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="" />