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Posted by SteveTheFolkie on November 13, 2006 at 2:19:18 pm EST
In reply to Re: Synthetic Vs. Down posted by Bill S on October 17, 2006 at 5:31:20 pm EDT

Interesting thread. I have an old North Face down mummy (cats something or other I think)which I've had for many years - it was rated to 20F - for me (I sleep hot) it's good down to about 5 (wearing DRY polypro and a balaclava inside it, under a tarp, pitched tight to the ground and on a thermarest).
Moisture does accumulate night to night - however - if you air your sleeping bag out once in a while (like place it inside out on top of your tent - or string it up inside out where it'll catch some wind) you can mitigate the moisture accumulation. Inverting the bag is important - the liner is typically less robust than the outter shell - and allows for moisture transfer to happen faster.
Keeping down clean is essential also - it's really important to wash a down bag with the appropriate soap - to dry it - to make sure any clumps are broken up - and to store it unpacked. Being natural fibers, down pods are more apt to be ruined if you store the bag stuffed tight.
Keeping a bag dry on the trail - well - if you use an external frame pack - dont' dangle your sleeping bag under the main pack bag where it'll sit on the cold, wet ground everytime you unshoulder your pack - I tend to keep mine inside the bottom compartment of the pack. I understand that many internal frame packs have special lower pockets for this - lining them with a really strong plastic bag before shoving the sleeping bag in would seem like a great idea.
I'm not a tent guy - I'm a tarp guy - so site selection is something I really pay attention to. Because of this I cannot recall being "swamped" - I do - however - carry a standard trash bag - to shove the foot section of my sleeping bag into if there's the slightest chance that I'm going to wiggle out from under my tarp during the night. When I'm in camp - and it's raining - and I'm NOT in my sleeping bag - the bag goes into that trash bag during the day - so it won't get wet while I'm changing clothes or thrashing around for some other idiotic reason.
I backpack mostly in Maryland/PA/New York - so I hit a lot of rain -
Sometimes I think that a synthetic bag would be less irritation - I mean getting wet would be one less thing to worry about - and my down has lost some loft over the years - the shell is patched with rip-stop tape here and there - my son has a nice synthetic bag (an EMS labeled one) - he swears by it - has been soaked and "slept" it dry (something I could never do with down) - maybe I'm just a creature of habit ....
well, anyhow, there's my (wandering) 2cents worth -

Steve

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