Cooking yourself dry in down

[208backcountry]

I find myself throwing on my Kuiu Kenai after big climbs, when my body is maybe slightly damp from sweat or busting through wet or snowy brush. The Kenai does a great job cooking me dry, but is only good down to about 30-40 degrees. Ive been looking into getting a down puffy, and like the idea in terms of packability, weight and warmth.

However, am I still going to be able to dry out and warm myself up when slightly damp/sweaty? I’m not talking soaked, but just that little splash of moisture that is almost inevitable after climbing a steep slope.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

On my AK hunt last month, I brought my ULTRA down puffy as well as my Peloton 240. Depending on the temperature, I'd put one or both on to "bake" myself dry. It worked fairly well.

Use the sun and/or wind to also help dry out some damp clothes. Just lay it across your pack or attach it to your pack depending on conditions. While that item is drying, throw on the puffy to dry out your undershirt (I usually am wearing a short sleeve shirt no matter what).

Depending on what you are wearing when you get sweaty, the time to "bake" will vary. For example, if I was only wearing a Peloton 145 i'd dry pretty quickly. If I was wearing my ULTRA Merino 210 that would take lot longer.

 

[Rommy]

Down puffies tend to have awful breathability because the material used to house down feathers have to be able to keep the feathers inside and not allow them to poke through.

Now, even if they were breathable you wouldn’t want to risk that because down is useless once wet.

So my recommendation would be to let yourself be cold for 10-20 minutes after a hike, then put your down jacket on once you’ve dried off some. It can be uncomfortable but I think that’s your best option. Or use something that is warm but inherently breathable like a down vest?


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[*zap*]

Best is to be pretty cold as you start the climb then I agree with both of the answers given already depending on the situation.

 

[Felix40]

Seems like nobody has really answered the question. I dont guess I can either but I have a good idea of what will happen. I have done what you are talking about a lot in a down quilt from enlightened equipment. I have gone to bed countless times with soaking wet socks and or pants and when I get up in the morning there will be a LOT of water on the outside of my quilt but inside Im dry and warm. I would be willing to bet a jacket would work just as good. I have a kenai too and it probably wont be as good as that but the wind isnt going to blow through a down jacket like it does the kenai.

 

[IdahoElk]

"be bold hike cold" Just a saying my hunting buddies use when doing steep ascents.Warm clothes go on when we get to the top.

 

[willfrye027]

I wore the superdown pro for 9 days total backpack hunting this September over a merino long sleeve and peloton 97. I also had superdown ultra pants below (it was windy and cold). The down stuff does not breathe like synthetic insulation. A few times I made the mistake of crawling into my (down) bag with everything on after hiking a ways back to camp. I slept colder and felt a little damp overall just from a slight sweat of hiking. I learned my lesson quick and let my base layers dry out before bundling up for the night.

In contrast, in Wyoming last week I routinely worked up a sweat with the kenai on and had it dry out before I could even think about it. Great stuff but like you said, not as warm as down.

Some serious mountaineering type guys will go as far to wear a “vapor barrier layer”—think plastic bag for a shirt—that keeps moisture away from their down when on extended trips and high exertion. Moisture and down just don’t mix, weather it’s from your body or precipitation.

 

[ozyclint]

A lot depends on the ambient temp and humidity. If the humidity is high then trying to get anything dry is difficult at best. You simply can't push vapour into vapour, there must be a difference. Like 2 water tanks joined at the bottom. The water will only move if the level in each is different.
Then you have dew point which is a function of temp and humidity. Vapour will condense on a surface that is below the dew point temp which explains why one guy here said his quilt outer surface was wet. The outer surface was the first surface after the insulation so that's where the dew point was reached and where the vapour condensed.

In a dry climate like CO you could probably do it but when you are in a super wet, cold, high humidity environment like New Zealand's west coast, the PNW or SE Alaska anything that gets wet tends to stay wet unless you have a stove.

 

[ozyclint]

I have become skeptical of breathable rain gear for this reason. If it's raining then the air is very high in humidity yet your trying to push vapour through material into air that is saturated with vapour.

 

[Mike Islander]

I have become skeptical of breathable rain gear for this reason. If it's raining then the air is very high in humidity yet your trying to push vapour through material into air that is saturated with vapour.

Just depends on conditions. It can be significantly colder above the surface of the ground, condensing clouds to cause rain. In that case you still get good breathability, as you can be well above the dew point at ground level.

 

[ozyclint]

Point taken. I'm drawing from my experience in NZ's Westland where nothing dries out easily.