more bogus info about an insulation

THERMOBALLS FOR INSULATION? NOT A CHANCE

In 1972 I believe the North Face Company introduced the shingle construction sleeping bag using a chopped staple fiberfill known as either Hollofill or Quallofil both products of DuPont Company. Regardless which fiber was used they sandwiched in between two scrims. I was visiting the factory and was trying to convince the all knowable designer (?) that he should change to laminated Polarguard the fore runner of Lamilite because what he was making was going to be a problem. He asked why and I told him the chopped staple silicone finished fiber he was using was going to separate during the very first wash cycle. Silicone fiber is very slick and moves easily and quickly. I asked if he would wash a bag to find out if what I told himwas true or not. Three months later I was back in S.F. and visited this fellow at The North Face and noted that they were still making these shingle construction bags using the same fiberfill. I asked if he had washed a bag to which he replied yes and directed me to a corner in his design studio where it was on the floor. He had opened it and all of the fiberfill had gone from the middle of the bag to the sides as I said it would. I asked if he was now ready to use my product and he said no. I said aren’t you concerned about returns when the bags deteriorate in laundering. His response was “nobody washes a sleeping bag.”By 1976 when I was in the sleeping bag business with my first company Olam I started to get orders from a company in California, The Co-op because they has so many returns of North Face shingle construction sleeping bags because people did wash them. I think the returns were so large that this was a contributing factor in their economic demise.

Enter Polarguard continuous filament fiberfill. About this time they started using the Polarguard and it became their fiber of choice exclusively until now. Now they are selling outerwear that has Thermoball polyester fiberfill which they claim in a manner of speaking is superior to the continuous filament fiber. This is what they claim on their website; I quote; “Unlike traditional continuous filament synthetic insulation, the small, round Primaloft synthetic fiber clusters closely mimic down clusters trapping heat within small air pockets to retain warmth.” The Thermoballs are made from chopped staple polyester fiber which are spun and frayed into millions of fuzzy miniature cotton-like-balls. This product is a bad joke since there will be a significant part of the general public particularly young people on college campuses who will buy winter coats made with them.

Imagine that they have been able to make one model coat for plus 20 to 30 degrees, one for plus 10 to 20 degrees and lastly a jacket for plus 10 degrees and below. All of the above information about temperature ratings was given to me by a North Face customer service representative. Amazing that they are able to temperature rate jackets so closely.

They even had an article in Popular Science I guess they had blank pages to fill.

You know the expression “if you do not remember the past mistakes you are apt to repeat the mistakes of the past”, well that is exactly what is happening at the North Face. They do not have anyone that has the knowledge of what went wrong and they do not have anyone who has the knowledge of insulation working in the company any way at this time.

Ayn Rand said “you cannot fake reality”.