Heard someone at REI say their down sleeping bag lost all loft after one wet trip and I wonder how many people skip the waterproof stuff sack

I was standing in line at the Colorado Springs REI last Saturday and overheard this guy telling his friend his $300 down bag was basically flat after a single rainy night in the backcountry. He didn't use a dry sack, just stuffed it in his pack with everything else. I get that down is warm and light but isn't the whole point of spending that much to keep it dry? The moisture soaked through his pack liner and that was it. Anyone else think stores should push a waterproof compression sack every time someone buys a down bag?

2 comments

2 Comments

harris.emma14d agoMost Upvoted

Honestly they should just bundle a dry sack with every down bag at checkout, it's not that hard. I mean you're already dropping a few hundred bucks, what's another twenty or thirty for a waterproof compression sack? The stores just assume people already know this stuff but obviously they don't... I've been camping for years and even I remember my first down bag, didn't think twice about tossing it in my pack on a misty morning. That poor guy's bag is probably a solid lump now, down takes forever to dry out once it's clumped up with moisture. Stores could save a lot of bags and customer frustration by making the dry sack a mandatory add-on at purchase...

walker.alex13d ago

Wait, hold on @harris.emma - you're telling me people actually just toss a down bag loose in their pack on a misty morning? I thought that was like, outdoor 101 stuff, not doing that lol. I mean yeah, stores should probably slap that dry sack on there automatically but still, that's a rough way to learn.

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