Stuffing down into gear with holes

[sethd513]

So I was washing my cousin sleeping bag. It’s old and dirty. As I made my way down I found two pin holes in the foot box. The bag was already soaked so there was nothing I could do. It’s in the dryer now and I don’t know how much will Down will fall out.

Now I have an old vest we cut up to have project down for and I’d like to put some in there if it’s looking pretty empty. First how do you transfer the down? It’s horrible to work with unless I’m missing something. Then how do I patch the holes? They are small enough I could do a little tape and seam sealer with no issue. But idk if I need to open the gap wider to get the down in. Any help would be great


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[Feral Bill]

I would try wetting the down for transfer, making a slit to put it in, and patching with ripstop tape. Cut tape to rounded corners and sew around when done. Of course i have not tried this, apart from the patching.

[Slo-go'en]

I tried to refill a baffle in an old down sleeping bag I had. I salvaged the down from a cheap Walmart comforter. I opened up the seam along the zipper in the bag and cut open a row of squares on the comforter. Had feathers everywhere. Looked like one of those pillow fights in the movies.

Wetting the down is a good idea. Or work inside a tent.

[Venchka]

You should have sewn the holes closed while the bag was wet.
You could have it professionally repaired. Boulder Mountain Repair or Rainy Pass do repairs.
Wet down is the DIY answer.
Wayne

[colorado_rob]

I've stuffed down into sleeping bags three times now, works great. Basically I "harvested" some decent down out of an old sleeping bag I quit using years ago. I filled some gallon zip locks with it, measuring how much down in each zip lock. I portioned this out to the various sized chambers I was adding down to in the sleeping bags I wanted a bit more loft with.

Here's how I do it:

Work in a completely still air place, no breeze, windows closed, etc. Have a nice clean, flat space to work. You will get loose down flying around no matter how careful you are, but it's no big deal and you'll get 95% of the down where you want it.

Get a 1' piece PVC pipe, in my case it's a sink drain tube, about 1 1/4" in diameter, costs a couple bucks at Home Depot. Also get a 1' piece of pvc pipe that slightly smaller, in my case it's 1" in diameter (inside), maybe 1 1/8" outside. I wrapped a couple wraps of duct tape around one end of the dowel to make it a fairly tight fit slipping into the drain tube, and at the same time plugged off one end with tape. This is basically a "down plunger" or "down pump" mechanism.

It is fairly easy to cram down into the drain pipe; just grab some and stuff it in the pipe, it's amazing how much you can get in as down compresses really well, of course. Then slip the tube into a slit in the sleeping bag, and "pump" the down into the chamber with the pipe. The slit is easy to fix with tenacious tape. Best repair tape I've ever seen. REI carries it, I never backpack without it. I first did this about 3 years ago, adding 7-10 grams to each of about a dozen lateral chambers of a bag, basically winding up with a dozen 1.5" slits to repair. The tenacious tape repairs look the same as they did when I first did them, perfect. No sewing necessary. This stuff holds forever.

I can provide pics of my little plunger and slit-repairs if you're interested. It was kinda fun. I think I added about 7-10 degrees of warmth, converting a 40 degree bag to a low-30's bag. Later on I also added down to two separate quilts in the torso area. Easy peasy!

[sethd513]

Great advice. I know I lost some down washing it and there was some in the dryer filter but all in all really not as much as I thought. It looks like the bottom two feet have lost a good amount of down with use.

Should I repair the holes and fill it from the inside if he wants me to add more?


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[davnadz]

When I decided to revive a 20degF down bag, I used the following technique:
Find an old vacuum with a hose and two tube extensions. Borrow a nylon, and cover the tip of one extension, then insert into the other. Vacuum up the down, which will stop at the nylon mesh. Split the extensions and blow the down into the bag. Repair the hole using a needle and thread (it's not so bad and feels better than tape).

[Tipi Walter]

I've stuffed down into sleeping bags three times now, works great. Basically I "harvested" some decent down out of an old sleeping bag I quit using years ago. I filled some gallon zip locks with it, measuring how much down in each zip lock. I portioned this out to the various sized chambers I was adding down to in the sleeping bags I wanted a bit more loft with.


I can provide pics of my little plunger and slit-repairs if you're interested. It was kinda fun. I think I added about 7-10 degrees of warmth, converting a 40 degree bag to a low-30's bag. Later on I also added down to two separate quilts in the torso area. Easy peasy!

I too have several old down pieces to get the raw down and my main down items need a refresher course. Problem is, I'm reluctant to cut 24 slits in my Puma bag or about 12 slits in my Icefall parka. That's alot of ripstop tape repairs . . . on a so-far perfectly good bag. (24? Yes, my bag has about 12 top baffles and 12 bottom baffles---separated by a seam opposite the zipper---put there by WM so the top down won't shift into the bottom---one feature I really liked).

[Franco]

I added down to a quilt by fully undoing the stitching at one end of the baffles. (shaking first the existing down to the other end).
I then added the down by hand inside a tent (single skin, freestanding) so that it was contained in that space and had no air movement from outside.
This was all done inside the house...
Still had dozens of plumes about but I managed to finish the job.
I have seen the vacuum cleaner method described before so I would probably attempt that if I were to do it again.

[rocketsocks]

After making those cuts at the seams, just see in a Go-rilla bar tac...ugly but strong!

[bamboo bob]

I am impressed with you do it yourself gear folks. I use Rainy Pass and they are worth every penny. I had them add a pocket and add down to my favorite bag about ten years ago and still use it a lot.

[Leo L.]

...
Find an old vacuum with a hose and two tube extensions...
If this is a very old vaccum, handling down with it might even be a feature which the vaccum was designed for (aside for the usual household cleaning job).
I remember well that my parents did this with the vacuum: sucking up the down from and old quilt, and filling a new quilt. The vaccum was a straight-through type, filter removed, and the down went straight from one sack to the other.

Regarding the repair of the hole(s), you might consider that many nylon shells are treated with silicone, and no tape nor glue would stick to it.

[HerdBull]

some good ideas here but why do I envision a house full of goose down floating all over the place when something goes haywire with the vacuum. lol. Just my luck. It wouldn't be pretty.

I have sent 1 bag back to the manufacturer and had them re-loft a bag. They didn't charge me anything other than shipping. While I like doing things on my own this seemed like a good option.