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#100489 - 07/26/08 05:37 PM Question about fitting your sleeping bag in pack..
BasketballOSU Offline
newbie

Registered: 07/26/08
Posts: 8
I've never really gone backpacking before or anything - but there is one thing I have always wondered, and I figured this would be a good place to come ask it.

When you all are backpacking, where do you keep your sleeping bag? Is it on the inside of your pack or strapped to the outside?

Do you put your sleeping bag in some sort of sack with straps so you can make it smaller?

I do realize that backcountry sleeping bags are a lot smaller than normal sleeping bags, but it still seems to me like you would have trouble fitting even small sleeping bags into the multi-day backpacks that I have seen.

I have this sleeping bag:

http://www.kelty.com/kelty/products.php?type=1&cat=68&id=66

Would something of that size roll up and fit into a backpacking pack or would it take some sort of super special ultra-lite sleeping bag to actually be small enough to fit easily into a backpack?

Thanks for the info!

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#100490 - 07/26/08 05:46 PM Re: Question about fitting your sleeping bag in pack.. [Re: BasketballOSU]
phat Offline
Moderator

Registered: 06/24/07
Posts: 4107
Loc: Alberta, Canada

Sleeping bag goes on the inside. you wanna keep it dry and not lose it on the trail.

I keep mine at the bottom of my pack. it's the first thing I load into it at the very bottom.

Yes my sleeping bags are lighter and pack smaller than yours, but there's no reason why yours isn't perfectly useful given enough pack volume. You might want to look for an appropriate sized compression sack to crunch it down a little smaller, but there's no reason why it shouldn't be stuffable into the bottom of a backpack.

(mods, this thread does probably belong in beginners..)

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#100491 - 07/26/08 06:03 PM Re: Question about fitting your sleeping bag in pack.. [Re: BasketballOSU]
Howie Offline
member

Registered: 06/02/03
Posts: 481
Loc: Canora, SK, Canada
I place my down filled sleeping bag into the bottom of my pack too. I use a compression sack, even though they are frowned upon by some. It fits very nicely down there, crosswise.

Howie

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#100492 - 07/26/08 07:49 PM Re: Question about fitting your sleeping bag in pack.. [Re: phat]
TomD Offline
Moderator

Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
Good idea Phat, I will move it.

Howie, some packs have separate compartments on the bottom of the pack for sleeping bags, others are just one big compartment that either loads from the top, like a grocery sack or have a zipper, often U shaped, along the back like a small suitcase.

Your bag is bigger than many, but should fit in a medium to large pack with room for your other stuff-clothes, food, stove, etc.

A stuff sack will make it smaller and I recommend one to keep your bag clean and separate from your other things. If the weather is bad, put the whole thing into a trash bag to keep it dry in case your pack leaks at all.


Edited by TomD (08/16/08 01:21 PM)
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#100493 - 07/27/08 11:27 AM Re: Question about fitting your sleeping bag in pack.. [Re: TomD]
johndavid Offline
member

Registered: 04/23/08
Posts: 260
Loc: jersey city NJ
Personally, I strive to keep all my goods inside the pack, including sleeping pad. This serves to protect gear from weather, muck and abrasion, and helps insure that it won't be lost. There are times when I succumb to lashing doo-dads on the outside, but I much prefer to avoid this.

A compression sack may hasten a sleeping bag's inevitable loss of loft. This may be especially true with synthetic insulation. I formerly used one regularly with a minus-20F -rated synthetic bag, and found it invaluable, despite the damage it eventually seemed to cause.

I did not find a compression sack necessary for a 20F-rated synthetic sleeping bag, which I used for a couple of seasons, and which nonetheless, pretty rapidly lost a significant amount of loft. It fit into a 4,000 cubic-inch pack, leaving room, barely, for a week's worth of food and gear. Still, a compression sack is worth considering.

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#100494 - 07/27/08 07:33 PM Re: Question about fitting your sleeping bag in pa [Re: BasketballOSU]
lori Offline
member

Registered: 01/22/08
Posts: 2801
Your sleeping bag goes down to 20" x 10" and would fit in a backpack fine, if you had the right one for your gear. If you don't have a pack, you might take your gear to the outfitter/store and find one that fits your current gear. Renting packs until you find one that works for you (or until you're done tweaking your gear list) might also be do-able depending on your budget. At the very least, I'd take the bag to REI and have myself measured for right pack size, pick a pack, stuff in the sleeping bag then a bunch of REI sandbags, and walk around the store for a while until you find the pack that works best for you *and* works with the bag.

If you are anything like the majority of folk who start backpacking and keep doing it, however, you may find yourself with a closet of gear anyway. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> I do my best to keep my pack small and light, so put my 3 lb synthetic doesn't-compress-well bag in the closet and switched to a down quilt that packs to the size of a football.
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#100495 - 07/28/08 12:03 PM Re: Question about fitting your sleeping bag in pack.. [Re: BasketballOSU]
BarryP Offline
member

Registered: 03/04/04
Posts: 1574
Loc: Eastern Idaho
This is just one man’s view:
Since you’re describing a 1600 ci stuffed bag, that reminds me of our scouts. These Kelty bags can handle the abuse of scouts. But let me digress first:

Background: most of us here have internal or no-frame backpacks whose MAIN compartments hold 2000-3500 ci, and weigh 0.5-2.5 lbs.

