Originally Posted by
Tipi Walter
You bring up Southeast rain and humidity but even on long trips my down items perform great. There's a cycle (mostly in winter) with my down gear---
**I leave home with everything at bone dry max loft.
**First night in camp the tent is full of lofted down gear.
**Day 5 comes a sleetstorm with 100% humidity---all down items lose a fraction of loft. This may continue for 3 or 4 more days. And this loss of loft is not due to in-tent condensation but to humidity and overall moisture in the air, i.e. 100% humidity.
**Day 10 comes in windy cold temps with little humidity and all down items reloft to at-home dryness.
ETC.
I always know how dry my down bag is by how difficult it is to put in the stuff sack.
High quality down is warmer and lighter than synthetic fill (remember Polar Guard?)---much warmer. (Sorry to the geese sacrificing their lives for my comfort). And packs tiny.
One drawback to synthetic bags/quilts---they lose their loft permanently over time---the nature of nylon fibers---and can't be restored.