I'd like to see any anyone agrees with me on my decision to NOT renew the DWR coating on my sleeping bag (Marmot Helium).
I really enjoyed it when it was new, watching condensation bead off the fabric. Now--three years, 5000 trail miles, and three launderings later--the DWR is gone. I miss it, but it doesn't really affect my hiking at all. I haven't had to change plans because my bag got wet or anything. I just hiked 800 miles on the Pacific Northwest Trail in some continuous rain in Washington and the down bag worked just fine. But it got a little damp which probably would not have happened at all with new DWR.
I hear it's possible to spray on or wash in a new DWR coating. I hesitate to do this because of these concerns: 1) some of the coating will get into and affect the down insulation, 2) toxicity to the environment, 3) toxicity to myself, 4) it might be a waste of time and money doing it at home and it won't really work, and 5) I don't want to make the shell less breathable by over-applying it or something stupid like that. This is an expensive, excellent bag that I want to keep for a long time and I don't want to do anything I'll regret.
Can anyone talk me into doing it? Is it worth it?