the amendment

THE AMENDMENT MAKING A CHOPPED STAPLE FIBER ACCEPTABLE

A. The following changes are hereby incorporated to subject solicitation:

1. The use of staple insulation is permissible as long as it meets all of the other specification requirements.

2. Section C, GL-PD-14-01, page 10, paragraph 3.6.2.4, delete the first sentence and substitute, "Batting used in

Type I and II sleeping bags shall meet the end item weight, total insulation value, and packed volume requirements

specified in Table VII (see 6.7.8).".

B. All other Terms and Conditions of this solicitation remain the same.

THE ORIGINAL SPECIFICATION

“Batting used in type I and II sleeping bags shall consist of 2 to 3 denier per filament continuous filament fiber and meet the end item weight, total insulation value, and packed volume requirements. The batting shall meet the evenness, blocking, compression recovery and visual launderability requirements”.

In the 1960’s ALL three of the prime producers of chopped staple fiber for fiberfill purposes extruded a 5 denier fiber, then they crimped the fiber with a crimp of 10 per inch. DuPont had a spring shape and Celanese and Eastman had a saw tooth shape. In testing the 5 denier was determined to be the optimum thickness to put through the batting forming equipment.

When Celanese created the continuous filament fiberfill product they stayed with a 5 denier fiber which is what I use, actually it may be 5.5 denier. Over the years Climashield has been able to produce a fiberfill batting with 2 to 3 denier fiber. This product works and works very well. It is the weight I use for my liner jacket, liner vest, balaclava, Ducksback Wind shirt and zippered Ducksback rain coat.

As for making a chopped staple fiber with a 2 to 3 denier fiber is very difficult. The first attribute must be the crimp which is extremely difficult to get 10 crimps per inch with a fiber of this weight. Without these crimps the machinery that separates the fiber and forms the web will not be able to make the web consistent and when it comes out of the machine it may very well just fall and not go to the next step.

There are steps one can take to modify the equipment to run a 2 to 3 denier fiber but it is extremely costly and there is almost no market for this product if there is one in the first place I am unaware of it. Since ALL of the components must be made in the USA for this contract I doubt there is enough business to justify an extruder to create the fiber in the first place and if one did then the need to modify equipment would be necessary and from what I have been told the cost to do that is not justifiable.

In the event that this product could be made it would have to be able to go through 20 launderings, and that is not possible. The 20 laundering minimum number is read in the solicitation.

The weight of the fiber for the fiberfill used in these bags is 2.5 ounce and 3.6 ounce per square yard. The temperature capability is +15 and +5 degrees each with a combined capability of -13 degrees. The chopped staple fiberfill is simply not capable of performing at those temperatures. If it could every one of the chopped staple fiberfill bags made in China which is all of the bags that are sold by the companies like TNF or Sierra Designs or Mountain Hardwear and everyone else would work, but as we know they don’t.

As for compression and recovery, that is a joke. Yes it will compress as required but it will not ever recover!!!

Unfortunately when the government issues a solicitation all of the bidders will do their best to comply with the requirements regardless if a component is incapable of performing. The bidders are only required to follow the dictates of the instructions written in the solicitation. If when the government tests the samples submitted and if a product passes the government tests they may very well give that bidder the contract. The bidder does not have to be concerned if the product actually works in the field because the bidder gave the government what they asked for.

As you can see this opens the door for an unscrupulous character to bidder not caring if what the troops are issued will do the job for them, all because someone who works as a government employee who has zero knowledge of insulation's deemed it necessary to add a non-functioning potential component to the mix. If I were to speak with this individual I would ask what precipitated adding this component to the solicitation. Their answer would be a; BLANK.