Your sleeping bag will fill half the volume and thus not leave you much left. Typically, these sleeping bags will invite their 6 lb tent along (It’s funny how these two are always pals)-- which will take up more weight and room.

Now some store clerk will say “You want this $250 North Face internal frame pack because that’s the most popular and will hold all your stuff”. But you find out that it weighs 7lb for a 5000ci volume. Those 3 items alone will weigh 18lbs.

To help keep costs down and weight down for our scouts, there is nothing wrong with an EXTERNAL frame pack. The pack need not weigh more than 4.5 lbs. ( http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___60307 weighs 3.7 lbs, $50). The scouts lash their BIG bags outside on the external frame. However, these are double bagged with two trash compactor bags (2mil x2 thickness) so they can handle trail abuse. The scouts have car-camping tents and backpacking tents. On the hiking trips they take the backpacking tents (Kelty Teton 2, 4.6 lbs). So initially our scouts big 3 will weigh 13lbs. We have also trained them to use alcohol stoves (and don’t use scout mess kits)--- another big weight savings!

Eventually, the scouts will work and raise money to buy themselves a climashield bag so it will weigh less and compress smaller. My sons/daughters have down bags and have been trained in respecting down.

Find some trail and test out your stuff. Maybe do an overnighter 2-3 miles from your car. It gets addictive after that…

-Barry

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#100496 - 07/28/08 02:03 PM Re: Question about fitting your sleeping bag in pack.. [Re: BarryP]
Glenn Offline
member

Registered: 03/08/06
Posts: 2617
Loc: Ohio
Great point! For most of us, our external frame packs are dim memories, and we too-easily forget that they are still highly functional pieces of very traditional equipment - just like the Timberline tents and stainless steel cook pots I used to carry very happily into the woods.

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#100497 - 08/15/08 10:52 AM Re: Question about fitting your sleeping bag in pack.. [Re: johndavid]
SBParks Offline
newbie

Registered: 03/15/08
Posts: 8
Loc: Upstate New York
Hi all,

I've wresteled with this question myself and I typically pack my sleeping bag as follows:

I like to cover my down sleeping bag with a plastic cover of some type..l. Typically one of the nice plastic bags I get from my local EMS store. The plastic helps to ensure that the ever important down sleeping bag stays dry. I then stuff the sleeping bag into the bottom compartment of my backpack. It goes in first. After the sleeping bag I can pack the portion of the tent that I am carrying, whether it be the tent fly or the tent body. The action of stuffing the tent compresses the sleeping bag even more. Yes, the tent may be wet (I shake off what water I can), but the sleeping bag stays dry. I usually put the folded ground cloth (plastic sheeting) in my bottom compartment last. All is secured with the zippered door on the bottom compartment.

Most folks suggest that I use a compression bag to make my sleeping bag as small as possible. My experience with packing that way is that I can't use the space in the bottom of my pack as well. I end up having voids in the space in my pack around the sleeping bag. This might work if you had the right things to pack around your bag. Packing my sleeping bag (without a compression sack) this way uses ONLY the space in the pack that it requires. And I don't have to carry the single purpose compression sack.

This method worked well for me on a two week backpack outing in New Mexico where we made and broke camp every day (Philmont Scout Ranch).

Just my view... Thanks! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
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#100498 - 08/17/08 01:14 PM Re: Question about fitting your sleeping bag in pa [Re: BasketballOSU]
mockturtle Offline
member

Registered: 06/06/07
Posts: 251
Loc: WA
BTW, the most cost-effective 'dry bag' is a plastic trash compactor bag, which you can buy at Walmart or almost anywhere. I compress my down bag into a stuff sack and then into a trash compacter bag before inserting into the sleeping bag compartment of my pack. Using a down bag in a frequently damp climate is risky, so I take more than average precautions. After all, my hydration bladder could spring a leak. I keep my extra clothes in a nylon compression dry bag. I do the same for kayak camping, even though it goes into my water-tight hatch.

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#100499 - 08/17/08 06:22 PM Re: Question about fitting your sleeping bag in pa [Re: mockturtle]
HumanBN Offline
member

Registered: 05/15/08
Posts: 58
Loc: West Virginia
What happens to the down when it's damp for a prolonged period of time?

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#100500 - 08/17/08 09:20 PM Re: Question about fitting your sleeping bag in pa [Re: HumanBN]
mockturtle Offline
member

Registered: 06/06/07
Posts: 251
Loc: WA
Down does not retain its loft [or warmth] when wet. Many hikers in the rainy NW use synthetic fill bags for that reason, even though they do not compact as well and are not as warm per unit of weight as down.

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