fishnet underwear testimonial

FISHNET UNDERWEAR TESTIMONIAL

Amazing!

Great base layer, Jerry! Thank you. This will come as no surprise to you but I received my top today and it's 10˚F with a 10-20mph wind. I washed the top, put it on wet along with a heavy and dripping wet flannel shirt (almost a light jacket weight, put my Ventile jacket over, and headed out for a 10 mile bike ride up the pass (we live on Pikes Peak). about 70 minutes out in the cold, with 50+ mph headwinds as I rode home down the pass (including my speed). I started out slightly chill but never got colder. When I got home the end of the flannel shirt sleeve was frozen solid, but I was still just fine.

I have no intention of ending up in those conditions normally, but it is fantastic to know that this system allows for a LOT of the unexpected to happen without dire consequences. Thank you!

– Patrick

I was educated about fishnet underwear in the early 1970’s by the owner of the company that made the fishnet material. Since I was calling on all of the outerwear companies in the country selling them the polyester fiberfill for insulation it seemed like a natural product to show them. The result of my efforts was rewarded with no business. Having not forgotten about the fishnet underwear when I started Wiggy’s I called my friend Jack and told him I was interested in the material so I could make them. That was about 1990.

My first customers were contemporaries of mine who had used fishnet underwear in the 1960’s were happy to know that someone was making them in the USA otherwise they would have to get them from a company in I believe Norway where they were first produced for the Norwegian military. Today all of the Scandinavian military are issued fishnet underwear. Unfortunately not so with respect to the US military and the US military is currently looking at extreme cold weather clothing. The people involved will not consider a tried and proven product used by military’s that have operated in cold climatic conditions for hundreds of years. I have been told that Marine’s training in Norway is issued fishnet underwear while training there.

Many people who visit Wiggy’s and are only aware of me selling them ask how they actually work since they see the large holes (3/8 inch). While there is this information on the web site I will review it with some additional clarity.

The yarn used to make the fishnet fabric is nylon. The nylon is a synthetic which absorbs the temperature of whatever it is touching. Human skin surface is 91 degrees so the fabric will when put on regardless of what temperature it is at that moment will absorb the heat from your skin surface until it is equal; 91 degrees. When the side opposite your skin surface loses some heat the nylon will absorb more heat again until it is equal. When you wear a layer of clothing over the fishnet fabric the heated side of the nylon not against you skin will not easily lose heat. That means heat production is slowed. The more layers of clothing the more difficult it is for the nylon to lose heat.

Now we have a second action taking place, it is called perspiration. We are always perspiring. That is a natural action of the human body. Very little when we are relaxed and it increase as we become more active. The holes allow all of the moisture we produce to move easily through the 3/8 inch holes while still a vapor. From personal experience the moisture will stay in a vapor state and be driven away from your skin and through all of the materials that cover your body (i.e. clothing) so long as the materials are not coated, by the heat of your body. If coated or laminated the moisture will be stopped from moving any further and condense. If the temperature is below 32 degrees F depending upon which garment is coated or laminated and if it is the last garment you have on, the moisture will now freeze and you have started to build an ice box around yourself. If you refer to the picture of me on horseback when I was lost you will see all of the frost on the outside of my parka. All of what I was wearing over the fishnet underwear was garments that were vapor permeable. When you consider the thickness of the Lamilite itself of one plus inches thick and then the additional thickness of the Novasuede material and a temperature of -20 and then some degrees F the heat I was producing was pushing the moisture out of my garments. That gives you some idea of how important the fishnet underwear was for me and coupled with the Lamilite insulation, it is why I survived. Had the moisture been trapped I probably would not have survived.

What I have just described cannot possibly happen if you are wearing as a first layer of a close knitted garment. I know that for several years companies have been offering the close knitted garments because they fit basically skin tight and stretch. The skin tight fit is so the fabric will keep you warm and of course there is the claim that your perspiration will go through the spaces between the yarns. That is the theory, but theory and reality are not the same in this case. There is much too much material against your skin to allow the vapor out as exists with the fishnet material which should also fit on the loose side.

These companies also refer to the finish on the fabric that supposedly wicks the moisture which is a pipe dream, why (?) because the material is synthetic and synthetic material does not wick. If it wicked the situation would be even worse. That would mean the fabric is saturated and the absorbing of heat would be constant. Just think about the times you have worked up a sweat while doing something outside when it is cold and when you stopped the activity you experienced a chill. That becomes history when you wear fishnets as a first layer.

Now that the temperatures in Grand Junction are in the teens at night and warm up to the mid 20’s during the day I wear my fishnet top and I am not only comfortable outside but even at my desk. In addition to the fishnets I wear my Lamilite socks and boots.

The experience that Patrick had is repeated by every person who wears fishnets.