[pct-l] best synthetic sleeping bag

[Brian McLaughlin]

Alexandra,

I understand your reluctance about down. A soaking wet down bag is
worthless until it is dry again. What most people fail to understand is that
a soaking wet synthetic bag is pretty much equally worthless. It may
retain a certain amount of loft, but the wet insulation will rob you
of warmth, not warm you up. Water both convects away your heat and
also cools you through evaporation, and this is more important than any
amount of loft it retains. You can't win that battle. Wet is bad for
_every_ sleeping bag.

The two situations where a bag could get soaked are when it you are in
it and your shelter has failed during a rainstorm, and when it is
stuffed and water invades your pack and enters the stuff sack.

The solution to the first situation is to have a reliable shelter that you
understand how to set up in adverse conditions. This means: test your
shelter in adverse conditions ahead of time. It is very important!

The solution to the second situation is to have a waterproof barrier
between your sleeping bag and any source of water that could get into
your pack. That source could be rain, wet snow, or surface water
(think "creek crossings"). A waterproof barrier can be as simple
as a plastic bag. The key ingredient is ALWAYS USING IT before
you need it and making certain you seal it properly.

If you can afford a good down sleeping bag, I counsel you to get one.
It is one of your most important pieces of gear. In adverse conditions
it can be a literal lifesaver. And down is in all ways superior to 
synthetics.
Whereas a synthetic can do the job fo you, down will always outperform it.

If you can't afford down, no matter how you slice your budget, get
a synthetic bag, but don't do it because you think synthetics will
work better when wet. It won't.

Just my $0.02 worth.

Brian McLaughlin
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alexandra Larsen" <aalarsen at uwalumni.com>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 1:14 AM
Subject: [pct-l] best synthetic sleeping bag


> Does anyone have recommendations on the best synthetic fill sleeping bag?
> I'm a little afraid to go the route of the down sleeping bag, as I'm bad
> luck prone and would probably manage to soak the bag at the moment when I
> needed it most. I realize warmth, light weight, and low cost is a lot to 
> ask
> out of one product, but I thought it couldn't hurt to try. Thanks!
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