Down on a Thru hike

[AUhiker90]

I have always carried a down coat and recently got lucky enough to be able to purchase a down bag.

I am wondering if down would be a good idea to carry on my thru starting in early march?

Also i want to hear some stories of down gears pro and cons along the trail while hiking

[Blissful]

yes, fine. just keep it dry.

[Nean]

I have always carried a down coat and recently got lucky enough to be able to purchase a down bag.

I am wondering if down would be a good idea to carry on my thru starting in early march?

Also i want to hear some stories of down gears pro and cons along the trail while hiking


Pro: light
Con: no good if wet
Good idea w/ the bag. Might be overkill with a coat. I prefer layers. Use my down coat for less physical activities. YMMV

[AUhiker90]

I use the Montbell EX-lite coat as a part of my system with my T shirt capilene 3 longsleeve and rain jacket.

[Tagless]

My wife Tag-along and I carried down bags the entire way. In spite of significant rainfall in 2009, we never had a problem.

Consider using a lightweight garbage bag or some other type of pack liner to keep your bag and other gear dry. You'll be fine.

[Pootz]

Down is good for a thru hike, just keep it dry. Many if not most hikers carry down bags. I never understand the down is no good if you get it wet, nothing is going to keep you warm if you get it wet.

Enjoy your hike

[stumpknocker]

I used a Cat's Meow 20 degree synthetic bag on a long walk on the AT and loved it. I could crawl into it with cold wet clothes, warm up quickly and be totally dry in the morning...me, my clothes and the bag. It weighed about three pounds.

I carried a Western Mountaineering 10 degree down bag with an ultra-lite weight shell on several long walks on the AT and thought it worked okay. It did seem like it sucked the moisture out of the damp air on the AT though and often felt a little clammy, but I stayed warm. I couldn't wear cold, wet clothes in it to dry them out for the morning like I did with the synthetic bag, so I got to pick up my pile of dirty, smelly cold wet clothes each morning and put them on my warm body. It doesn't work on the AT to hang your clothes overnight to dry....they won't be any dryer most mornings than they were the night before. That bag weighed about two pounds and took up much less volume in my pack.

I carried a Western Mountaineering bag with a Gore Dri-Loft shell on parts of a couple long walks on the AT and I loved it. I could spill my morning coffee on it and that coffee would bead up and roll off. :) I still had to pile my dirty, smelly, wet, cold clothes in a pile and put them on my warm body each morning though because the inside liner of the bag wasn't Gore Dri-Loft and would have soaked up that excess moisture. It adds about five ounces to the bag with that outer shell, but well worth it if you're going to be walking on a Trail similar to the climate on the AT. I'd go with the ultra lite shell on the down bag for the western Trails.

Of the three different bags, I liked the synthetic best for the AT, but would carry the down bag with the Gore Dri-Loft because of the weight and volume savings.

I sleep in my tent every night. I would think you might not pick up quite as much moisture if you were sleeping in the shelters, so if I was planning on staying in shelters mostly, the down bag with the ultra lite-weight shell would most likely work nicely.

Sorry about the long reply. :)

[ChinMusic]

I'm down on a thru hike.

[JAK]

Very nice report stumpknocker.

I am not a big down fan for stuff above 0F, but I believe in a healthy mix of wool, fleece, and perhaps a down sleeping bag. I think I would put all my down in the one basket, so to speak. Moisture management on an extended trip is pretty important. You have to carry thicker layers, for the extremes of a given month, which means you have more than you need on most days, which is actually harder to keep dry with body heat.

My bag is synthetic, but I would like to try a down bag, and see how it works out with a clothing system which is a mix of wool and fleece. Generally I try to keep the wool on, to keep it dry, and use the fleece as the layers that can be left off. I wear clothing to bed on the coldest nights, but usually bring the wool in with me even if I don't wear it, and leave the fleece outside. The wool must feel dry. Wet socks I leave outside or dry with a fire. The rest should feel dry. If it isn't when I go to bed, as in pouring soaking rain, then it gets bagged and left outside, and I deal with it in the morning. Cold nights below freezing I might stay up and dry it out with a fire, then sleep with it. Three pounds of wool clothing can gain a pound of moisture during the night, and still feel dry, then in theory you want to wear that wool the next day until it is dry again, or dry it out with a fire. Spring/Fall I might only have half that much wool clothing, and just a light sweater and hat in summer, but the same principles apply year round.

I think done right the wool can reduce the flow of moisture into your down bag, but I don't have enough experience on extended trips to say how this works in practice year round, with summer rain, spring/fall rain, freezing rain or melting snow. I have found that a military type gortex bivy is indeed both waterproof and breathable, so that in the right conditions a sleeping bag can be dryer in the morning. Those weigh 2 pounds though, and I uderstand in subzero the sleeping bag will still gain weight from one night to the next.

Definitely would like to try a thru some day, or at least one of Tipis many fortnighters.

[RollingStone]

I never understand the down is no good if you get it wet, nothing is going to keep you warm if you get it wet.

I've been caught twice in severe thunderstorms in a less than ideal location where I could not choose a great place to pitch shelter. This resulted in water leakage. Both times I was carrying a synthetic bag or quilt. When wet, synthetics WILL keep you nice and warm. Down will not.

I've since switched to down and a different method of shelter.

[singing wind]

Have carried both and each have their advantages and disavantages.

The only thing I notice with down is that during an extended rainy stretch it tends to lose a bit of loft, but that can be remedied by hanging the bag in a sunny spot during lunch breaks or whenever it's convenient to do so. Just a little management can go a long ways - even 30-60 minutes air time will help restore loft & comfort.

Good luck with your hike!

