View Full Version : Sleeping Bag Storage
The Solemates
02-05-2008, 16:33
I am really anal about how I store my sleeping bags and how I care for them. I've never washed them. I keep them in a heated/cooled closet. I keep them fully lofted in a large box. Between my wife and I we have 5 bags. This takes up a lot of space and we need this space for other stuff. I would like to move our bags to the attic.
Would extreme temperatures hurt our bags? We have both down and synthetic bags. I am more concerned with hot temperatures, as our attic can see temps reaching 140 degrees in the summer.
Thoughts on storage in hot temps?
I'm not sure about down, but hot temps will damage synthetic bags. I wouldn't recomend putting any bags in the attic. Have you thought about hanging them?
Space under your bed, or anywhere else? 140 degrees can't be good, and sleeping bags aren't cheap.
The Solemates
02-05-2008, 16:58
I'm not sure about down, but hot temps will damage synthetic bags. I wouldn't recomend putting any bags in the attic. Have you thought about hanging them?
hung them for years, which took up more space than the boxes they are currently stored in. thats why we initially but them in the boxes...to decrease space needed
The Solemates
02-05-2008, 17:02
Space under your bed, or anywhere else? 140 degrees can't be good, and sleeping bags aren't cheap.
our bed is only about 6 inches above the ground, and there's lot of dog hair down there :eek:
New raised bed platform.
Net gear loft.
Bet she'll like those.
Climate controlled storage space. I have seen very small (@4x4x6) interior cage units.
I caused the tape on a tent to fail by storing in a garage "attic." Was a bummer.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
02-05-2008, 18:07
I used to keep mine stored in fishing net hanging from the ceiling in my bedroom when I lived in a tiny apartment years ago. Had to have a step-stool to get to them, but they were fluffed and out of the way.
My crap takes up a lot of room too. I would never put anything in my attic because of critters alone, much less the heat. I envy those with finished attics.
I have an obsolete darkroom that I am going to secure and disguise that I put a lot of the gear in. As soon as I get more money I'm going to have the sink taken out, this would give me room for more safe storage.
My bags are in large drawstring bags. They do not stack well on the top shelf of my closet and like someone else said, bags ain't cheap so that's where I need to store them. Maybe boxes would be easier to stack. Sometimes I put the tents in the garage in a large rubbermaid type storage container. They seem to migrate in the house as well.
Ghosthiker
02-05-2008, 18:11
How about making a gear shelf that is close to the ceiling in the middle of teh closet, as in over your head?
warraghiyagey
02-05-2008, 18:16
I used to keep mine stored in fishing net hanging from the ceiling in my bedroom when I lived in a tiny apartment years ago. Had to have a step-stool to get to them, but they were fluffed and out of the way.
Call now for a quote from Interior Design by FD.
You could do some early spring cleaning. I sure you could find room for the bags if you got rid of some stuff that you dont use any more. Listen to me talking I have more backpacking stuff than I know what to do with.
He is out of room for the next several years...
The Solemates
02-05-2008, 18:59
He is out of room for the next several years...
:) got that right
our bed is only about 6 inches above the ground, and there's lot of dog hair down there :eek:
Purchase large, cloth laundry bags from Walmart, and put each bag in one, and this allows protection from the dust and doghair, and store under your bed to allow the bags to not be compressed over time! :sun
Two Speed
02-06-2008, 07:00
Purchase large, cloth laundry bags from Walmart, and put each bag in one, and this allows protection from the dust and doghair, and store under your bed to allow the bags to not be compressed over time! :sunNot a bad idea, but then ya gotta keep the dogs off of 'em. Kinda depends on the size of the dog. Bull Mastiff? No problem, won't get under the bed anyway. Chihuahua? Gonna make a real nice "nest" out of those sleeping bags.
Solemate, ya really gotta have five sleeping bags?
Says the single guy whose got three sleeping bags, four backpacks, two daypacks, four or five mess kits, four tents, one white gas stove, God only knows how many alcohol stoves . . . couple more items and I can outfit my own Boy Scout troop. ;)
Alligator
02-06-2008, 10:33
:) got that rightIt just keeps getting worse:). Soon you'll be adding new gear for the little ones, plus their toys, trikes, bikes, wagons, etc. REI.outlet has a kids sleeping bag on sale, about $40. You'll get 20% off if you order today or tomorrow;).
