Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

(This is a copy of my review from the "Belly Blanket Chic: Metro" version of this product which we purchased and returned. I'm copying this here to warn others of our findings): Written claims on product packaging: "99.9% Shielding Effectiveness for radiation from: cell phones, laptops/computers, other electronic devices." Desperately trying to find a way to protect our unborn child after recently learning that WiFi and cell signals are MICROWAVES, my wife and I found some comfort finding this product and reading that claim. I believe Belly Armor's 99.9% shielding effectiveness claim will give any regular person the impression that it blocks 99.9% of typical microwave (cellular and WiFi) signals. I myself am an electrical engineer, and although not specialized in RF, I fell for this claim as well. Having learned the hard way not to trust doctors, scientists, or anyone from the government without verifying things myself, I quickly went about trying to verify Belly Armor's claims and then try my own real-world tests. Cell phone test: As detailed on a little card included with the package, I wrapped my old iPhone 3GS (AT&T GSM microwave network) within the belly blanket for 30 seconds, and quickly took it out to see the bars. Yes, the signal had reduced. But does that mean it blocks 99.9% of the microwave radiation? I went one step further to really find out: I first connected my iPhone to my wife's iPhone (both AT&T GSM network), put mine on speakerphone, then fully wrapped it in the belly blanket, being sure to fold over (overlap) all the edges so no signal could escape out any "cracks". Instead of the call being dropped immediately, or even after a few seconds, I was able to maintain a reasonably clear speakerphone conversation with my wife right through this blanket (reasonably clear not because the signal was reduced, but because of the muffled sound of trying to speak via speakerphone through a decently thick blanket. Now I ask you, how is it possible to have this kind of conversation for 2 minutes (after which we gave up testing) if it "shields" 99.9% of the signal? I went one more step. I next performed a speed test (data throughput test) on my iPhone via our home WiFi (old Netgear N-300 wireless router), then DOUBLE-wrapped this router within the belly blanket. I re-ran the test (cell data option turned off so that it could not be coming from the 3G network) and was able to get nearly exactly 50% data throughput at 10 feet distance. Now how could this be possible if this product is shielding these microwave signals 99.9%? Now without having done these tests myself, we would have been using our microwave generators (iPhones) with a false sense of confidence and security, thinking we were fully shielding (99.9% is basically fully shielded wouldn't one think?) our unborn baby from these extremely dangerous pulsed scalar microwaves. CLEARLY THIS IS NOT THE CASE. One comment another individual made on another review was that they used their fancy testing device and verified that there was a "massive reduction" in the signal. No details or specifics were given. Well here are real-world tests each and everyone of you can try yourselves with your own WiFi networks and phones to see if this product really delivers what you're expecting and needing. To try to understand what the heck is happening, I first wrote to Belly Armor via their website, explaining what I had done and asking them to come clean and explain how and why this could happen. I did threaten to post my findings here on Amazon, and gave them 5 days to at least confirm receipt of my e-mail. No response. Okay, that's fine, we're returning this ineffective product touting extremely misleading claims for a refund. But there's no way we were not going to warn others of our findings and explain what they might try to verify this themselves. Next, I carefully read the testing report from Belly Armor's website, and all of their claims. The light mesh silver shielding material used in the product is shown in a picture in the Independent product safety report available from their web site. It clearly shows a wide mesh with huge gaps in between the tiny threads of silver. In other words, if this was a screen door, you would basically see 1/4" gaps between the mesh, allowing quite a bit of whatever you're trying to shield through it. As with protective clothing made with silver nylon thread, if you get the cheaper 50% silver nylon mesh, you get a 50 db reduction, similar to what is supposedly achieved with this product. However, for more effective shielding that's more like "blocking" as what we want, you've got to go with the 2x more expensive 100% silver nylon design, which basically leaves no gaps through which the signal can pass. That is basically the way it made sense to me and how I understand it. With any safety device of any kind, and most especially for our children that rely on us to know best, we think it's always best to verify claims, and do your own research and testing, if possible.