have read my catalog.] Having never heard or seen the term “profiling” referred too with respect to polyester fiberfill I turned to the Oxford dictionary. Profile means a drawing or other representation of an outline of anything.

 “By ‘profiling’ they estimate that they have increased the loft of their bags by up to 30 percent without adding anything to the weight or pack size.” I am at a loss as to what they are talking about or referring too.

     They are putting into some of their bags a material called by them “reflectatherm” a “space age technology in a down to earth application.” They further state; “the material is a “metalised fabric designed to reflect heat and retain warmth. A highly breathable material which adds little to the weight or pack size of the product and provides at least 15% additional warmth whilst being undetectable by touch in the sleeping bag.” To further demonstrate the lack of knowledge that exists at the Brett Harris Company, maker of Snugpak products they think or profess to state that metalised material is new. A quick history shows that it goes back to the early 1960’s when I first started working in the textile industry. Numerous outerwear manufacturers used this form of material in the linings of their jackets, several sleeping bag manufacturers used it in their bags on the lining as well as inside the bags and the early space suits worn by our astronauts who went to the moon were made with I believe 9 layers of metalised material. Today not a single US marketer of sleeping bags uses this type of material and it is long out of space suits. It didn’t do then what Snugpak today says it does, what changed nothing other than another manufacturer trying to convince someone to buy a dream. 

     There is a Snugpak model called Antarctica which is rated for use as cold as -58 degrees F. The total weight of this bag is 5.63 pounds. I once read about this bag on the web site of a company Ranger Joe’s located in Georgia . I was able to bring a law suit against them (Ranger Joe’s) for false advertising. They backed away from the law suit because their attorney wrote to Brett Harris Company asking for proof of the bags ability to perform in those conditions, no answer was ever received. I would like to go into the high country of Colorado with Mr. Harris in January or February which ever is most convenient for him. He can use his bag and I will use one of mine, in separate tents. He will either not sleep or freeze to death using this bag if the temperature gets to 40 below.

     It is my belief today and has been since I started making sleeping bags that a sleeping bag is unquestionably the most important piece of equipment you take with you when you go into the field. As a manufacturer I am potentially responsible for the life of each of my customers. I have refused to sell a bag to someone who wants my lightest weight bag for use in conditions it was not made for because I know they will be very uncomfortable at least or could be endangering their life. As a supplier to the military I have added responsibility. If you are in a combat situation it is dangerous, if you need sleep and it does not come because the sleeping bag doesn’t keep you warm your ability to perform at your best is without question compromised, and that could lead to a fatality. The Brett Harris Company obviously does not care about the people who acquire their bags as a direct purchase or having it issued to you as in the case of a soldier. I know for fact that several hundred were purchased by the Australian military and almost everyone has broken down in a matter of three months.

     The construction employed by Brett Harris Company is as poor a construction as is possible. They single needle the perimeter of each component versus over locking the same component. All synthetic fabric, nylon or polyester when woven is notorious for raveling, fraying or in plain English j ust falling apart. If the perimeter of these fabrics is not sewn with an over lock machine raveling will occur. When the raveling does occur the single needle stitching becomes exposed and breaks very easily. When this happens the pieces of the sleeping bag separate as was experienced by the Australian military.

    I recently purchased a Snugpak model called a “Softie 6 Kestrel” from Brigade Quartermasters. Upon receipt I opened it so I could take pictures to show how poorly the Brett Harris products are constructed.   

Picture # 1 shows the thickness of the Snugpak bag versus the Wiggy’s bag. The Kestrel is rated for +32 degrees and has a thickness of possibly 2 inches while the Wiggy’s bag is our Over bag rated for +35 degrees and has a thickness of about 3 ½ inches. The Kestrel was shipped in its compression stuff sack and there hasn’t been any increase in its loft since I removed it from the stuff sack. If one were to use this bag in a tent on a ground pad wearing only briefs as I recommend wearing in my bags they would never sleep. This bag is incapable of keeping one anyone warm in the conditions it is rated for.

Picture #2 shows the chopped staple fiber separating very easily. I actually separated the fiber with my fingers which will happen each time the bag is laundered. It will be very little in small sections and considerable in large sections of the bag. It is impossible for this to happen with Lamilite.

Picture #3 shows the foot end of each of the 2 bags. Note how much loftier the Wiggy’s bag is versus the Kestrel. The Softie is just that, so soft that it will collapse before using.

Picture #4 shows and I know it’s hard to see that the stitching holding the fiber to the nylon is done with a single sewing machine as I previous mentioned. Then the layers are joined.

Picture #5 clearly shows the single stitch line and how the fraying or raveling has already started and this bag has yet to be used.

Picture #6 again clearly shows the raveling as well as the single row of stitching.

Picture #7 shows the chopped staple fiber that I easily removed from the bag. Note that it looks just like the cotton fiber found in vitamin bottles and is equally easy to separate.

Picture #8, 9 and 10 show the way Wiggy’s bags are sewn together, with a 4 thread over lock machine. Each component is sewn on this machine before being joined to the next guaranteeing the maximum possible strength in locking the yarns of the fabric in place as well as keeping the components together.

Having the bag I decided to call Brigade Quartermasters and ask what the loft of the bag should be initially. I often am asked the loft of the various bags that I produce, so I thought it a legitimate question. The Brigade Quartermasters employee, Maggie thought the same and told me to call back the next day and she would have an answer. She was vague about the answer not on purpose but because she was given vague information. She suggested that I call the importer, Lewis International and speak with Richard Lewis directly. For this I had my son Robert do the calling. According to Robert, he asked how thick each of the layers of the bag, top and or bottom layers was supposed to be with a new bag. Richard Lewis response was “there is no set thickness, and his bags use one half the amount of insulation that other manufacturers use.” Robert did try to get an answer asking the same basic question from several different directions, unsuccessfully. Lewis did admit in the prior two days he had calls with regard to the thickness of his bags. We now know why Maggie was vague about having any knowledge of Snugpak bag loft; they never told her if it actually had any, which I can tell you it doesn’t.

     In conclusion all I can say is given all of the facts when one spends money on a Snugpak product sleeping bag or clothing they have absolutely wasted their money. Each and everyone of you who reads what I have written can chose to think that I am cutting down a competitor, however, I do not consider them a competitor but a bunch of shysters, snake oil salesman and liars.