2026-01-25 ... STORM ... Open House Snowed Out!
Today is/was an Open House day, but it's 5:00 PM (getting dark), nobody has showed and as of Friday we strongly doubted anyone would.   As almost everyone in the USA knows, there is a gigantic winter storm hitting most of the Lower 48 States.  It reached New Jersey early this morning, and it's hitting pretty good.   Forecasts are calling for about 24 hours of snow and ice, and nobody who doesn't have to be on the road is going out.  Mainly, I just hope we don't lose power.

This morning around 8 AM I decided to get the truck cleaned off and hit the local Home Depot for some backup power, just in case the storm shuts off our electric.  The Natural Gas supply has never been a problem in the 42 years we've been here.  The gas pipelines run underground.  But electricity is another story ... the power lines run along the backyard property lines, and everyone has mature trees in this old neighborhood.  Wind storms and frozen rain are a problem.  The snow has turned to falling ice, but that's not sticking to the trees, and the wind isn't much.   We shall see.

For the last three months, it's been on my mind to make sure our generators (one bought, one gifted from my brother-in-law who installed an automatic gas-powered backup generator) were serviced AND our snowblower was serviced.  BUT ... I didn't.   We were unable to get any of those machines started on Friday or Saturday.

So I went out this morn and hit the Home Depot for an inverter (last one!) so I should be able to power the electronics of the boiler off the truck battery, if necessary.  I also picked up a battery-backup that should also be able to give the furnace enough power to run for hours.   It defo would have been cheaper to get my machines serviced, but lately everything except WeatherWool is getting squeezed out unless it's urgent ... like today's errand.

Way back when, I would have loved this weather.  In February of 1978, a serious snowstorm was well-predicted.   I went running at about midnight, at the very start of the snow.  The roads were clear when the snow came, but every flake STUCK, no melting at all.  I ran for an hour or so, and the entire world belonged to me.   I don't remember seeing anyone else, but probably at least some salt trucks were rolling.  Within an hour, there were about 4 inches /10 cm of snow, and I was loving it.   

No running for me today, tho.  But I did really appreciate the performance of the wool.  Denim Jeans, MidWeight Anorak under MidWeight CPO and a FullWeight Lynx Ball Cap (eventually, we will again offer Ball Caps).  With the temp about 10F / -12C and some breeze, I was completely comfortable.  No chill whatever.  And the Hood of the Anorak plus the Bill of the Ball Cap kept all the weather off my face.  It's nice that a 3X Anorak layers so well under a 3X CPO.  

Best Wishes to all with the storm!

On Tuesday, Debby and I head out to Reno, Nevada, for the Annual Convention of the American Sheep Industry Association.  There are a lot of people I am looking forward to speaking with!   I'll be out of the office from Tuesday until Sunday ... so ... I'm behind already, but will be more so by next week!  SORRY!

   

   

   

   

2026-01-24 ... NO GATORS
People frequently write me about Neck Gators.   I suppose Neck Gators would be available somewhere in crazy-town, but this is a kind and gentle operation.

We offer Neck Gaiters, not Neck Gators

   

   

   

2026-01-23 ... Slubs Featured ... WWD in Paris
SLUBS are clumps of wool that occur in woolen (in our case) yarn.  Because of the way we process our fiber, we rarely see a garment with a slub.   I didn't think a slub mattered at all -- one spot where the yarn is unusually thick, about the size of a drop of water -- but a couple of people flagged a single slub as a flaw.  To me, it was more a mark of authenticity, and wouldn't have shipped if I thought otherwise.  But now, if we see a slub, we'll mark a piece down $50 or so, which seems somewhat nuts to me, but not significant.

Lately, though, I'm amused to see some makers featuring slubs.   And the photos did look good.  A garment will have hundreds of spots where the yarn has a tangle of wool (or whatever the yarn is made of) and is two or three times thicker than usual.   The slubs add texture.   And I guess this means you can spin yarn in a way that is intended to create a lot of slubs.

    

As a result of the email-bombing of a few months ago, I'm still getting a couple hundred SPAM mails every day.  But some of the uninvited mails are actually good.   I'm good with being on the mail list of WWD (Women's Wear Daily, originally), for example.   Women's Wear Daily has been a mainstay of the garment biz since forever.  It morphed into WWD, covering Men's and Women's, electronically published.   I actually, amazingly, interviewed for an editorial position with them in 1978.   Definitely not a fit at the time, or even now, but GEE, look where I've wound up!   Anyway, WWD just sent me their preview of PARIS FASHION WEEK, asking "Why trust WWD for fashion, beauty and retail news"? ... Well, looking at the guys they feature, my answer to their question would be "I have no idea!"

We have a page on this website, "DOs and DON'Ts", and we DON'T do what the fashionistas DO.  

