One More Hyped Insulation“Under Armour’s UA Coldgear Reactor Hooded Jacket, is “the most active insulation ever,” according to the brand. UA touts that it adapts to activity level. When you’re at rest, it slows heat loss so you stay warm. When you’re working, it increases ventilation, so you’re not over-heating. It does this, according to the brand, with insulation [...]
STEIN ERIKSEN In November 1963 literally the day JFK was killed the first ski show opened in NYC and that evening I had the opportunity to meet Stein. Little did I know I was speaking with a man whom I believe as do thousands of others was the most graceful skier ever. He passed away this past Sunday at [...]
ANSWERING THE PHONESince I established Wiggy’s Inc. I have answered the phone, to the surprise of countless customers. In the early 1960’s when I entered into the business world I have one primary product to sell, insulation for outerwear. It was at that time that the ski industry started to blossom with numerous companies making skiwear. Many of those [...]
THE BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT I COULD EVER GETBefore I tell you what it is I have to give you some historical background.In 1968 when the factory I represented started to make the continuous filament fibers then known as Polar Guard I started to laminate it, the original Lamilite. I spent 5 years trying to convince the outerwear and sleeping [...]
INSULATION REVOLUTION?I have been selling synthetic fiberfill since 1961 specifically for the use as insulation in all forms of outerwear and sleeping bags and in all of these years I have never heard the term ‘insulation revolution” used until, that is now. I just read a press release from Outdoor Research Company that high lights ‘INSULATION REVOLUTION”.Having observed what [...]
THE NEWEST OLD PRODUCTS MARKETEDI am never surprised to read about the Gore Company and the Primaloft Company offering what they believe is new non-functioning products for consumers to waste their money on.Primaloft is now offering a “stretch insulation” as if it is new. When polyester fiberfill came on the market in 1960/61 it already was capable of being [...]
WHY I AM HARD ON GORE-TEX, THE KING OF HYPE by ANDREW SKURKAAndrew Skurka has a web site where he offers advice on everything backpacking, some right and some wrong but he is very correct about waterproof/ breathable entities and of course concentrates mostly on exposing the fraud of Gore-Tex. What follows are a number of his comments [...]
THE MOST IMPORTANT ARTICLE OF CLOTHING YOU CAN WEARI wrote years ago that the most important item you take into the field is a sleeping bag. If it is a Wiggy bag all the better! You can have all the food in the world but once you are cold it is necessary to have the sleeping bag. However [...]
THIS COMPANY HAS BALLSBelow is a photo of a section cut out of a North Face jacket called a THERMOBALL FULL JACKET? A friend spent the money about $199.00 for it to cut it open so he could send me a sample of the material so I could tell him about the insulation in it. To call the Thermoballs [...]
MY EXPERIENCE GETTING LOSTThe year was November 1995 when I got lost while hunting here in Colorado. I wrote up the story because my friend and guide Rudy Rudibaugh told me when we left the mountain that people do not live through what I had just experienced so I should write it up. I said okay but you [...]