[pct-l] Re: Gear Tradeoff -- Tents versus Sleeping Bags

[rmoak@fallingwater.com (Ronald Moak)]

Greg writes >> In 9 consecutive days and nights of cold rain in the Nth
Cascades, my
original Polarguard bag got thoroughly wet and never lost its loft.  That is
the benefit of synthetic insulation, NOT DOWN.  Synthetics retain their loft
when wet. <<

The real question is why did it get soaked in the first place and what
practices would now employ to prevent that from happening again. Otherwise,
what you're saying is that it's impossible to hike in those same conditions
without getting a soaked bag.

Also while synthetic bags do retain some loft while wet, it doesn't
necessarily follow suit that they retain significant warmth. Even after a
good ringing out, there is still significant moisture trapped within the
fill. All of this moisture acts as a heat sink drawing warmth away from the
body. This significantly reduces their insulating value.

>> Huh?  Minimal service life?  I still use my original Polarguard bag after
25
years and about 3 washings.  It has lost some of its insulation quality, but
still keeps me warm down to the mid 30's when originally designed for 10 to
15 degrees.  I'd say that that is phenomenal service life! <<

My 20 degree 25 year old down bags used on the AT are still good to 20
degrees. I don't use them because newer bags have better shells and better
grade down. This makes them significantly lighter and more immune to the
effects of condensation or water being blown under the tarp. By the way, it
rains a whole lot more on the AT than PCT and they never got seriously wet.

Meanwhile, you're 10 degree bag has lost 40% of it's insulating value and
this probably occurred in the first season of use. You'd have quite a few
very cold miserable nights on the PCT were you to attempt to use it again on
a thru-hike. To keep warm in the same environments, you'd have to
continually replace the bag season after season.

>> I recognize that the PCT is, for the most part, a fairly dry environment
trail.  However, in wet years and always in the Nth Cascades, you can
generally count on a lot of rain, often in consecutive day - cold weather
storms.  In these situations I'd rather have a synthetic bag thoroughly
soaked in a soaked tent for day after day, then a soaked down bag in a tarp
day after day, regardless of the amount of experience I have. <<

In the North Cascades, a down bag with properly pitched tarp combination is
significantly dryer than the typical tent/synthetic bag combo. When I talk
about tent here, I'm not just referring to single wall tents. The same is
true for standard fly tents. Also you'll note I said "Properly Pitched"
tarp.

I'll grant that a tarp/down combo takes a bit more practice and knowledge to
master than the tent/synthetic combo. But God gave me a brain and I figure
I've got to use it for something.

-Fallingwater