Sleeping bag compression

Lately, I've gotten back in the habit of hiking 3 or 4 miles with a fully-loaded pack 3 or 4 times a week. However, it's a pain to unpack it every time I get home, take the sleeping bag out, then repack it the next day to do it again.

So, I got to thinking. When my WM Megalite came from the shop, it was compressed (more than I usually do in my pack), and probably had been for a couple of months. That got me wondering why I couldn't just leave the pack packed, bag and all, unpacking it every week or so. That would mean fewer compress/decompress cycles which, I think I read somewhere, is what causes a bag to lose loft over time.

What do you all think - will I do my bag any real harm by leaving it compressed for a week or two at a time?

If you are just going out for conditioning why even pack any real gear? I would just get a few 5 pound sacks of flour that add up to your total gear weight and pack that around. No point in wearing out any gear. Repeated packing and unpacking a sleeping bag does wear it out. Keeping it under compression weeks at a time is not good for it. If your bag has a special fabric coating (like dry-loft), each time it is packed up it wears creases in the coating.

Why do you think your Megalite was packed in a tight bag for a month? I doubt this is the case. They pack them tight for shipping because shipping costs depend on weight and size. Actually when you buy a bag directly from Western Mountaineering they often do not even make it until you place the order. They would not damage their bags by keeping them tightly packed for much time. If you go to REI you will also notice that the sleeping bags are stored in the larger cotton duffles.

Actually, I ordered mine from an online retailer several years ago (before a local shop opened), so I just assumed that, after they received them from WM, they didn't bother to unpack them then repack to ship to me. (My local retailer doesn't store them compressed, either.)

I don't like the flour bag idea because I don't get the same weight distribution - which means the pack doesn't sit right. That's the same reason I don't buy a pack by loading it with the sandbags in the store. I go over when the store isn't busy, and take my gear with me.

Your idea about the use of a substitute just made me think: I might check the upper shelves in the closet - maybe I could find a blanket that would approximate the weight and bulk of the bag. Or, I could check around for a cheapo sleeping bag that weighed about a pound and a half, and use that (a little extra bulk wouldn't matter, since I've got extra room in the pack.)

As usual, thanks, Daisy.

I have a old junker bag thats 35 years old. I use that for my shakedown hikes. Sometimes I throw in the bean or corn bags from my bag toss game for added weight. I leave my good bag uncompressed at home!

Ditto, I wouldn't use your good gear for that. Better yet, use a heavier old flannel lined bag and get a good workout!

I found that leaving my bag compressed in the pack for several days while driving home from Wyoming (I didn't unpack it until the day after I arrived home, either) reduced its loft a bit, although it recovered after washing. I'm pretty sure the damage was due to the bag's being slightly damp from the last night's use. Now, unless I'm close to home, I take the sleeping bag out of my pack as soon as I get back to the trailhead and put it in its storage bag. Ditto on the way to the trailhead if it's a multi-day drive; I don't pack the sleeping bag until the night before I start backpacking.

I store my insulating clothing uncompressed for the same reason.

Unless I'm going out for a really long trip (like 8-10 days), my backpack isn't heavy enough to justify using it for conditioning. 10-12 lbs. in my daypack seems to do the job just fine, and the latter is equivalent to my backpack base weight. I've also found that carrying extra weight when walking on sidewalks can do nasty things to my feet! I now use the daypack only when walking on trails or on the path in a local park.

Just one person's practice here; YMMV!

I never have and never will carry my backpack for "conditioning". I do my day walks without a pack - much more enjoyable. I am saving my old knees and joints for REAL BACKPACKING! I would hate to think that I wasted my knees for a conditioning hike. I do very little "conditioning" at all! I bike or walk a few hours about 3 times a week. That's all. I do a few shorter 2-5 day trips early season. They are not "conditioning" hikes - but trips I really want to do, new places to see. Life is too short to waste energy on suffering through conditioning hikes!

My pack isn't that heavy - seventeen pounds - so it's not the weight I'm necessarily trying to conditions for. It's more just wanting to stay used to carrying a pack - having a hip belt tightened around my hips, staying used to the way the harness fits, and the way the pack moves when I move. Having a sleeping bag in it means I get a more realistic feel for how it rides.

I weighed myself, with a full summer weekend load, the other day - I weighed 20 pounds less with the pack than I did 2 years ago without it, which I guess is something.

I had the same experience as someone posting above. I went to the store to try out a compression stuff sack on my beloved WM bag...wasn't even stuffed for more than an hr...it's loft was reduced too. I use the biggest silnylon stuff sack I can use and let my bag take a lot of my pack volume...but it stays nice and lofty! And I have a different bag for car camping, staying at my son's etc....my backpacking sleeping bag is treated special!:)