   

   

   

   

2026-01-22 ... Cody in Town ... WarriorWool Patches ... BIGTIME STORM?
Cody and his wife and young daughter just left after visiting here for a couple of days.  Great having them, and we appreciate they made such a long drive.

   

The Weather Forecasters are in their glory now ... an enormous winter storm sweeping across the USA.   We have an Open House scheduled for Sunday the 25th, but if this storm is anything like predicted (ICE!), we may not have power, so please give us a call before coming.

   

   

   

A Wisconsin First Responder specializing in the investigation of Fire and Death purchased WeatherWool WarriorWool for himself, and sent us these Patches.  The one on the left is leather!

   

   

   

 

2026-01-20 ... Interacting with GROK.com
Last night I was watching the College Football Title Game and had a little convo with Grok.  Grok responded to all my questions instantly!   I was using the free version of Grok available at Grok.com .... This is getting ... very interesting!!

   

RALPH: what are the newest ideas in denim

   

   

   

2026-01-19 ... Oil Stain ... "The Label" ... "Patagucci"
We developed our Heritage Fabric as a utility (combination) fabric that we would use for pouch pockets, the underside of collars, etc.  But as soon as we began to handle it, Alex insisted we make a few Shirts.  Heritage is 100% worsted and is made from the same fiber as all our other Fabrics, so ... why not try a couple of Shirts.   I've been wearing a Natural White Heritage Shirt for two years, and like it a lot.  It's actually warm enough to serve as a jacket if needed, but is great as a Shirt.  And it is our usual combination fabric now, replacing the mil-spec wool-poly blend we had been using for years.

About a month ago, I wore the Heritage Shirt to dinner.  At one point I noticed a drop of olive oil (should have worn a bib!) had made itself at home on the wool.  Only one drop of oil in two years ... not bad.  And I was wondering how Debby would clean it.  But then I noticed the oil drop was spreading.  Now, it's almost impossible to see the oil stain.  Knowing where to look, and looking closely, I can still -- barely -- detect it.  But it would never be noticed otherwise.   And I think it would be much less noticeable on other colors.   Interesting ... it seems the oil gradually diffuses into the wool and basically disappears.   I guess that will be another experiment for us to run.

One of the criticisms we get regularly (albeit indirectly, on YouTube or various forums) is that our goods are overpriced and nothing but a trap for foolish buyers with more money than brains ... and that the only reason to buy WeatherWool is for "the label".   It rankles me some that people would publish such things, but it's also funny that critics cite "the label", because our garments don't bear any external labels.   We do have the legally required labels inside  our garments, and some customers have asked us to send labels along with their orders so they can sew them onto the outside themselves.

A little while back, a visitor was tweaking the big plastic outdoor brands, and used the term PATAGUCCI, which I'd never heard before.  I have never worn any Patagonia (or any Gucci), so I'm not exactly knocking them.  But I thought it was a funny term.  And of course I still wonder about communing with Nature in a plastic outfit, and I still welcome comparison testing against Patagonia (annual sales about $1.5 billion US).

   

   

   

   

2026-01-18 ... Naturally Colored Wool, Fabric and Garments
SHOULD WE??? ... It's a big lift.

Sheep grow many types of wool.   And some sheep don't grow useful wool at all.  Wool varies in many ways, most obviously in color ... White, Black, Brown, Tan, Reddish, Gray ...

The industrial-scale wool market is all about White Wool.  (It's really an off-white, cream color.)  And although the Hand-Knitting, small-scale market strongly supports Naturally Colored (meaning anything but White) Wool, the industrial market scorns Nat Colored because of dyeing considerations.

Wool can be dyed darker, but it can't be dyed lighter.  White Wool is easily dyed Black.  But Black Wool can't be dyed any other color.   So if there is any black fiber mixed with the standard white fiber, it will remain a visual contaminant unless the whole batch is dyed black.

But more and more (I think!), the public is interested in moving away from chemical-laden clothing.  Since 2023, we have been offering Natural White Fabric and garments.  The Nat White is beautiful, and it has no dye.  However, numerous people have purchased Nat White DESPITE the color.  People have told me they dislike the White, but not as much as they dislike the idea of dye.  More and more, people want clothing as chemical-free as possible.  (A sample of our FullWeight Lynx Pattern Fabric passed Oeko-Tex 100 Standard testing in October of 2025.)   And I want to ride that train, too.   The dye we are using is reactive, not acidic (and I don't understand those terms), which is apparently a good thing, but NOT as good as NO DYE.

In order for us to offer Naturally Colored Fabrics and garments, we're going to have to spend a bunch of money, jump some hurdles, buy equipment, cajole various folks and maybe even help develop breeding stock.

People are telling me NO! ... But I'm stubborn (steadfast?).  More to the point, though, I'm mostly the one talking to customers. 

