[pct-l] Ultra-compressible down sleeping bags?

[cmkudija at ca.rr.com]

Rachael,

I have a MontBell Down Hugger No. 1, rated at 15 degrees.  I stuff it into a
mylar turkey roasting bag inserted into the bottom of my pack to exclude as
much air as possible and to attempt to have the compressed bag conform to
the interior dimensions of my pack, (I plan on sewing a baggie from
silnylon, but just haven't got around tuit just yet), seal the bag with a
twistie or nylon cord, then have lots of room in my Dana New World pack
(naturally, out of production) for a Bearikade Weekender (into which I can
fit 10 person-days of food) and the rest of my clothing & gear.   The pack's
designed for generic weekenders, I think, but I've used it successfully for
10 days prior to resupply.

I'd like to say I knew what my pack's capacity is in cubic inches or
centimeters - but I don't.    The point is - if you can compress your
sleeping bag or quilt enough, and exclude air from re-entry, you should be
able to fit the rest of your gear and food in your pack.

>From re-reading your post, it looks like you might be relying on the
compression bag to compress your current bag - the problem I see is that the
compression bag forms its own geometry which may or may not conform
efficiently to the contours of your pack.  You might see what you can
achieve with the turkey roasting bag method... turkey roasting bags are a
cheap experiment to see what works for you.

Feet are very useful for compressing a sleeping bag into the bottom of a
pack, fwiw....


Christine "Ceanothus" Kudija
PCT partially '94

www.pcta.org
Join Now!

Ceanothus (see-ah-no-thus) or California lilac:  Shrubs or small trees,
often with divaricate, sometimes spiny, twigs...[flowers] small but showy,
white to blue or purplish, sometimes lavender or pinkish, borne in terminal
or lateral panicles or umbellike cymes.
                                                               Philip A.
Munz
                                                               A California
Flora, U.C. Press, 1973


-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]On
Behalf Of Rachael Howard
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 9:34 PM
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: [pct-l] Ultra-compressible down sleeping bags?

So I finally found a backpack that can carry 30lbs of gear without killing
my back and shoulders.  I ended up with the Osprey Aura 50, and I love it.
However, I'm worried that my gear may not fit in it.  The biggest items I
have are my Contrail tarptent, which I refuse to part with, and my sleeping
bag.  Right now I'm using an old green synthetic Army sleeping bag for my
1-2 night camping trips.  Even in the compression bag, it takes up about 1/3
of my interior backpack space.  My question is thus:  what size does the
average ultralight down mummy bag, like the Nunatak Alpinist or the Western
Mountaineering Ultralight Super, compress down to?  Just want to make sure
I'll have enough room in this pack before I break it in.

Thanks,
Rachael
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