[pct-l] Bag/Quilt Warmth

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Ned,

*“This was just a thought. Would it be unreasonable to assume that a
"10-degree" bag at the start of a PCT thru hike would become a "30-degree"
bag by the time (a month, say) the hiker reached KM?”   * Ned



I don’t believe a good quality down bag – well cared for -- would lose that
much insulating potential after a month and a half.  I avoid any
compression, and I stuff the bag directly into the pack keeping it as loose
as the situation allows.  I dry and air the bag at least once per day to
remove accumulated perspiration and surface dew.  Several times in that
airing process I roll the bag loosely to force out most of the air within
the bag’s insulation.  That helps aspirate the moisture from inside bag.  As
the bag is subsequently unrolled and re-fluffed dry air is drawn back inside
the bag.


I also don’t believe an average accumulation of hiker-crud will noticeably
degrade the insulation either.  While human oils and sweat-components are
not socially desirable I’m not convinced the down fibers are directly and
adversely affected.  Think of the down’s source – the goose.  It spends a
significant portion of its day preening oil onto its outer feather layer,
immediately adjacent to the fine down layer, to maintain its water
resistance.


I haven’t found the Sierras to be particularly cold during the typical PCT
hiking season; in fact my bag has been occasionally, and equally, as
frost-covered beginning at the Kick-Off.  Northern California MAY be a good
point to consider a lighter bag providing that year’s situation allows.

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

-http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

-http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09