Later this month, Debby and I will be attending the Annual Meet of the American Sheep Industry, which will be a good place to talk Nat Colored.  If you have any thoughts on Nat Colored, please LMK!

   

   

   Photos above and below from Garden State Sheep Breeders Annual Show

 

Photos above and below from Advisor Andy McMurry, Genopalette Ranch

     

    

    

    

    

 

2026-01-17 ... Carriers Pegged! ... Anorak Variants Also Pegged
PEGGED means MAXED-OUT.  That might be Northeast or Jersey talk.

We use DHL for some of the international shipping, and we normally just leave the package on the front porch for pickup.  On Wednesday evening, at 8:15, I thought DHL wouldn't get here, and went out to bring the package inside for the night.   DHL pulled up at that moment, and I was surprised.   He said they are just running very hot ... handling a tremendous amount of business.   WOW.   I mentioned that UPS had not yet arrived, and the DHL driver said he'd seen UPS a few minutes previously.   Troy, our UPS driver, and Yohannes, our alternate UPS guy, normally visit us at the very end of the day so we can ship as many packages as possible.  And sure enough, Troy pulled up at about 8:20 ...

 

 

 

This is mid-January ... the big crush of deliveries is supposed to be December.  It's good news ... I think!   But the carriers are struggling under the load ... Alex told me Troy didn't finish his shift until 11PM ... and started again in the morning.  Also, Troy is always moving double-time.  Yohannes too.  I wouldn't last an hour with those guys.   Once, UPS assigned Troy a helper who was a porkball (I can say that).  I told Debby HE'S NOT GOING TO LAST WITH TROY.   And he was quickly gone.

I just ran into another kind of PEGGED.   We recently made some Anoraks in size 5X.  And as of yesterday, we are also offering XXXSmall ... so ... XXXSmall through 5XLarge means 11 sizes of Anoraks.  And we offer the Anorak in nine Fabrics at present:  FullWeight and MidWeight in Black, Drab, Lynx, Natural White.  Plus FullWeight Brown, for a total of 99 variants.  Shopify supports a maximum or 99 variants for any given product.  So, when we start making MidWeight Brown Fabric, which we will, we'll need to separate the Anoraks into two different products ... FullWeight and MidWeight.   We may also offer the Anorak in Denim.

   

   

   

   

2026-01-15 AGAIN ... MidWeight Black Anoraks Into Production
MidWeight Black Anoraks in production now.   Website accepting payments.

   

   

   

   

2026-01-14 ... Padula on Capitol Hill!
Padula (Bob!) has been involved with wool and sheep since he was a kid.  He's been a Rancher, Breeder and Researcher for decades.   He's served as a consultant in various capacities in the USA and internationally.   And he is a representative for the American Sheep Industry.   Padula was in DC this week to speak on behalf of American Wool and Sheep (in an Indigo Chore Coat).

Padula saying his piece on Capitol Hill!
Padula has advised WeatherWool on many matters since 2010.  He serves as our primary Advisor and Scout for the acquisition of fiber.  THANK YOU BOB!!!

   

   

   

2026-01-13 ... AI Again
Shopify, the platform upon which this store rests, and the guys advertising on tube all the time, sent me this email:

 
Hi RALPH, 
 

Starting January 26, your products will begin to be available to purchase directly in AI channels like Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot, through Agentic Storefronts.

How Agentic Storefronts work

Shopify will syndicate and surface your products in participating AI channels, making them instantly available for purchase directly in their experience. Orders will be processed through your store’s checkout on Shopify and flow directly into your admin. You remain the merchant of record with full ownership of the customer relationship.

What you can do to prepare 
 
•    Review the Agentic Storefronts Supplemental Terms of Service

•    Add details about your brand, policies and FAQs with Shopify’s Knowledge Base App  
•    Use Default Listing to fine-tune how Shopify understands your product data. If you use Shopify’s Combined Listings or metafields for custom grouping logic of products, Default Listing lets you map how products should similarly be grouped on Agentic Storefronts. You can learn more about optimizing your product data for AI channels in our Help Center.

 
You’re in control

Agentic Storefronts will be automatically enabled in your store. You can turn off individual channels at any time in your admin settings, and you control which products are available for purchase in those channels. If a fee is charged by the channel, you must opt-in to continue selling after a free trial period has ended.

Please note: There are limitations of supported product configurations and checkout customizations across Agentic Storefronts. Eligibility requirements may differ by Agentic Storefront. Refer to our Help Center for more details.

Read more about Agentic Storefronts in our newsroom.

Best,
Shopify
 

That first para is a whopper, and I only very vaguely understand what it means.   I've never before even encountered the term AGENTIC.  And I doubt I'll understand it very much of what this means the next two weeks.   I also doubt that I'll understand it before they come up with the next new thing.  I will note that Shopify recently installed an AI assistant and it's remarkably effective at generating the reports I ask for.  AND ... this is just the beginning.  I think we're along for the ride, at least for a little while.

