[pct-l] sleeping bags & liners

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good afternoon, Mendo-Rider,

I’m not sure I can answer your question.  I remember using a bag for a
local hiking season, and then hiking about 2,000 miles of PCT, plus some
additional nights after that but I don’t know the total miles or days.

Additionally significant are individual hiking requirements and personal
habits.  For example, at the end of the day as a hiker I didn’t have to
curry all the sweat and dust off a horse; I didn’t have to shake-out and
brush off all the sweat, hair, and trash from the saddle blanket; and I
didn’t have to use a hoof pick to scrape the accumulated dirt, rocks, and
impacted manure out of the horse’s feet.

For versatility in sleeping I generally use two different sleeping bags,
depending upon the temperature as described at:
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=264203

That scheme allows me to sleep fully zippered in a warm bag, all the way to
sleeping under a single layer of rip-stop.  It works great.

Steel-Eye

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

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

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/
On Tue, Jan 15, 2013 at 9:35 AM, Edward Anderson <mendoridered at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Good morning to you Chuck,
>
> You wrote:  "I don't wash a sleeping bag during a long trip - - - )  Since
> you have finished the PCT in Sections, exactly how many days on one trip
> did you actually sleep in your bag on the trail? A thru-hiker, in one
> year, would be sleeping in the bag many more times than you did. It took me
> four seasons and I can add up about six months sleeping in my bag - and I
> didn't go into towns, mostly lived on the trail. I considered my silk liner
> to be well worth bringing as it added warmth and effectively kept the
> inside of my bag clean. It was very easy to rinse while on the trail - also
> quick to dry. I never had to wash my bag during those four seasons - just
> sometimes turned it inside out to air.
>
> You discuss staying warm by adding layers. I agree with that. But, there
> were also warm nights when all I needed or wanted was the liner on top of
> the bag - then, during the night, when it cooled off, I could easily slip
> into my 30 degree bag. The colder it was the more additional layers I would
> add, as you describe. This system enabled me to be comfortable in the wide
> range of night time temperatures that anyone will experience on the PCT.
>
> MendoRider- Hiker
>