Sleeping Bag Questions

T

Tony12Steps

Joined
May 15, 2007
Messages
11
Hello,
I am putting together a B.O.B and was thinking about using the sleeping bag I use for camping. The only issue is that it is down (800 fill) and I am not sure just how much of an issue it is to leave it compressed all the time.
I know that the recommended storage for it is not compressed, but I was hoping for some real world advice.
Am I going to ruin my bag if I leave it compressed for 8 months out of the year?

Should I just get a new one that can be stored compressed? If so, what recommendations do you have?
I'd like to keep it somewhere between a 15 - 35 degree bag that weighs less than 4 pounds.
Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
 
My own opinion is that you will seriously degrade the fill of a down bag by leaving it compressed that long. I've not left one compressed more than a few days at most.
 
I think you'll damage just about any type of insulation, synthetic or down, keeping it compressed for extended periods of time. You might consider keeping a wool or fleece blanket in your bag in place of a sleeping bag, that way you'll at least have something if you need to grab and go. If you have time you can grab your sleeping bag and put it in your pack instead.
 
Thank you for the advice. I was afraid that I would ruin my down bag if I left it compressed. I will take your guy's advice and continue to store my bag uncompressed.
I know that Wiggys says that their bags can be stored compressed with no ill effects. I have one of their bags and I can say that while it has not lost any insulating properties over the years, it is far from lightweight or "compressible".
Either way, the likelihood of something happening where I will need by sleeping bag but do not have enough time to stuff it in a bag is highly unlikely, and I always have my emergency blanket/bag in my pack anyways.
 
6shooter said:
I think you'll damage just about any type of insulation, synthetic or down, keeping it compressed for extended periods of time. You might consider keeping a wool or fleece blanket in your bag in place of a sleeping bag, that way you'll at least have something if you need to grab and go. If you have time you can grab your sleeping bag and put it in your pack instead.
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Get a Wiggy's bag. They're packed in ejection seat kits. They'll un-compress just fine.
 
synthetic will degrade even faster than down when compressed; high quality down is less adverse to compressing than low quality down, but even w/ high quality down (750+) I'd want to store it uncompressed as much as possible

there are also degrees of compressed, you can force a quality down bag into a very small sack (and then compress it beyond that)- that will take more of a toll than putting in a "normal" size sack- so if you absolutely have to have it stored compressed, then choose an appropriate sized sack for the bag

when packing, I prefer to use a pack liner to keep things dry- I don't put my sleeping bag in any stuff sack, but instead just stuff it loosely into the bottom of the liner (and pack)- I find it actually takes up less volume this way as it's utilizing every nook and cranny available and it's fully protected from moisture
 
What about mold? I hang my bag in the closest uncompressed for this reason.
 
Shotgun said:
What about mold? I hang my bag in the closest uncompressed for this reason.
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You should always thoroughly dry the bag before storage anyway. Mold usually only grows where there is suficcient moisture.
 
Codger_64 said:
You should always thoroughly dry the bag before storage anyway. Mold usually only grows where there is suficcient moisture.
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I dry them before putting them away. My point is that being balled up in a trunk it's more likely to collect moisture and grow mold even if it was put in dry.
 
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