I'm glad the tossed in "You're in Control" toward the end ... I don't really feel like I'm in complete control.   Cody and maybe Lindsay will be looking into AGENTIC STOREFRONTS some more for me.  Maybe I should ask Shopify's AI assistant what this new announcement means ...

Not too long ago I wrote how, according to customers, AI engines directed them to us, even though we don't advertise.  It seemed unlikely the engines would continue to do that without getting paid for it, and I suppose this is the PAY ME part.  We shall see.

I don't know where this is going, and hope people will let me know their thoughts and in particular if there are problems.

 

 

 

   

   

   

   

2026-01-12 ... Raynaud's Syndrome ... Milquetoast ... Seasons and Seasonal Biz
We lately received wonderful feedback from a customer with Raynaud (some spell it Reynaud) Syndrome, a circulatory issue that make it difficult to handle cool/cold weather.   We actually have several customers with Raynaud, but Nathan Lane (THANK YOU!) published a review of our Denim Jeans on this website.   (Anyone can read or post reviews at the bottom of any product page.)   Nathan and the others told me the wool really helps with the Raynaud's.   
   

A funny note came in a few weeks ago:  "“In real life, I play a Milquetoast nobody. When I put this HoodOrak on, I'm a super hero. What a beautiful piece of kit. Thank you.”   (and THANK YOU!)
   

We are definitely in a seasonal business, with interest in our products peaking in December and January and gradually tailing off through July.  We love that we have customers in Australia and New Zealand, and even some in tropical area, but the great majority of our customers are in North America, and the North American seasons are mostly responsible for customer interest.  Around the end of August, people realize summer is winding down and winter is coming, and interest picks up steadily for a few months.
   

Our production timeline is so long, though, that we go as fast as we can, year round.  And actually, although the calls tail off for sure, we are filling orders year-round.
   

Here in New Jersey, we don't have much WINTER.  The State Biologists tell us Jersey is the Northern limit for many Southern species, and it is the Southern limit for many Northern species.  Jersey is home to Lizards (!), although I've never seen one.  Male Black Bears in Jersey often don't hibernate at all.  A couple of days ago, I noticed Daffodils, as usual, are already up.  Even the Fig Tree was showing green at the tips, which surprised me.  And it's time to tap the Maples for syrup.  It's kind of amazing to me that winter technically started only 3 weeks ago, but there are strong signs of the coming spring.  I had been thinking to try for some venison today, but got a text last night that some customers want to stop by as they complete a cross-country drive.  Deer Season runs another month, so, no hurry.

   

   

   

 

2026-01-10 ... Judge.me
Judge.me is another application that runs with/on our website.

This screen-grab, from the Judge.me website, shows our worst review

Judge.me reviews can be found here on WeatherWool.com, at the bottom of every product page.  Anyone can read and/or post reviews, whether or not they have any connection to our company.   But the reviews can also be seen and analyzed at Judge.me.

I think it's a good idea to have reviews on our website, although I'm not so sure that people who have never purchased a product should be able to review it.  Judge.me does set a VERIFIED flag when they can see that person has made a purchase, although the actual item purchased may or may not be the item reviewed.

Overall, reviewers rate our products highly ... more than 99% 5-star reviews.   But that's only on Judge.me.   The people who work with us are almost always very considerate, and I presume are aware we are a small, family company, and they don't go public when we fall short.  We do go to great lengths to make things right, whatever it takes, but we've had some real failures.  People tell me about problems directly, and rarely post.  

Yesterday, we got a return from a guy in Colorado who had probably the worst experience ever with our goods.  We refunded him for a pair of Jeans and an All-Around Jacket that proved inadequate for his serious backpacking in serious cold.  He experienced three seam failures in a short time, plus didn't think the AAJ had the warmth to weight ratio that he seeks.  He defo was refunded!  This customer did not publish a review on our website.  He may have published elsewhere.  But this is just an example of a bad experience that he kindly kept (I think) between the two of us.  The failures distress me, of course, but I also know there are a great many others who hit things are hard as anyone and are very happy with the wool.   

It's great to hear good news, but bad news is really more important to me.

By far, our biggest problem relates to FIT ... people receiving a piece that needs to be exchanged for another size.  We need a lot of improvement in this area, and we are focused on it.

Regarding the review in the screen-grab above, it surprises me that some people will reject a product because it's not heavy and/or thick enough.  The backpackers very reasonably want LIGHT weight and less bulk.  The reviewer of the Watch Cap evidently wanted a thicker cap, even though the warmth had been acceptable.  (He actually bought two Caps, and I offered to refund him.)   This 2-star review is the worst we've ever had.

