[at-l] Sleeping bags

[garyticknor at starpower.net (Gary Ticknor)]

Only a pound? ONLY a pound? You are talking >>16<< ounces, there!

Down is light. Down is warm, down is soft and cuddly, and down is light.

Most people keep their down sleeping bags dry. If you can't, go 
synthetic. Most worry, even obsess, but I just don't hear many soaked 
down sleeping bag stories. Yes, down can get wet, no, it does not 
respond as well as synthetic, but it is LIGHT. With prudence (and a 
trash bag, I ALWAYS wrap mine in a trash bag inside the stuff sack) you 
will keep it dry. If you don't, worse case, spend the night hiking out.

While talked about recently, cleanliness is not that big an issue. A 
bag, with airing, will survive even a thru hike not smelling too ripe. 
Down is expensive, so cleaning it is of interest, but LDH's will put up 
with a LOT to shave off 4 ounces, not to mention a pound.

You are right about insurance - but most feel the premium is too high in 
this case. I mean, after all, 16 ounces!

JMHO

- Greenbriar


David A Jones wrote:

> People who know the most about hiking, and sleeping bags in particular, 
> seem to talk about choosing a sleeping bag like it's a matter of 
> choosing which down bag to get.  I also hear a lot of talk about not 
> getting down wet.  I may be completely ignorant, but it seems pretty wet 
> out there to me.  Are there just a lot of people confident that they 
> will not get their down bags wet?  Or does  down actually respond as 
> well to dampness as any other material?  (Actually, I think geese do get 
> wet.)  I don't hear anybody saying "down kills".  Nobody is talking 
> about down like some talk about cotton?  I would think the best bag be 
> the one that is still warm when wet, or the one that will dry most 
> quickly, or at least one that won't self destruct if it gets wet?  I'd 
> use this sort of logic to choose a wool sweater over a cotton sweat 
> shirt.  How does wet logic apply to sleeping bags?   Easy cleaning of a 
> synthetic bag would be a second consideration to me, but still a 
> valuable one.  I just don't get it.  So down is light.  How much more 
> weight are you really lugging when you choose synthetic?  A pound?  
> Isn't that extra weight kind of like wet insurance?  Never mind the 
> cruelty thing.
> 
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