[pct-l] Sleeping Bag Compression

[chelin at teleport.com (Sharon & Chuck Chelin)]

Good evening, all,

I think much of the concern about compressing sleeping bags may have come
from "The PCT Hiker's Handbook".  Ray states that the first time a bag is
packed into a stuff sack it loses perhaps 8% of its loft, and if a
compression sack is used it loses an additional 10%.  That's 18% before you
even use it the first time.  He goes on to say that it loses an additional
3% during each subsequent compression.  If my math is correct your 3-inch
loft bag would then end up 1/16 inch thick after 120 nights on the trail.

I don't believe it.  My experience has not found anywhere near that kind of
loss, but I do not use such aggressive compression.  In the old days I used
to stuff into a moderately-sized stuff sack, but for quite a while I have
done as several people mentioned recently:  I just poke it in to fill
whatever space remains in the pack, but never tight.  Because it's easy to
remove from the pack, I often remove it during a break and spread it in the
sun whenever possible.  I also give it a good fluffing before I use it at
night.

Steel-Eye


"Life isn't a beach; it's a mountain, so get over it."
-Unknown