Sleeping bags that smell like...

[TurboPants]

I've not done the AT, just shorter trips. What I've found is my sleeping bag starts to develop a funky smell if it was an active hike and I sweat enough. Especially for warmer nights where you may sweat at night! I'm still hoping to TH in the next year so I'm curious how many use a synthetic bag on a thru. My thinking is down is superior for warmth and compression, no doubt. BUT if you decided you wanted to wash your sleeping bag it would take a week for the down feathers to dry. I know some have the budget to just send their cold bag home and get a warm one but I'm trying to pull it off with one bag the whole time and it would be a huge bonus to be able to wash it a couple times during the trip. What are you thoughts on this?

[Mountain Mike]

Wash it in a front loader on gentle. Dry on low with a few tennis balls thrown in. Throw tennis balls in a bounce box further up the trail. It will take a looong time to dry with low heat. Other options, a liner or sleeping clothes. Easier to wash.

[RF_ace]

Just change prior to crawling in and a minor wipe down with a damp rag

[Lyle]

Wet wipes bath at the end of the day - especially crotch, feet and pits.
Silk bag liner - keeps bag much cleaner, easy to wash.

Also, down bags "breath" much better than synthetic, so you don't sweat as much, or at least it escapes easier. Use it as a quilt in warmer weather. Plus if you use a silk liner, often times, on the warmest nights, that is all you will need.

[illabelle]

https://www.bigagnes.com/resources/documents/WashingYourSleepingBag.pdf
We've washed ours at home in our front load machine. Takes an hour +/- in the dryer, but certainly not a week.

[RED-DOG]

On all three of my thru-hikes I used synthetic sleeping bags, that's the only kind I will use ( Mountain Hardwear Lamina 35 ) and i kept the same one the entire trip on all three thru's, Take bird baths at night, Wash and air out your sleeping bag every chance you get, The only reason i don't use Down they can't get wet at all, Rain, Wash, ETC and every thing you carry will and do get wet alot.

[Snowleopard]

Also, when the weather is dry and sunny, air your sleeping bag out in the sun.

[daddytwosticks]

Yes, yes...all good ideas. As soon as I pull into camp and if it is sunny out, I'll pull out my down bag and hang it over a line to air out and freshen up. Works well to keep the funk down. :)

[slow mind]

Keeping a bag clean and aired out is #1 . A couple of my bags have a little pocket; some in the foot box ,some up by your chest, (for warmers by your feet or other items near your chest) I keep a dryer sheet in these pockets instead. It won't keep your bag any cleaner but it keeps you from having to smell it until you can wash it. As a side bonus Bounce (and maybe other brands) helps to repel Blackflies. I keep one tucked in the back of my hat during fly season & it seems to keep them away from my head.

[Malto]

It not the dirt but the raunchy hiker farts that make my quilt odiferous. And my bivy doesn't help matters much. I would hang it outside but I worry about bird kills. Yeah, someone had to take it here!

[Teacher & Snacktime]

Wash it in a front loader on gentle. Dry on low with a few tennis balls thrown in. Throw tennis balls in a bounce box further up the trail. It will take a looong time to dry with low heat. Other options, a liner or sleeping clothes. Easier to wash.

Keep the tennis balls and learn to juggle along the way....

[HikerMom58]

It not the dirt but the raunchy hiker farts that make my quilt odiferous. And my bivy doesn't help matters much. I would hang it outside but I worry about bird kills. Yeah, someone had to take it here!

Ha Ha!!! bird kills?... LOL!! That's funny!! :p

[HikerMom58]

Keeping a bag clean and aired out is #1 . A couple of my bags have a little pocket; some in the foot box ,some up by your chest, (for warmers by your feet or other items near your chest) I keep a dryer sheet in these pockets instead. It won't keep your bag any cleaner but it keeps you from having to smell it until you can wash it. As a side bonus Bounce (and maybe other brands) helps to repel Blackflies. I keep one tucked in the back of my hat during fly season & it seems to keep them away from my head.

That's great advice... Man, SM you nail it so many times on different threads. :sun

[evyck da fleet]

Never thought about washing my bag during my thru. I used a liner and washed that a couple times but I couldn't tell you if my bag stunk. Actually I'm pretty sure all my gear stunk but the only thing I ever remember being able to smell was day hikers and perfume.

[generoll]

+1 on a bag liner. use one and wash it when you wash your clothes

[Mfrenchy]

+1 on dryer sheet, great idea

[TurboPants]

So many good ideas guys, thanks a bunch. I'm definitely sold on the liner idea, maybe even make my own to be lighter and thrifty. I hear you kinda get used to the smells of going natural after a week or two. I usually can go a day or two in winter w/out deodorant but hiking in the summer I assume everyone uses some? I don't really recall ever asking if people took some for thru hikes. Luckily for me, I only sweat out rainbows and gummy bears.

[mrcoffeect]

Dryer sheets are just what the doctor odored for stinky sleeping bags.

[daddytwosticks]

+1 on a bag liner. use one and wash it when you wash your clothes
If you are an active sleeper and trash around like I do, liners won't work. :)

[swjohnsey]

A stinky bag is gonna be the least of your worries. I washed my sleeping bag a couple of times along the way. I try and air out my bag when I stop for lunch. I like my WM bag because it is black on the inside. Turn it inside out for quicker drying in the sun.