[garlic08]

Another vote for down on a thru hike. Down insulation was one of the major factors in getting my pack light enough to make long hikes very enjoyable.

[Pokey2006]

I can't imagine wanting to climb into my sleeping bag with cold, wet, dirty clothes -- synthetic or not. Yuck!

Go with the down.

[JAK]

Well, most days you shouldn't, but it happens.

[Cannibal]

Love my down!

[Pokey2006]

Well, most days you shouldn't, but it happens.

No, it doesn't happen. It's not that hard to just take off your clothes before crawling into your sleeping bag. Seriously, that would be so uncomfortable.

[JAK]

Well you have your system, I have mine.

I won't crawl in with wet fleece, but in some situations I might crawl in with damp wool.

... and its not always a matter of comfort.

I'll give you an example.

You are on a long slow trudge out of the winter woods, out of food after being delayed by snow and a broken ski. You are wearing most of your clothing because it is that cold. After hiking 4 hours, you are running somewhat low on energy and getting cold. You crawl into your sleeping bag, full clothed, to warm up for 30 minutes, then you crawl out and continue your trudge.

That's rather extreme, but if your system is robust, you shouldn't have to pussy foot around too much. Wool sweaters and wool underwear and wool socks and mitts and hats and neck tubes work very well inside of sleeping bags, even if they are a little damp. If it is cold enough, the extreme for what you planned for, you should be prepared to use it all. You should have methods to keep things dry. You should also have methods to get stuff dry again if it gets damp. Use those also. You have to look at the total system, and how it works for you in the conditions you deal with, and whatever **** happens along the way.

[Wrangler88]

I used a down quilt while hiking in Maine this past summer. It rained every night I was there. The first night, my quilt got soaked. I didn't try to dry it out until the next evening after a 25 mile day. It worked just fine the next night. (But keep in mind the temps were in the 40's that night.)

[Bronk]

There were many times when everything I had was soaking wet...just about the time everything got dry it would rain again...and many of those times I was wearing all the clothing I had to keep warm...its pouring rain and 40* out...you're soaked on the outside from the rain and sweating your clothes wet on the inside...its a lose lose situation. I would rather wear wet clothing to bed than wake up and put on cold wet clothing.

[stumpknocker]

For me, it's really not bad at all to crawl into a synthetic bag with all your wet clothes on. My body heat warms the inside of the bag quickly. It is very humid inside for a while, but it's comfortably warm and dries out faster than you would think. The great thing is that when you wake up to walk the next morning, everything is dry...a much more comfortable situation. I didn't do that during a warmer season though. I haven't carry a synthetic bag on any walks since half way through a long walk in '03.

I would NEVER get in a down bag with wet clothes though, unless you want to see a fluffy bag go flat in a hurry. I learned that one early on when I first started carrying a down bag. :)

Just one other point I'd like to bring up that works for me is that when I am carrying that 10 degree WM ultra light weight bag on a long walk, I use it throughout the whole walk. It weighs two pounds, so I know I could save a pound going with a summer bag when it warms up, but I just don't like messing around with the logistics of switching bags out, then switching back later. During warmer months I go to sleep with the bag laying next to me in my tent, but by about 2am or so, I usually end up pulling it part way over my body like a quilt and I sleep well. I find it's great to have for the occasional cool spell. When I'm walking north, it's definitely nice to have in NH and ME. :)

[Lyle]

I've used synthetic in the past, everything from Dacron, through original Polargaurd, Holofil I and II, Qualofil, and most recently PrimaLoft (the best, by far). Been happy with them all, they work, and are cheap, but heavy and, with the exception of PrimaLoft, bulky.

That said, I now use down almost exclusively for the weight/bulk savings. I treat all my sleeping bags, whatever kind, with respect and do whatever I can to keep them dry and dry them if they do get damp - not over a fire! I have never been left with a soggy, wet sleeping bag that didn't work in over 30 years of frequent backpacking.

Protect your sleeping gear, no matter which type you get, it is your last, best defense when spending the night outdoors. Treat it as such.

Last comment: Putting on wet clothes in the morning isn't as bad as it sounds. The discomfort only lasts as long as it takes you to work up to normal operating temps, usually about 10 or 15 minutes of hiking. Not worth risking getting your bag wet by sleeping in wet clothes the night before. My opinion.

[stumpknocker]

Last comment: Putting on wet clothes in the morning isn't as bad as it sounds. The discomfort only lasts as long as it takes you to work up to normal operating temps, usually about 10 or 15 minutes of hiking

I agree totally!! It's more of a mental hardship, laying there in that nice warm sleeping bag, knowing that the only thing that stands between you and walking is getting into those nasty clothes. It's never as bad actually doing it. :)

[Datto]

One thing you might consider is carrying a $14 vapor barrier sleeping bag (about 4oz in pack weight). If it gets awfully cold and you and your sleeping bag are wet you could put the vapor barrier sleeping bag inside your down sleeping bag, then you get inside the vapor barrier sleeping bag, then you heat up water, put the hot water in a Gatorade bottle and put that bottle inside the vapor barrier bag with your body. The heat from the bottles will dry out your sleeping bag while still keeping you warm while you sleep. You do wake up wet but you're warm all night and the wetness on your body will dry out.

All that for 4oz.

Use the Adventure ?? brand of vapor barrier sleeping bag -- that brand is more sturdy than others.

Datto

[Ender]

I'm down on a thru hike.

he he he... love it.

As to the OP, yes, a down bag in great for a thru. I only carry down. If you're worried about keeping it dry, just stuff it into its stuff sack and then wrap that in a garbage bag. Really though, unless the bag gets completely drenched, like you fell into a lake wearing your bag, you really don't have to worry about it.