We also had two 3-star reviews.  One from a gent who was unhappy we don't (yet) offer Jeans long enough for him.  The other 3-star was spot-on ... a customer felt our Shemagh was too thick to be used (tied) as would be usual.  This is true, and the website does (and maybe even did) so state.  Eventually, we'll make a thinner Shemagh from our Heritage/LightWeight Fabric.

Judge.me gives us the ability to suppress any review.  I thought we'd let all of them through, but we must have clobbered one of the reviews on the Neck Gaiter.  I'll need to look into that.

If you click on the PRODUCTS tab, Judge.me will show you all our products, the average ratings, the number of reviews, and the percent of reviews that have not been suppressed.  

You can also write reviews of our products directly from the Judge.me site, which seems a little weird, but, maybe not.  Judge.me links each of our products to the appropriate page on this site.  So I suppose Judge.me is a sort of advertisement for us, but we are on the "Forever Free" plan.  

Judge.me has a lot of hooks to other applications.  And now that I'm looking at the settings in our store, it wanted me to accept some hooks and upgrade to the newest software.  I declined because I don't like the ever-increasing connections (some of the connections are good, though, no doubt).   Judge.me also has some switches that we can turn on or off.  Somehow, unknowingly (I bet part of a software update), we had tripped a switch that caused Judge.me to send emails to everyone who made a purchase, asking them to write a review.  I turned that off as soon as I found out about it.   Really, one of us "WeatherWool-insiders" should place an order every week or so, just to see what our customers might experience.   It's probably a year since I've placed an order.

 

   

   

2026-01-09 ... Newsletter ... Denim Double Coat ... Incontestable
Cody sent out our monthly Newsletter yesterday.  If you did not receive, you can subscribe toward the bottom of the HOME PAGE of this website.  We'll follow-up with a verification request, to prevent fake subs.  Respond to that email, and you'll be subscribed.

   

The Denim Double Coat page is up and "live" and, sure-enough, the SHOP app announced the DDC to who-knows-how-many people.  Amazing ...

    

Yesterday, Polson Law advised me that the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted a "Declaration of Continued Use and Incontestability" for our WeatherWool mark (US Trademark Registration No. 5,756,069).  I don't know exactly what this means, but I know it's good.

   

It's about time (4:20AM) to try for another couple hours sleep!

   

   

   

   

2026-01-08 ... PRODUCT FILTERING!
WOW ... A few days ago, Alex sent a note to Lindsay King, our webmistress, asking about filtering products by size and/or Fabric and color.   I didn't know this was possible, but I see on our "Jackets and Coats" page:

Click a size and/or Fabric-color, and the system will show what is ready to ship (or in production).

I'm really happy Alex asked Lindsay about this.   YAY! ... People often ask what is available in a particular size or Fabric/Color and the filter really helps. 

Please give us any feedback.   Thank You.  And THANKS Lindsay and Alex!

 

 

   

   

   

   

2025-01-06 … Used Pieces for WarriorWool Donation … Denim Double Coat … Lynx Pattern
Yesterday, a customer wanted to donate his used Anorak to the Lending Library because his aging shoulders make a pullover uncomfortable.  I don’t remember anyone DONATING to the Lending before, but maybe it has happened.   I asked if he would be OK with donating to the WarriorWool program instead.  He said YES … And then I thought, for donations, at least, why not accept other used WeatherWool garments as WarriorWool donations?   So … we’ll see how that goes …
    
Chance Painter of History Channel’s Mountain Men Show phoned today.  Chance was wearing his Lynx Pattern Anorak in the Costco in Fairbanks (Alaska), and he was recognized – because of the Anorak – by a Mountain Man cameraman whom he’d not previously met.  Kind of nice!!
   
We are prepping the first production run of Denim Double Coats.  The DDC has roots in the North Maine Double Coat, which Debby was just not comfortable enough to green-light (although the few test pieces that are “out there” have been a hit with customers).  Debby felt two layers of FullWeight Jacquard Fabric made the NMDC shoulders too bulky.   But our (I have to say 100% Wool!) Denim is lighter and easier to work with than the FullWeight Jacquard, and solves the problems of the NMDC.  The Denim Double Coat will handle just about any weather coming at us in the Lower 48, and farther North.  And it has tested very well with Cody in Ontario already.  The DDC has a “town and country” look but also the capability and look of a serious work / serious weather coat.  We’ll get a complete product page up on the website soon, but I want to do announcements here, first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This first run of the DDC will be Charcoal only  

The DDC has both handwarmer and cargo pockets, plus inside zip pockets.  The collar is substantial, with Slot Buttons on the rear to accept the Double Hood.  We’ll be making matching Double Hoods in Denim Charcoal.   The DDC is offered at $1375 and I expect to ship in early March.   If you want one, please phone me or send an email.  We’re making only a small number and once we put up the formal product page, the SHOP app is going to show the DDC to a great many people beyond our own list.  (I wrote about the SHOP app a couple of days ago … these tech-tentacles are hard to resist and I don’t understand how they work, either.)