[moytoy]

I usually can go a day or two in winter w/out deodorant but hiking in the summer I assume everyone uses some?
I don't know any hikers who carry deodorant. I guess some do but I would say most don't.

[The Ace]

21061Just make sure that you don’t use this brand of dryer sheets. There are widespread reports from the Laundromats in Hot Springs that patrons are finding black bears curled up asleep inside of the clothes dryers.

[The Ace]

21061Just make sure that you don’t use this brand of dryer sheets. There are widespread reports from the Laundromats in Hot Springs that patrons are finding black bears curled up asleep inside of the clothes dryers.

[TurboPants]

BWAAHAHA Are they pink and purple as well?? I hear those are the most frightening of all!

[HikerMom58]

I don't know any hikers who carry deodorant. I guess some do but I would say most don't.

Some hikers might be fine without carrying deodorant but others should carry it and use it daily....... Oh Gosh... I'm fairly tolerate of hiker funk- But that smell? .... Not so much! :eek:

[atraildreamer]

https://www.bigagnes.com/resources/documents/WashingYourSleepingBag.pdf
We've washed ours at home in our front load machine. Takes an hour +/- in the dryer, but certainly not a week.

I washed my down bag in a large commercial front loader, using NuDown or Ivory Flakes, and dried it for about 2 1/2 hours, in a big commercial dryer, on very low heat. Didn't use the tennis balls. Brought the bag home and spread it out on the bed to finish drying. Then the cat jumped on top of it and took a nap! :rolleyes:

[staehpj1]

Especially for warmer nights where you may sweat at night!

I don't see why you would ever sweat very much in your sleeping bag. If it is hot don't sleep in it. As it cools down use it as quilt with enough leg, arm, or body hanging out to avoid excessive sweating. Then as it cools down more use it as a quilt completely covering you. Then zip it up. Then pull the drawstring on the hood tight. That way sweating in the bag is minimized. It works for me, but I prefer to be a little cold.

[Coosa]

I am hypersensitive to the odor of Down ... To me, it stinks & makes me nauseous ...

I am using an EMS Velocity (Wms of course) 35* bag, a silk liner to keep the bag clean & a Bivy ... If I were to use a Tent or Tarp, I'd use a S2S Liner in cold weather & the silk in warm & not use the Bivy.

I'll regularly wash the liner, occasionally the bag.

[Coosa]

Deodorant ... I'll tell you my secret formula ... Look at the ingredients of various Anti-Perspirants & notice that there are TWO varieties of "Aluminum" used ... Chlorhydrate & Zirconium ... Look at the Expensive "clinical" anti-Perspirants ... They charge a high price for mixing the two types of anti-Perspirants ... I take Arrid & Suave (you can use your favorites just be sure they're different formulas) & mix Equal Parts into each other & put the mix in little Nalgene flip-top containers. Carry one, mail yourself the others. I wash every night (see Second Trick below) & every couple of days I dab on a little of my "special formula" anti-Perspirant.

SECOND TRICK ... Use Anti-Odor scent removing soap like Hunters use! Gets the smell out of your Smelly-Places & your clothes ... It's concentrated so a little goes a long way. My Hunting son says "Scent Away" is the best.

THIRD TRICK ... Baking Soda ... Rinse your smelly places & your smelly clothes ... It's what Hunters used to De-Odorize their hunting clothing with before the invention of scent killing soaps. Toss a cup & a half into your Mail Drop box to use at the Laundry.

Okay ... You know my Anti-Perspirant Secret ... Don't Tell Anyone!

;)
Coosa

[maybe clem]

I carry a small bit of a solid deodorant in a baggie and use it after washing up for the day. That and a silk liner help a lot.

[Chaco Taco]

Some hikers might be fine without carrying deodorant but others should carry it and use it daily....... Oh Gosh... I'm fairly tolerate of hiker funk- But that smell? .... Not so much! :eek:
You would hate me....dont wear deodorant......ever.

[Chaco Taco]

Our strategy is that we air out our bags in town and store them by laying them flat. I wiped my bag down with denatured. Front loaders are good for when it gets funky. I actually still carry the bag I used on my thru. I get some smells that bring back fond memories. I dont use stuff sacks anymore and have noticed that "smells" have gone down since I started doing that. We actually make our own laundry detergent and my hiking clothes dont have any odor. I cant stand walking by someone on the trail and having to small Tide or crappy laundry detergent. That mixed with their deodorant smell and the hiker funk is worse than any sort of hiker smell, IMO

[jeffmeh]

Clean-up, change into sleeping clothes, and use a quilt. Air out the quilt in the sun when you can. Wash the sleeping clothes when you get into town. It's amazing how much less stink the down quilt acquires relative to a bag that you sleep in.

[BuckeyeBill]

If you can't stand to odor, use an old police officer trick I used when going into a house with a decomposing body or veiwing an autopsy. Rub a small amount of Vicks Sauve under your nose. That is all you will smell.

[HikerMom58]

You would hate me....dont wear deodorant......ever.

Too late.. I already like you CT so even if you stink, I wouldn't hate you. :p You're funny....

Coosa... I like your post. :D