Well since the how do you pack your pegs/stakes thread generated so much unexpected response and novelty regarding the solutions to the question posed, I will ask another seemingly dry question tonight. How, where, and in what do you pack your sleeping bag in your kit? If you don't carry a sleeping bag I don't want to hear any gloating about how your kit is lighter than mine here either guys.
Travis I solemnly promise not to assume that anyone who responds is a gentleman.

Edited by frankenfeet on 05/06/2010 22:44:21 MDT.

In the summer in South Texas I pack it in the closet by hanging it in a large trash bag. :)

But seriously I've been torn about how to pack mine. Everyone seems to say to stuff it in the bottom of your pack in a trash bag or pack liner but I seem to have a bit more room if I put it in the stuff sack it came with and use other loose items (tarp etc.) to fill out the nooks and crannies at the bottom of the pack. I think this is because it wants to loft back up and I constantly have to shove it down while arranging things. Given that I've found packing the tarp and bug netting loose results in space savings I'd assume the bag would too; I guess it's just harder to see the savings. I also think it might be harder to over compress when packed loose since when it's in the stuff sack I find myself thinking about wedging this in there and that over there and I end up compressing the already tight stuff sack a bit and I don't like doing that so I pack it loose in a trash bag.

Maybe I'm over thinking all of this and worrying to much but I cringe every time I think about cramming it into that tiny little stuff sack....

Edited by veriest1 on 05/07/2010 00:46:58 MDT.

I tend to scratch the stuff sack and just jam the bag beside my tent in the bottom of my bag. If i bring a tent on my overnighters its the Nemo Gogo, which packs up in a nice little volleyall sized cube. So the sleeping bag jams up beside my tent nicely in the bottom of my 35L pack. I think its important to put the sleeping bag at the bottom because its much more comfortable to have the heavier, denser stuff centered around the shoulder area in the pack.

Ive got an x-small generic roll-top dry bag that i pack my bag into, it weights 1.2oz. I just looked all over it for a brand name and i can't find anything. I put it in the bottom of my pack with my Heinekan pot in the middle and my tarp/tent on the other side. My bag is a WM Irquois that about 9-10 years old.

Edited by lehrscott4 on 05/07/2010 07:45:44 MDT.

Since I managed to get my base weight down to 6 lb, I don't worry so much about getting the heavy stuff at the top of my BP. Instead, I pack my summer sleeping bag (the 11 oz BPL bag) into a Reynolds oven bag and put it the BP at the top to allow it to expand to fill the available space. Having lost a bag or three to over-compression over the years, I like to let sleeping bags fluff up a bit at the top of the bag.

My winter bag is a down-filled Nunatak, so I use a cut down kitchen garbage bag to leave it a bit more room to fluff up, but the principle remains the same.

Stargazer

particularly waterproof ish solutions for down bags.

Right now, I use these solutions, depending on what I'm doing:

out of my kayak: bag in REI sil compression sack (~2oz) then inside watershed drybag. Highly compressed.

rainforest backpacking: Event compression sack inside pack liner or StS ultra sil drysack

3 season backpacking: FF stuff sack it came with, soon to be replaced with MLD stuff sack.

I tried a trip last weekend with no stuff sacks and hated it. I like to have things in kits, makes it easier to unpack/repack my bag and I don't end up with all my clean layers in a pile of dirt while I set up the shelter.

I recently found a sale on the Granite Gear cuben drybags (http://www.backcountry.com/outdoorgear/Granite-Gear-Uberlight-CTF3-DrySack/GRG0082M.html?avad=24137_fa8eb6d) but the one I got is a bit too small for my bag. Might get a bigger one and make this my standard backpacking solution.

Unless (until?) someone posts something better here!

Edited by slickhorn on 05/07/2010 12:37:53 MDT.

I use either a Granite gear Air Bloc compression bag, a medium or large, I don't compress it too much.

I originally used the big green bag that comes in the Outdoor Products 3 pack of water proof bags at Walmart for $9.99. the bags are very light, I use the Orange one for my Ibex Woolies (great to keep warm and keep the bag clean)and fleece pants. i use the small blue one as my WP ditty bag.

One of the most important things you can do is keep your insulation dry. It's just a basic responsibility to yourself. You'll never catch me just jamming a sleeping bag straight into a pack or next to a tent (if you're taking a tent, I'm presuming you might expect some rain?). So I always use a lightweight dry sack.

Added benefit of the dry sack is that it can be made to get your sleeping bag every bit as small as in a compression sack, but in a much more efficient packing shape. Make one roll on the top of the drysack, leave an end of it loosely open, and sit or kneel on the drysack. Your body weight will squeeze all the air out. Seal the sack. I buy the sacks a little bigger than I need for this step: "knead" and/or flatten out the sack into a tidy, flat, shapable brick. Way less of a pain to pack than a compression sack!

A 13L sea to summit fits my Summerlite and 3-season clothing.

I just dont put anything wet in my pack. My nemo gogo might be damp when i pack it sometimes, but the tent came with a waterproof compression sack. My water goes outside the backpack, as does my ccf pad. And my ArcTeryx pack is almost completely waterproof. Another reason i dont like using a stuff sack for my sleeping bag is because the bag can fill up all the extra space in my pack, and keep stuff from moving around in the pack or making noise. I think the real issue is overcompressing. They say its ok to really compress a bag for a short period of time, but my old bag is clearly starting to feel it, and i need to baby it.

In the pack, the bag goes into a Sea to Summit eVAC Dry Sack. The eVent bottom is key as it allows you to squeeze out all the extra air as you are rolling down the top.

http://seatosummit.com/products/display/64

At home, either a cotton REI-branded sleeping bag storage bag or one of those gigantic cotton body pillow cases.

I stuff my Summerlite into a Sea to Summit roll top dry bag, then put the dry bag into a plastic grocery store bag. A little redundant, but I don't want the dry bag to get abraded.

I also put my Patagonia hoodie down sweater in another (smaller) dry bag.

Wet down = no good.

At home, I have some big plastic storage bins that I keep my sleeping bags in.

HJ