[at-l] Bag Question

[cwillett@math.uiuc.edu (Christopher Willett)]

I too have a Marmot Arroyo that I love.  It too has lost all of
its loft in the chest and upper stomach areas.  I really noticed
this during a recent trip into Nepal.  17,000 feet in January
is not a good place to find out that your once toasty bag is
insulating you with a couple of flaps of nylon.
I'm going to
give it a wash in my mother's front loader this weekend
to see if the down comes back by some miracle.  Otherwise,
I'm going to ship it off to Marmot and see what they do.
If they are unhelpful, I'll get a Western Mountaineering
Highlite and scowl at Marmot.

Chris
----------------------
Chris Willett
cwillett@math.uiuc.edu
http://www.math.uiuc.edu/~cwillett
Department of Mathematics
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

On Fri, 1 Feb 2002, Dennis Gass wrote:

> I have a year and a half old Marmot Arroyo bag that I loved when I first
> got it.  I have taken excellent care of it, never storing it long term
> compressed or in damp conditions, yet after about twenty nights of use
> it appears to have lost most of it's loft, and it doesn't come close to
> keeping me remotely warm on nights below 40.  It used to be toasty a
> little under 30.  I can also add that I do not over-compress the bag and
> have used only the compression sack that came with the bag.
>
> Per Marmot's recommendation I put the bag in my clothes dryer with
> tennis balls.  The bag had plenty of loft immediately after I took it
> out, but by the time I compressed it for a single night trip it was flat
> as a pancake and I was *very* cold during a 30 degree night that trip.
> Since then, if there is any chance of cool weather I shy away from what
> should be my main bag. I wind up carrying my winter bag all of the time
> other than the middle of summer and sleeping under it like a blanket
> rather than taking the lighter Arroyo.
>
> Have any of you experienced similar problems with the Arroyo or other
> similar down bags?  What did you do to remedy the problem?  Has anyone
> tried the Nikwax Down Wash and/or their new product that is recommended
> after the Down Wash to give down bags some resistance to absorbing
> moisture and preserving loft?  Do you clean it yourself or are there
> professionals out there to either take a bag to or ship it to (I live
> just north of Atlanta)?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Trailwind '02
>
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