people who use their brain buy wiggy's

NO-BRAINER

The meaning; something that requires little mental effort or intelligence to perform or understand. The term is often applied to decisions which are straight forward.

Its first use is attributed to a cartoon that appeared in 1959 known as “The Berrys” in the Long Beach Independent newspaper.

I as well as most people have heard the term used when “whatever” is easily understood. If that is the case you would have to have a brain that is functioning in order to understand “whatever” in the first place. If you did not have a brain as in “no-brainer” you would not understand “whatever” or anything else for that matter. One cannot function without a brain.

What I see in the outdoor industry are people who truly fit the category of “no-brainer” as I interpret it. There are two specific examples to prove my point.

TRENCH FOOT OR EMMERSION FOOT; The term trench foot came about because soldiers in trenches couldn’t dry their feet. It happens when your feet are exposed to a wet condition for long periods of time.

I just read an article on “thegearcaster.com” about “Gore-Tex Surround Footwear Technology”. I quote; “Vented sole shoes that keep your feet dry? You bet. The new Gore-Tex Surround technology uses a special laminate lining that surrounds your foot from above as well as below. Together with the unique vented sole construction, this technology creates an absolutely waterproof yet all-aroundhighly breathable shoe.” Emphasis mine. What I have emphasized is a contradiction in terms. I have in the past provided ample proof that a man made material does not nor do I believes ever will have both of those capabilities.

All of the companies and they are numerous that are selling shoes with this film; Alfa, Bestard, Chricua, Crispi, Dolomite, Hanwag, Harkila, Mammut, Meindl, Salewa, Scarp, and several more fit into the no-brainer category as I see them. I personally do not believe they actually know that feet give off more moisture than any other part of the body and as such the need for running or hiking footwear should be able to allow the moisture out as quickly as possible. When you laminate a film to the lining of a shoe and it surrounds your foot it traps that moisture and if the wearer is wearing wool of cotton socks the socks will absorb and retain all of that moisture that you have created and therefore create a perfect environment for all forms of foot ailments associated with having wet feet, the worst being trench foot because the moisture does not get out of the shoes.

From what I know of the materials used to make jogging shoes or hiking boots one component is open cell foam and how does it react to water; it absorbs it!I personally have a pair of jogging shoes that have the foam in them as do all of the different models I looked at when I bought mine. Guess what mine retain the moisture and when I wear my Lamilite socks my feet do stay dry but the foam gets more moisture since the Lamilite socks do not retain moisture like my Smartwool socks do. The only time the shoes dry is when I have taken them off. They do not have any film in them as I would not buy them with a film in them in the first place.

You may recall that I wrote about the Marine Corps doing a five year study on how to dry out boots in the field because they were seeing a significant number of Marines developing foot problems to include trench foot due to Marines wearing Gore-Tex lined boots. I do not know if anything has changed in the Marines due to the fact that every boot solicitation that I see always requires Gore-Tex.

As I see it the companies involved in the supplying of raw materials to the manufacturers of these shoes show how they fit my interpretation of being referred to as the “no-brainer”.As I have reported people throughout the footwear industry have admitted to me they know about the moisture retention problem but chose not to do anything about it. If the problem in in front of you and you know that eliminating a particular component will correct the problem but do not act on that knowledge you demonstrate the “no-brainer” syndrome. Putting on the market a finished product that will not work because it cannot function, a claimed further demonstrates a lack of use of a brain. When you use your brain you demonstrate intelligence.

What you can do to have the experience of wet feet is to buy the cheapest running or hiking shoes shoe without a Gore-Tex film in it and wears a plastic bag over your socks and you will have duplicated what takes place with these expensive shoes.

DOWN AND WATER-RESISTANT DOWN

The Snews on line publication serving the outdoor industry had an article about down and water resistant down (as if it actually exists). (Emphasis mine).

The opening sentence of the article is and I quote; “WATER IS DOWNS ACHILLES HEEL”. The heel is quite large as you will see.

As the article explains when down gets wet it is useless. The article also recognizes that humidity in a hot environment such as the south eastern part of the country or the wet weather of the northwest cause people to prefer synthetic which is understandable. There is reference to protecting down because the clusters “soak up the moisture and collapse”. They further refer to companies using a Gore-Tex type of fabric, not mentioning any brand name, as a way of protecting the down except that the “air-permeability is compromised so moisture from the user i.e. sweat does not get out of the bag which will be absorbed by the down. (I did not realize that there were any companies making or having made for them sleeping bags with this form of fabric, but what do I know.)

This article was written for the retailer giving advice as to how to sell down bags that have down that has been water repellent treated. But even in that instance they say in the article water resistant down will when exposed to water soak the down. It is not water-proof is one of the subject lines. How about this paragraph’s title; It battles sweat. The article correctly recognizes that sweat from the user is the most common form of moisture to get into the down. The article also states and I quote; “on a long multi-day trip even in dry climates, people report feeling a little bit colder in their down bag or jacket each night. The down progressively is collecting moisture from perspiration and losing loft”. The article does not mention that the bag becomes heavier because of the moisture gain.

When one considers all of the ways moisture can get to the down regardless if it is water repellent treated which is insignificant one would be functioning as I see it with the no-brainer mentality. There is no thinking about the consequences one encounters with a down bag. The writer of the article offers as evidence all of the ways that down is negatively affected by moisture and further gives a very short time frame as to how quickly it takes for the down to start absorbing moisture. That information is a first for me to read. Since it has been documented for years the problem with moisture and further is stated to this day and they are still trying to sell down bags that they know are a problem tells me the sellers at all levels are demonstrating a lack of use of their brain.

Water is with us for as long as we each live and will be here after we are all gone so getting to understand how it affects us good and bad is required. When it comes to sleeping bags the best bag you can get is one that is completely unaffected by water. It works wet the same as it does when it is dry. Of course the only sleeping bag that performs in this manner is a Wiggy’s bags.

So if something is obvious you know about it because you have a functioning brain. But if it is obvious and you do not recognize what it is, you have the no-brainer effect.

Because Wiggy’s bags perform wet or dry they have become the bag of choice for military special forces, people who go into the bush hunting, fishing or photographing, and the survivalist or preparedness markets.

Wiggy's bags are basically maintenance free, with the exception that I want people who own Wiggy's bags to launder them when they get dirty; keeping the fiber clean means more loft which means more warmth. So when you go camping you do not ever have to be concerned if your Wiggy's bag gets wet!