George in VA
01-01-2011, 19:53
Hi All,
As someone who hasn't purchased gear since the mid 1990's and has been recently doing heavy research here on WhiteBlaze, I'm curious about something -- I've looked through dozens of posts on sleeping bags and I've never seen any advice on water resistant shell materials.
As hiking in the rain, setting up a tent in the rain, sleeping in the rain, breaking camp in the rain, etc is a reality on a long AT hike; I'm wondering about keeping a down bag dry if the side or footbox gets pressed up against the tent wall all night or there is a leak. -- Do the new bags all use some sort of water repellant coating? Is there some new shell material that is so ubiquitous that nobody even thinks about sleeping bags getting wet anymore? Or do thru-hikers just get in the habit of wrapping the footbox in their rain jacket and staying centered on their air matress to stay dry?
I've seen posts where someone opts for a bag with a different type of shell material but no discussion as to why it was purchased or what some of the good shell materials are. I'm just curious, talk about shell materials was all the rage back in the day and I'd like to know what to look for.
Thanks for helping me get back up to speed,
George
As someone who hasn't purchased gear since the mid 1990's and has been recently doing heavy research here on WhiteBlaze, I'm curious about something -- I've looked through dozens of posts on sleeping bags and I've never seen any advice on water resistant shell materials.
As hiking in the rain, setting up a tent in the rain, sleeping in the rain, breaking camp in the rain, etc is a reality on a long AT hike; I'm wondering about keeping a down bag dry if the side or footbox gets pressed up against the tent wall all night or there is a leak. -- Do the new bags all use some sort of water repellant coating? Is there some new shell material that is so ubiquitous that nobody even thinks about sleeping bags getting wet anymore? Or do thru-hikers just get in the habit of wrapping the footbox in their rain jacket and staying centered on their air matress to stay dry?
I've seen posts where someone opts for a bag with a different type of shell material but no discussion as to why it was purchased or what some of the good shell materials are. I'm just curious, talk about shell materials was all the rage back in the day and I'd like to know what to look for.
Thanks for helping me get back up to speed,
George