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A Sucker Is Born Every Minute

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I just read in an outdoor industry on line magazine that the Gore Company will start an advertising campaign shortly on television promoting their non-existent product that they claim to be “waterproof and breathable”. They have said this claim so often that they actually believe it I guess. It is now as it was in the past a claim that is false. It always has been and always will be. The only entities that are waterproof and breathe are living organisms; such as humans, as well as all other animals and plant species. Inanimate objects such as material can be made waterproof with various coatings and if not coated with any material they are naturally VAPOR PERMEABLE! They the manmade materials do not breathe. The materials are not alive and only living entities are capable of BREATHING! Do they get this, probably yes, but they have to ignore reality in order to sell their bogus product.

Since I have been selling my leather boots many of the buyers have asked a great many questions regarding why my product is superior to the Gore-Tex/Thinsulate boots available from every other boot company in the country. Since the greater majority of my customers have shown an interest in getting factual information about my products as well as my opinion of the other products available, so I do not think these inquiries are not unusual. What is constant I have found is that virtually everyone who owns the boots with Gore-Tex/Thinsulate experiences cold feet once the temperature gets into the teens and lower. As I have explained in the October 3rd newsletter COLD FEET it is again the fact that the moisture retained in the boots gets cold so your feet get cold. The Gore-Tex PTFE film as well as the Thinsulate does not allow the moisture to get out of the boots. Hence wet cold feet.

Now that Gore is embarking on this campaign to present their product in a different light it makes no difference it will not change the fact that it simply doesn’t work as they still claim. What they are doing with this new advertising campaign is offering to a new generation of people their bogus information, working on the premise that a “sucker is born every day”. They go to manufacturers and tell them about the campaign and say they can be included in the ads probably. These large companies are notorious for taking any advertising they can get. I remember when I was selling fiberfill to skiwear manufacturers they didn’t just want polyester fiberfill in their jackets they wanted either Dacron from DuPont, Kodel from Eastman Chemical or Fortrel from Celanese, why because they received $0.25 per pound or more in advertising allowance. They had to use something in the way of insulation so why not partner with a company that gave them the most money. Today the manufacturers think they must have a waterproof and breathable component in their garments even though they know it doesn’t work so they go with the highest bidder. Maybe the company that markets Event which as far as I am concerned is the same PTFE film laminated to fabric that Gore-Tex is will via for some of the business with an aggressive advertising campaign as well.

When it gets down to it as I have said for years starting in 1977 when I first encountered Bobby Gore at a trade show, and told him then that what he had doesn’t work now and will not work in the future. Those of you who have found out that these so called waterproof breathable materials regardless of brand name do not work should educate your children to these facts so they do not waste their money on bogus products. This will stop the cycle of a “sucker born every minute.”

Wiggy's Signature

How to Keep Warm?

The subject “how to keep warm” has been the title of many articles written since 1971 when I first read the booklet by Gerry Cunningham titled How to Keep Warm. Other people have written books on the subject as well as the many articles that I have written which can be found in the archives [...]

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Cold Feet

This summer I introduced my Lamilite boots to the market place with my Lamilite socks. I am pleased to say both items are selling well. During the past 6 months I have had the opportunity to speak with numerous people both on the phone as well as here at the factory about footwear that they [...]

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New Fire Retardant & Arc Resistant Standards Enacted by Osha

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The Best Fire Retardant Insulated Underwear in the World

As the owner of Wiggy’s I pride myself on not copying any other product on the market unless I can make it better. My sleeping bags are second to no other sleeping bag that has ever been made since day one of sleeping bag manufacturing; about 1895 in Finland. I pride myself on the fact [...]

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If You Put Lipstick on a Pig You Still Have a Pig

There are three companies that exemplify this statement. The first company is Allied Feather and Down. They are marketing a “fluorocarbon free hydrophobic treated down.”It is quite obvious that companies that process down, are trying everything they can to show that they are good citizens. They are eco-friendly so they leave the smallest foot print [...]

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The Fallacy Of A Government Created Sleeping Bag

I have for 20 years written about sleeping bags created by government employees and the fact that whatever these people have created has never performed in the field at the intended temperature rating. The primary reason is the fact that these people ignore the temperature and use what is called “clo value” for their rating. [...]

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Testing Bags by Publications

When I first started making sleeping bags I thought I would get magazines that I was advertising in like Outside and Backpacker to contact me so they could test my sleeping bags. After all, I was advertising in these publications that I made the best sleeping bag in the world and I said things that [...]

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Wiggy's founder shouts gospel of Lamilite from Grand Junction factory

By Jason Blevins – The Denver Post Jerry Wigutow, the founder of Wiggy's, holds the first sleeping bag he made. Wigutow and his dog, Cookie, were at his production facility in Grand Junction earlier this month. (Photos by William Woody, Special to The Denver Post)GRAND JUNCTION — Jerry Wigutow is herding Cookie through his vast [...]

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More Truth About Water Proof Down

Down processors in the past year have finally added a water repellent treatment to the bath that down goes through to help it from collapsing when it gets wet. Until now they, or rather the companies that sell down sleeping bags, have kept the chemical a secret. I knew what they were doing, adding a [...]

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Corporate Office & Factory

To place an order, please contact our corporate office & factory at:

Wiggy’s Inc.
PO Box 2124
Grand Junction, CO 81502

Store Location

2482 Industrial Blvd  •  Grand Junction, CO
(970) 241-6465

+1 (866) 411-6465 f:  (970) 241•5921 e:  

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