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The One with Nature- Wiggy’s sleeping bags. At some point school trips, sleep away camp and overnight camping will come knocking at the door. I wanted to find a sleeping bag that would be super warm and well made to last throughout the years. This one will definitely hold up.

AS SEEN IN THE HUFFINGTON POST NOVEMBER 23, 2016

FIRST CHUKKA BOOT TESTIMONIAL

Hi Jerry,

You hit a HOME RUN with the new Chukka's!As you can tell from my sales history, I believe in Wiggy's.The Fossil Ridge Parka is something I should have bought much sooner (at $750), and now I own one.Of the three different pair of boots, this is the best yet.I may consider a high pair later on, but for now these are just the ticket!The black Wellco are a close second, and the new guys just jumped to the top of the stack.

Thanks for being who you are - crusty and all.Your products are the "Best in the West"!I have learned so much from your newsletters.So glad I got rid of all those other guys from down to Prima Loft - all failed products.Keep on trucking' and being the best.

Loyal Customer,

Lee

A HISTORY OF CHOPPED STAPLE FIBERFILL AND ITS USE IN THE OUTDOOR INDUSTRY

Starting about 1960 DuPont produced a polyester fiber for fiberfill and they trade named it Dacron 88. A short time later Eastman Chemical Company came out with a chopped staple fiberfill trade named Kodela couple of years layer Celanese Corporation offered their fiberfill product into the market place which was trade named Fortrel. In all three cases these companies made fiber specifically for use as a fiberfill product. They had quality control standards. If they made a batch that was not first quality it was sold off as unbranded fiberfill. If I remember correctly first quality fiberfill which was branded sold for about $0.50 per pound and the off quality fiber sold for $0.20 per pound. Today these company’s do not make fiber for fiberfill purposes.

The only company that I know of that uses the same quality control of the fiberfill product they market is Climashield.

However, there are companies that sell fiberfill that they do not make and they brand them such as Primaloft or Thermore and there are probably other companies that put a brand name to their fiberfill products but as far as I know they are made from the fiberfill that fits into the category of unbranded fiber. Unless they make the fiber themselves they have no control over the quality. These companies contract will fiber marketing companies in Asia and fiber processors known as garnetter’s in Asia as well. They do not own any of the equipment that makes the batting. Garnetter’s are notorious for blending the cheapest fiber they can buy and it is incredibly difficult to test the quality that you are getting. When it comes to Climashield, it is a continuous filament fiber and cheating is impossible. This is the reason that the military got away from chopped staple fiberfill products. The military always wanted or specified branded fiberfill and years ago it was always Dacron but found they were ultimately receiving unbranded fiberfill. Hence the change to continuous filament fiberfill for all of the military’s insulation needs.

The outdoor industry has chosen for economic reasons to reverse what they moved away from when it came to insulations used in outerwear and sleeping bags. The popularity of quilted garments died away in the late 1960’s when the outerwear company managers learned that all quilting was detrimental to heat retention. When it came to sleeping bags the companies that made down bags (they do not make them any longer, contracted to Chinese factories) would not make polyester fiberfill bags because they were cheap and made by a number of companies in the U.S that supplied the chain sporting goods stores. All of these companies used chopped staple fiberfill. That changed for these down bag producers when they were shown Polar Guard continuous filament fiber. Why (?) because it was much more expensive than chopped staple fiberfill and also, the first Polar Guard bags were made by Eddie Bauer Company. Their entry into the synthetic bag market got all the other down makers into it as well. These companies soon discovered that over 60 percent of their sleeping bag sales were Polar Guard bags a synthetic not down bags. Some saw success with their Polar Guard bags and many had success with their outerwear jackets. So why the change back to chopped staple fiberfill for these two products?

I believe it is a lack of concern on the part of the marketing companies (since all of the products these companies sell are made in Chinese factories for the most part or other countries in Asia) for the ultimate consumers. My experience as a manufacturer and retailer tells me without question that the consumers are interested in receiving equal value for the money they spend for these products they purchase. Whenever a customer of mine calls with a problem regardless if there is one or not, they can get a replacement or a refund. This tells me that they are concerned about what they are purchasing.

Recently I viewed the Big Agnes website and noted that they are using a fiberfill trade named Thermore. You probably have never heard of it before because it is a product of an Italian based company. They are not a fiber producer but a fiber processor, a garnetter. Therefore they can buy any fiber they want and contract with a garnetter in Asia to produce it for them so they can be a local supplier to American companies who get product made in Asia. This is more economical than shipping from Italy to Asia. The only thing they have to sell is an advertising program. So Big Agnes promoted this new (?) chopped staple fiberfill in their sleeping bags. What they have done is revert back to the same product that was rejected by all of the high priced sleeping bag manufacturers in the 1960’s. At one time they did use Climashield. All of the companies that have sleeping bags made for them in Asia are doing exactly the same thing. They may not be using this Thermore product but a product that they give their own name too, such as North Faces’ Heat Seeker (getting a bag with this fiberfill product in means that you will be seeking a source of heat). Of course North Face used initially Polar Guard from the early 1970’s and the Climashield until recently. Why the change simple and the answer is the same for all of these companies that market sleeping bags; because they simply do not have knowledge of what it takes to make not only a sleeping bag but any insulated garment using a synthetic.

It is my opinion that the sleeping bags for these companies are loss leader items. They are quick to advertise their outerwear because the number of jackets sold dwarfs the number of sleeping bags. Everyone who buys a sleeping bag buys a jacket but certainly not the other way around. You can see why they put more emphasis into the sale of jackets. The only reason they offer sleeping bags is to keep up the image needed by these companies who sell outdoor products. Performance is just a bye word that has no meaning for them.

I get contacts from customers via phone or e mail asking what the R value is for my ground pads. I have absolutely no idea because R value to me is no different than CLO value; they have no value. When these companies use EN ratings as prescribed by some European Union test these companies that make sleeping bags refer the EN rating to their sleeping bags the EU organization has somehow equated their rating numbers probably in CLO to an F or C temperature. This is done as an arbitrary number bases upon no factual evidence of performance, unless you consider the mountaineer who is paid by some company to use their bag and then the results are phenomenal. The North Face Company advertises constantly their testing team. Mountaineers in my opinion love to brutalize themselves because they are going up the mountain with as little weight as possible. The reality is these companies get their temperature rating from the air. Have you ever seen a strong series of testimonials published by these companies, I haven’t. That is because they do not exist,

In the footwear industry the boot companies advertised all the time how effective their boots were to as low as -100 degrees F until I questioned them in the earl years of the 2000’s. Today they do not rate one boot with a temperature rating because the boots they sell promote cold feet.

And of course the jackets being sold are worthless for the most part below +40 degrees F. WHY(?) in my educated opinion it is because they use fiberfill that dates back to the beginning of fiberfill use in outerwear. Regardless of the trade name of the fiberfill it is still the least costly fiber that can be processed into a batting. And of course it must be quilted to keep from being destroyed if the garment ever gets laundered.

I am also convinced the people in charge of product development are completely uneducated in the field of insulations; i.e. the difference between chopped staple fiber and continuous filament fiber. I am also convince the bean counters of these companies blatantly refuse to consider having made products that actually will perform because to do so will increase their material costs. As an example if they were to purchase Climashield or even Lamilite which I have offered to sell them for years. Of course doing so would mean shipping to their Asian factories. But on the up side they would be able to make the same claims about their products as I do mine and of course all the testing has been done by me for 30 plus years.

So the situation that exists today is that many consumers will be disappointed with any of the insulated products they buy if the insulation is not Lamilite or Climashield.