I liked the fish net idea and the platform bed. My friend's daughter has a platform bed that she has a hatch on the end. It's like a little clubhouse inside for her.
If you own your home, we checked a book out of the library which detailed a bunch of home improvement space saving projects. I don't recall the name, but the book was very innovative. Probably similar ones available at Lowes, Home Depot, or even a regular bookstore.
The Solemates
02-06-2008, 10:38
Not a bad idea, but then ya gotta keep the dogs off of 'em. Kinda depends on the size of the dog. Bull Mastiff? No problem, won't get under the bed anyway. Chihuahua? Gonna make a real nice "nest" out of those sleeping bags.
Solemate, ya really gotta have five sleeping bags?
Says the single guy whose got three sleeping bags, four backpacks, two daypacks, four or five mess kits, four tents, one white gas stove, God only knows how many alcohol stoves . . . couple more items and I can outfit my own Boy Scout troop. ;)
It's a coonhound. He's only inside for 8 hrs or so at night, but sure does shed during those times :confused:
Yea, we aint gettin rid of any bags. We hike in such a wide range of temps we need all of those. thats only 2.5 bags per person :) (but actually we have seven bags if you count a heavy fleece liner we use during summer, and a lightweight cotton blend liner I often use for hot climates).
Yes, a person needs 5 bags!! You need an inexpensive but durable sythetic bag for iffy conditions (a drunken night car camping for instance), a summer and 3 season bag, which ones depend where you live.
Then you need a down one in your most used temp range. This will be your most used bag so it doesn't make sense to skip here.
That's only 3 bags. Two more wouldn't hurt.
A least you only have to worry about dog hair, cat mistakes are much much costly. It hasn't happened to me but I have read time after time about new unused gear being christened by a cat. I am under the impression that is unfixable. :eek:
You have been warned.
greentick
02-06-2008, 12:48
...Says the single guy whose got three sleeping bags, four backpacks, two daypacks, four or five mess kits, four tents, one white gas stove, God only knows how many alcohol stoves . . . couple more items and I can outfit my own Boy Scout troop. ;)
Sounds like my wife when she looks at my current 9x20 storage area full of castoffs and extras. Took me a few years to dial in my kit and I was a suck for outlet deals over 60%. I am more fiscally responsible now :rolleyes:(strangely directly correlated to having my kit dialed in). Having the extra stuff helps with introducing friends to hiking. If you look at my pics the almost all of those guys have been outfitted by me at one time or another so a bunch of extra stuff is nice.
I will be moving to SE GA in a couple of weeks and my storage is going to have to change. This thread and a similar one a few weeks ago are good info. Thanks all.
I've been pretty anal about my bag and quilt. The bag is a Campmor Down 20* bag and the quilt is a JRB Hudson River (like a No Sniveler w/o the head hole). I've been storing them both flat on my queen-size bed and stacking one on top of the other when I sleep :eek:. (was going to say "now that's anal, but I was a little weirded out after that)
Can I stuff the bag in the big stuff sack that it came in from the manufacturer? Will this cause it to lose loft over time? Ideally, there'd be a place where I could store them flat and safe, but I really don't wanna keep them on my bed. Also, what about the quilt?
Buy yourself an RV and store it all out there!:sun
One of the features we really liked about our house that we bought nine years ago is the large finished basement, a third of which is storage area, with shelving installed when we bought it. I have several shelves filled with packs, and my oldest sleeping bag.
But my current gear goes in my walk-in closet. Two sleeping bags hang from the loops made for such on the foot of the bags. A section of an upper self is for small hiking "things." My pack with a lot of the stuff I use packed in it is on the floor in one back corner. This arrangement works well for me.
So I hang mine. My new Cat's Meow came with a large part mesh, part cloth storage bag. I was wondering if long term, this would be any better or worse than hanging it completely vertical?
Nightwalker
03-02-2008, 21:24
I've never washed them.
How do you do that? I wash mine a few times per year, and never had a problem with them. I've found that Sil-Net works perfectly for any down leaks. I use Woolite and the largest front-loader at the laundromat. I use 1 cycle hot, 1 cycle medium and the rest low to dry. I use 3 tennis balls in the dryer to fluff 'em.