 

 

 

2026-01-05 ... USA Gets Back to Work ... Even the Pros Don't Know Wool!
It’s always seemed to me that the USA goes half-on-vacation beginning a little before Thanksgiving and running all the way through the first week of January.  People have an AFTER THE HOLIDAYS mindset that won't wear off for another few days.  It’s definitely not all-bad!
   
Yesterday I read a blog post from one of my favorite writers.   Really love what this person does, and we’ve been in touch repeatedly.   But I had to take exception to this statement in the current post about avoiding synthetic clothing:

Outdoor gear: It’s near impossible to get things like rain gear, hiking gear, and snow apparel in natural fibers. That’s because synthetics are a lightweight way to get performance suitable for being in the outdoors and extreme weather.

AHEM!! … We’ll see if my response to the post gets noticed.   I mention this here only because this post comes from an industry professional who publishes and lectures about  healthy, natural-fiber clothing, and to whom I have explained what we do.   Wool-World has a whole lot of work to do!!!

   

   

   

   

2026-01-04 ... Credit Card Processing ... Tech-Tentacles
Another WELL, DUH! moment for me.   I should have known better, but I had incorrectly believed the payment processors (credit card companies) refund their fees (about 3%) when we refund a customer.   NOPE.   We're going to have to watch even more carefully for the repeated-return-refund accounts.  There are not very many, and there will be fewer.   But some of this is my fault ... with our chronically low inventory, people often try a size that is likely to prove big or small, but with such long production timelines, I don't discourage.   Also my fault, our sizing has been inconsistent across products, and that has led to confusion.   And ... my fault again, we need to continue working to present our sizing more clearly.   Sorry to all for sizing issues.   We are surely motivated to resolve, and I will keep these factors in mind when looking at accounts.

   

Another poke from the payment processors concerns sales taxes.   We are forced, increasingly,  to add sales taxes to the checkout.   We don't do any of this ourselves.   The sales tax situation is extremely complex and fluid.   The rate of tax will vary according to State, county and city and item purchased.   Keeping up with all this, and remitting the taxes, is much more than a full-time job, and so we can only rely upon various specialized software to add the charges an remit the payments to the various governments.   Some orders have FOUR different types of sales tax added ... State, county, municipality and special-purpose tax (mass-transit tax, for example).   The payment processors levy their fees on the entire transaction, of course.  And that means whenever taxes are added to an order, all of the tax and the processing fee on the tax, reduces our receipts.   This is not new ... merchants have been forced (all stick and no carrot whatsoever) to act as tax collectors for decades.  It's just new to me.   The other self-employment business I've operated were considered "professional services" and not subject to sales tax.   I think that's because the legislators are much more likely to be lawyers than bakers.

   

A couple of days ago I wrote here about how the technoids are ALWAYS trying to gain a bigger role in our lives.   And how the SHOP app has infiltrated itself into our business.   Not to say it's all bad ... some people like it very much, for various reasons.  But yesterday I rec'd this note from a new customer (boldface in original):

 

Hey Ralph --- I got an email with a link to track this order with Shop, but the only way to do so is by installing an app on my phone. I don't want to install an app on my phone in order to track an order! This is an invasive business practice designed to allow Shop to collect more data from me than they could do by providing a tracking link that opens in my browser, and it's really quite infuriating as a consumer.  Can you provide me with a tracking number for this order?  Thanks, Jake

 

For the record, when we ship, a tracking number is sent to the customer by regular email.  But anyway, INFURIATING would be my word, also, but I know some people like the idea of having SHOP track their purchases from many merchants (Millions have the app and many thousands of merchants participate.) and offer order history and tracking and "you might also like" for all of it.   There may be somewhere a switch that I can set to turn off this email.  But some people will welcome it.  AND ... the SHOP app handles all the sales tax assessments and payments to the various government agencies, of which there are hundreds ... probably thousands.

   

   

   

   

2026-01-03 ... Advisor Don Nguyen BIGTIME on YouTube.
Friend of WeatherWool and Advisor Don Nguyen is crushing it on YouTube lately.   I haven't spoken to Don in a year or so, probably, and actually still never met face-to-face, but I've known Don about 8 years and he's worn our wool and pushed it as hard as anyone ... guiding mountaineers and wilderness hunters.   Don's latest video, a tribute to his (professional) personal  rifle, has a quarter million views in 6 days.  Until viewing this video I didn't know Don was a marksman, although I'm not surprised.  Don is one of those people who is hard to get hold of ... I just phoned him, and, as expected, my call was not answered.   But every now and then he'll phone me and we'll talk for an hour.  It was during one of those calls Don  told me to rename our Ski Jacket the Mountain Jacket because of the way he uses it.  That was probably three or four years ago ... and we've been transitioning since.   One thing about Don ... every time I speak with him, he sounds like he's having the best day of his life.   HATS OFF to that!

