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Posted by Bill S on April 5, 2008 at 2:15:17 pm EDT
In reply to Which roomy Bivy sack fits a long RECTANGULAR sleeping bag? posted by Scottreynolds on April 4, 2008 at 11:05:50 pm EDT

On your question about synthetics - Most of the synthetic fills used in sleeping bags are "hydrophobic", meaning that they do not absorb water. If you get one soaked (for example, by dumping it in the lake or spilling a bucket of water on it), you can just roll it up tightly to squeeze the water out (the fibers themselves don't absorb the water, but the water will be inside the shell in the air spaces). If you repeat this a couple times, there will still be some moisture in there, but much of the insulating power will be there. You will lose some heat through your body heat trying to heat up the water, of course. Fastest way to dry the bag is an industrial-sized clothes dryer (the large ones you find in the neighborhood laundromat). Unfortunately at the present rate of $1 for 5 milliseconds, you will have to stick a lot of quarters in the machine (Ok, I exaggerate a bit, but the prices of the driers sure are high these days, plus you aren't likely to find a drier at most campgrounds, except maybe KOAs). But opening the bag and spreading it out in the sun (bad for the nylon shells of the bags) will generally dry them in a couple of hours, if you have squeezed the major part of the water out.

Look for the better synthetics - Primaloft (closest to down in terms of warmth for weight and compressibility, but you will rarely find it in a rectangular bag), Polargard (several versions), and Hollofill. The cheaper ones, like Quallofil, which are found in cheaper bags, are pretty heavy for the warmth and not very compressible.

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