the stupidity associated with the out door industry

PROOF THAT PEOPLE IN THE OUTDOOR INDUSTRY DO NOT KNOW ABOUT INSULATION

The following comment was read in the GEAR/TREND REPORT in the SNEWS publication THE VOICE which is the “voice” of the outdoor industry. I am glad that I am not a paying member of the outdoor industry.

“SYNTHETICS STEP UP

As manmade insulation improves in loft, compression, and weight, next-gen synthetic bags are approaching down in performance cred, too.

Lamilite a synthetic insulation surpasses all other known supposed insulations that are synthetic as well as down in all categories mentioned.

Advancements, like reflective materials to bounce body heat back to the sleeper and weigh less.

Reflective materials have been around for all the years I have been in the textile industry and have proven not to have ever performed in this manner. Siliconized fibers have been around since the late 60s and as Lamilite have been made from siliconized continuous filament fibers since its inception in 1967. Yes because of the silicone treatment Lamilite does stay lofty and therefore has greater insulating capability. That is not the case with silicone treated chopped staple fiber which will lose its loft easily.

(synthetics used to be relegated to the low end of the product spectrum, but new technologies that bring them closer to down bags are elevating synthetic bags into the high-performance arena, say Andrew Day and David Kaufmann from Sierra Designs product team).”

I do not know who is responsible for the above miss-information but this last statement does have two names.These two fellows definitely show their lack of knowledge with respect to synthetic fiberfill for insulating purposes. Since I do not know these two guys I suspect they are in the 30 year old age group. I also do not know their background but I do know they do not have a background in the field of insulation which in the outdoor industry is standard and that is to have a lack of knowledge about insulations used in sleeping bags and outer wear!!! I know the guys who own Sierra Designs and I can assure you they personally have no knowledge of insulation either. Performance and product quality aren’t secondary to them it doesn’t exist as their primary concern is sales since the parent company of SD also sells furniture and now dog jackets to mention two items. The true parent company is a venture capitalist company. They function like a drug store wanting to sell anything they think will make them money.

Andrew and David are simply parroting everything they have from the few fiberfill companies like primaloft about fiberfills and what they have heard from the industry for years about down.

Generally the information spoken of in the outdoor industry is past history and the new young people like Andrew and David just repeat what they have heard so moving forward into new development is stagnant or really non-existent. These guys do not know the history of the use of continuous filament fiber when it was trade named Polar Guard and was used not only by SD but all of the other high end producers of sleeping bags and outerwear in the late 60s and 70s by all and into the 80s and eventually the 2000s even when they were making sleeping bags in China. Of course in the 2000s the Polar Guard name ended and the Climashield name was born. They also do not know and maybe their bosses are also ignorant of the fact that I was in discussion with SD which actually was replaced by Mountain Hardwear in the early 2000s before Columbia bought them to either private label where I would manufacture sleeping bags for them or license them so they could make Lamilite sleeping bags in their own facility. Obviously that did not happen. It was the owner of MH which changed to at the time that approached me but he left it up to one of the newbies he hired to the industry who chose to walk away. The result is that since then MH and SD who I also have approached on the same basis have chosen not to accept my generous offer.

The philosophy of the outdoor industry is NOT to learn from the past to see what has proven not to work and look at the near future to see what does work and apply it and that is why you continue to see products like goretex and every form of goretex knockoff still on the market because it sells and that is what they want sales of product even though they know as you do that it does not work.

The industry is now a product of venture capitalists that function on a five year plan to buy and then dispose of whatever property they have acquired hoping to create enough investor profit. It is totally irrelevant if the products work or not, must be made in China because that gives them their largest margin of profit. Even though Columbia and North Face are not owned by venture capitalists does not change the facts of how they operate and both operate like the venture capitalists.

Speaking of North Face they were awarded a medal from the ISPO organization for their development of a non-functioning goretex knock off trade named “future light”. They claim better than goretex and more expensive but it is not replacing goretex in most of North Faces so called wp breathable garments. Why not if it’s better, because the higher price for these garments will cut into sales, which is a no/no.

You now know why product development does not exist in the outdoor industry, the venture capitalists will shut down any young person with an idea that may help to improve an existing product or has an idea worthwhile for a new product. That individual may just put his tail between his legs and sulk away and just go with the flow or if he has enough guts may go out on his own. the number of young men to do that over the past 30 years you could probably count on ones hands and the number who have succeeded you cam count on less than one hand.   

An industry loaded with disingenuous people!!!!!

A TESTIMONAL RECEIVED JULY 4, 2019

Hi Jerry,

Thought you would like the following feedback.

I have had one of your Lamilite sweaters from the early 2000s.

Worn in wet autumn rainy weather as a liner jacket under a Ventile garment from Wintergreen Ely, MN. The Ventile jacket eventually soaked through and the Lamilite sweater got wet-but-I did not feel cold. Other noticeable effect was how fast the water was draining out of the bottom of the Lamilite sweater…drop…drop…drop.

I also have worn it under an LL Bean Men’s nylon Anorak-same thing happened after rain soaked through but again –I did not feel chill and the water was going out the bottom of the Lamilite sweater in drops. The Lamilite sweater was drying from body heat after the rain stopped as I kept moving.

Unknown

As always I would like to have a name. What I did surmise from other things mentioned is that he lives in the north east near NYC.

A word to the wise who have spent money for any so called wp breathable jacket you should obviously now get a Lamilite sweater so you too can have the same experience as my unknown friend.