   

   

   

 

2026-01-02 ... Donation to MARSOC ... Adverts and Links and Platforms
I just got off the phone with a very polite Marine serving in Special Operations Command.   He gave me all the info to reserve and pay for a WarriorWool Anorak, but then I remembered we already had donations sufficient to cover the $395 cost.   So ... that will be a nice surprise for a young man who should not have been spending his own money anyway.  The good cheer with which our Military people accept the fact that they frequently need to purchase their own gear continues to impress me.  Such situations are not that unusual.   My Mom was a schoolteacher and she often purchased supplies with personal funds.   NOT RIGHT!!

   

The intersection of technology and WeatherWool has gotten beyond me.   There is the whole side of production tech that has many stages and a whole lot going on and that I only understand dimly.  Fortunately, we have expert-Partners that I can count on.  But there is another side to the tech ... the sales and marketing side.   And this side of "WeatherWool tech" is moving really fast and I understand it even less.

   

YouTube is important to us.   There are something like 2 billion people who use it.   For us, it's a vehicle to help people learn about us.   We can host videos on this website, and we do some of that, but as Cody explains it to me, we want as many people as we can get watching our content on YouTube ... because the more people watch us on YouTube, the more likely it is that YouTube will offer our content to people are are not necessarily looking for us.

   

The only paid advertising WeatherWool has ever done was 10 years ago, I ran some Facebook ads in prep for a show.  Spent something like $3k and I don't think the ads did us any good.   But the platforms (search engines, social media sites, video sites, chat sites) are expensive to operate, and ads are their primary source of funding.  And I definitely appreciate them!   We wouldn't be viable without them enabling people to find us.   But of course advertising means we have to charge our customers in order to get our name out to ... our customers.   Plus, people are naturally and sensibly very disinclined to believe advertising.   So I don't want to advertise, but I also don't want to freeride on all these platforms that help us.   What to do?  Interesting question.

  

A week or so ago, Cody explained (last year Blog) about ads running on our YouTube Channel.   We didn't run the ads ... YouTube runs the ads basically in exchange for hosting our videos and perhaps also for suggesting our videos to potential viewers.  Companies that think our viewers would be interested in their products bid for the ads that are inserted into our content, and the highest bidder gets the ad placement.   In our case, I expect the bids are extremely low because we have so few viewers relative so some much more popular channels.   But everything is monitored and analyzed automatically, and the numbers are always changing.   I never liked the idea of people watching our vids to be interrupted by ads.   And people who have YouTube Premium (or whatever they call it), for around US $30 monthly, don't see any ads.   As a company, we pay the monthly fee, so I never saw the ads when viewing our content, and we really never had anything to do with the ads.   But now, we are YouTube Partners, and that means YouTube shares with us the advertising fees.  We still don't have anything to do with the ads, and we still don't advertise WeatherWool.   But now, our videos continue to be interrupted by ads for other companies, and we earn about 50 cents a day on advertising.   Many people believe this partnership makes YouTube more likely to show our content to other people.

   

Part of the reason I've resisted "partnership" with YouTube (owned by Alphabet, which also owns Google) is that once you get tangled up with these companies and their software tentacles, they want to be involved in whatever you do.   

   

The newer efforts from THE PLATFORMS are all about getting your store onto their platform.   They want you to have SHOP NOW buttons on your (channel / page / wall / account ... take your pick) and they want to HOST your store.   I'm reading that if you have a link to your own website, the platforms penalize you by showing your content to fewer people than they otherwise would.   I guess this is natural enough, but I really don't want anyone standing between WeatherWool and our customers, and I really dislike the style of little-to-no useful information that would be offered if we went along with this.   As it is, SHOPIFY, the platform upon which this website rests, is constantly reminding me that THESE PRODUCTS ARE NOT LISTED ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, GOOGLE.   And I don't want them to be!   It seems like I'm fighting the tide here, but we'll see how it goes.

   

Another thing I just learned is that SHOPIFY has an APP, SHOP, that makes spending money even more convenient than Amazon.   I noticed a while back that when making online purchases via desktop browsers, various webstores that I had not previously patronized knew it was me, and had all my info, including credit card info.  They'll send a verification code to my phone, and then ... ready to spend (world's smallest YAY).  Cody tells me something like half the people using our store are also using the (cellphone) SHOP app.  YIKES!!  ... And what's more, SHOP advertises us automatically.   I think we can opt out of it somehow.   But as I understand it, people with the SHOP app have requested that SHOP notify them about products they might like, based on purchase history and probably a bunch of other stuff they collect somehow.   AND NOW, when we create a new product on our website, the SHOP APP automatically shows it to people!!  This means we can no longer do quickie-intro product pages, with casual photos, because as soon as we put up a new product page, SHOP is going to show that page to who-knows-how-many people.   

