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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Good morning,</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">I have another reason for not
stuff-sacking my sleeping bag.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I
much prefer to sleep in the open, under the stars, pitching my shelter tarp only
if there is a threat of rain or snow.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>An example of such a camp can be seen at:<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><A
href="http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=222935&back=1"><FONT
color=#800080>http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=222935&back=1</FONT></A></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">One down-side of sleeping without
a tent is often the sleeping bag outer fabric is damp with dew in the morning,
and first light is not the time to try to dry anything. As a result it gets
packed as-is, then at the first opportunity to take a break in sunlight, the bag
is spread out over some bushes, grass, or a rock to dry and air out. The
incredibly thin fabrics in use today may look sopping wet, but in just minutes
in the sun they are dry. An example of such a break can be seen at:<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><A
href="http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=189618"><FONT
color=#800080>http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=189618</FONT></A></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Awakening in the morning to find
a heavy frost covering the bag is not uncommon, and it’s usually more easily
dealt with than dew.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It can be
brushed and shaken off, leaving the bag mostly dry.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">It
I were to stuff or compress the sleeping bag, I would be less likely to remove
it for drying during a limited break, and the moisture on the bag cover
could accumulate and be forced into the down. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> <o:p></o:p></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Whenever
there is a likelihood of having to ford a creek I carry a plastic trash
compactor bag, but to avoid moisture retention I don’t put my sleeping bag
inside the plastic until I reach a ford.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Steel-Eye</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">^^^^^^^^^^<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Join other hikers at:<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><A
href="http://www.aldhawest.org/"><SPAN
style="COLOR: purple">http://www.aldhawest.org/</SPAN></A> ^^^^^^^^^^</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P></SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=gkesselr@whidbey.com href="mailto:gkesselr@whidbey.com">Greg
Kesselring</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pct-l@backcountry.net
href="mailto:pct-l@backcountry.net">pct back country</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, January 24, 2008 2:28
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [pct-l] sleeping bags</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>One more point that's kind of a follow-on to Steel-Eye's
suggestion of not using a stuff sack: If you do use a stuff sack, use the
largest sack you can get away with.<BR><BR>I like a stuff sack because I feel
I stand a better chance of keeping the bag clean that way.<BR><BR>Greg
Kesselring wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:4799107C.90009@whidbey.com type="cite"><PRE wrap="">another way I like to look at it is this: If you bend a fiber and then
unbend it, how much damage will there be to the fiber? Maybe none. But
if you bend it in an extreme way--for example, creasing it--how much
damage will there be? Probably some damage. Keep creasing it in the
same place again and again, and eventually the fiber will break. This
is what we do when we want to tear a piece of paper--crease it along a
line, then crease it in the other direction, do this a couple of times
and the fibers that hold the paper together break, and you get a clean tear.
Using a compression stuff sack puts all the fibers in the down under
extreme pressure. It will be like creasing those fibers that are bent
in an extreme way, resulting in damage to those fibers. Down is
extremely resilient, but it will wear out eventually. IMO a compression
stuff sack will only accelerate that process.
Greg
Steel-Eye wrote:
</PRE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><PRE wrap="">Good afternoon, Neil,
In my opinion, compression sacks not only add cost and weight, and require
time to use, but the repeated compression of down is damaging to its loft.
One noted writer of PCT hiking, and an ultra-lite guru, states that the
first compression of a new sleeping bag causes a loss of 18% of loft, and
each subsequent compression reduces loft by an additional 3%. Based upon
that algorithm a new bag with 5.00" of loft would be reduced to 0.20" of
loft at the end of 100 days .. a fairly quick PCT hike .. and would be
further reduced to 0.04" thick after 150 days. I think that's total
baloney, but I can't prove it. Suffice it to say that compressing will
cause undesirable and unnecessary damage.
I never compress my sleeping bags, nor even sack-stuff them. I just poke
them loose in whatever space remains in the pack, and doing so doesn't take
long. As a result, my pack usually looks full regardless of the consumables
I have on board at the time.
Steel-Eye
</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE><PRE wrap=""><!---->
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