   

All this stuff is moving faster than I can keep up with, and it seems like the pace of change is accelerating.

   

   

   

   

2026-01-01 ... 15th Year Blogging Here
WOW ... I did the first WeatherWool Blog in January of 2012 ... almost 14 years ago.  And 2026 makes the 15th year with Blog entries on this site!!   It's interesting that my style hasn't changed in all this time ... And I haven't aged at all (mmmm-hmmm) ... This is what I wrote on Friday, 27 January 2012.

   

Friday, 27 January 2012
Our first WeatherWool® test clothes have just arrived!! For the very first items, they are looking good! Our first run of wool was dyed in a custom color of our own we’ve named drab … a very dark green/gray/brown/black that we expect to work well in the woods and on the streets. We’ll be adding other solid colors, camo patterns and even some plaids and checks. The wool itself is more difficult to develop and test. We’d wanted two weights of wool, one heavy and one light. These first test batches were sort of clustered in the middle range. The lighter weight wool that we used for the MidWeight Pants was a bit heavier than we’d expected, and the heavier wool, used for the All-Around Shirt, was lighter than we expected.

So we’ve got an All-Around Shirt for Alex and another for me, and a pair of MidWeight Pants for me. No pants for Alex yet. It’s already mid-afternoon Friday so we throw the clothes on quick and point the truck for The Swamp, hoping to find some deer. When we get there we realize we’ve forgotten binoculars (no big deal) and grabbed the wrong gun case. So we have my shotgun and my muzzleloader, but not Alex's slug gun. Fortunately, during the season I keep my muzzleloader charged, and we found one 209 primer cap. So, Alex hunted with my Browning Deer Stalker Slug Gun, and the muzzleloader for me … a genuine one-shot hunt in the offing. As it turned out, it didn't matter because I didn't see any deer, and I was really focused on the clothes anyway. Alex did see deer twice, but they saw him first and flagged off.

The weather was ridiculously warm for late January, but we have hardly had any winter weather so far this season. The temperature was in the upper 50s Fahrenheit (about 14C), and there was a steady breeze from the West.

Because it was so warm, I skipped long johns and wore a short-sleeve summer-weight wool Atlas (T-shirt) from Icebreaker as my base layer on top. The WeatherWool was soft and comfortable on my arms and legs. YESSIR! We are really intent on avoiding scratchy stuff, even for our outerwear, and our first batch of WeatherWool certainly passed that test.

I stillhunted for a couple of hours, and never had the feeling I was near any deer, tho obviously that doesn't mean much. The wool was quiet as a church mouse, which of course was expected. The wool seemed pretty tough. Because I wanted to test the wool, I pushed through some briers I ordinarily would have avoided . Definitely got stuck a number of times – can’t expect one layer of wool to prevent that, but the wool wasn't any the worse for wear after about 100 yards of stickers.

The deer love to lay up in these briers … in some spots they are so thick that you can’t see 10 yards. And it was in the briers I found an very interesting little area. There was a small clearing – maybe 10 or 12 feet diameter, with an 18-inch pin oak in the middle. A nice oasis in the midst of the briers. Scattered around the clearing were the bones of a buck that had died probably in 2008 or 2009. The skull still had two antlers, but one of them was chewed down to only a few inches. While I looked over the remains of the buck, I was surprised to find a nice shed antler, probably from last year, as it hadn't been chewed much. I picked up the shed, looked around a little more, and found a fox skull! I guess this would be a great spot for a treestand!!

Here are the trophies from WeatherWool’s first day in the woods, along with a few bits of raw wool, all sitting on top of a swatch from our first batch of fabric.

Souvenirs from the first day afield in WeatherWool

After clearing the briers I saw a flash of white, then a big flash of white, then I realized a couple of turkeys were having a mild disagreement which they were resolving by way of a non-serious fight. I always like having turkeys nearby when I hunt deer, because it seems like turkeys increase my chances of seeing deer. I haven’t read anywhere whether this is true or not, but I have the idea turkeys put deer at ease. Anyway, I moved in on the turkeys a little, but couldn't get much closer because the swamp was somewhat flooded and they were on the other side of some deep water.

As the sun went down I met up with Alex and compared notes. All in all we were very happy with WeatherWool’s first day in the woods!!!

   

The Fabric we wore that day did not make the grade, although the Drab Green color was pretty close right from the start.   I wasn't happy with the weather-resistance of the Fabric until late 2012, when we were working on Lynx Pattern.   And we don't intend to do checks or plaids (or stripes).  But the rest of this Blog was right on ... and I'm surprised to read I'd already been thinking about two weights.   We decided to call them FullWeight and MidWeight, and it wasn't until 2014 that we had MidWeight.   Or at least that's what I remember.   Maybe I should re-read some Blogs ...