Scared of Down?

[207-12A]

I switched to a down sleeping bag two seasons ago (western mountaineering) and am never looking back. And don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing on people who love their synthetics as much as I love feathers, but how many people actually know (first hand) someone who has had a down sleeping bag 'wet out'. I've put my WM through the wringer - single walled winter hunts, floats, always in Alaska and pretty much always wet. And with essentially no extra thought about it I haven't had a problem with down. Does anyone have credible story otherwise?

 

[*zap*]

Just keep it in a good dry bag.

 

[EdP]

Been using a down bag, the same down bag, since 1972. Never had it get wet. Not only are they warmer for the weight than synthetics, they last better too.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Someone here will likely put up an account of a down bag getting wet or somehow failing in adverse weather. Of course it can happen, but I consider the risk to be acceptably miniscule with proper care. Down hunting jackets, vests, pants, mitts and so on are all the rage these days...and they do their work without benefit of a nice dry tent. I've got well over 40 years of experience using high-end down bags, going all the way back to when North Face was a boutique tent & bag company building stuff for mountaineering. I've yet to have a problem with down, and I don't expect it will happen in the remaining years of my hunting life.

 

[Read1t48]

In an emergency, I once climbed into a synthetic, nearly hypothermic on a knife ridge with no where else to camp. I was completely dry in the morning - clothes and all.

I’ve heard of guys doing this in the new down bags including WM products.

True?

 

[Nick Muche]

I have several very nice down bags and up until last year they went without use on longer hunts for about 7-8 seasons. Last fall, I decided to take a WM bag on a 10 day solo sheep hunt to save weight. I didn't have any issues, but I did take extra precautions that I normally wouldn't.

 

[VernAK]

Looking back at 65 years using down bags and gear:
British WWII feather sleeping bag.....$17......worked well for a 15 YO.
Eddie Bauer Kara Koram mummy bag ......one of the best at the time....still in use by me buddy's daughter.
Woods 4 Star.....a big very heavy 27 lbs with wool liner......very popular with old Alaska Sourdoughs. Sold.
Eddie Bauer North Slope rectangular bag.......issued as part of survival gear for North Slope. Good old bag.
Cabelas Trans Alaska mummy bag....synthetic under ......down over......my favorite of all and would like to find a couple more for nephews.
A popular Canadian made synthetic that a friend convinced me was the best. Tried it once. Hate it!
Won Wiggys best bag within a bag combo.....keep it in truck for winter survival......
Enlightened down quilt/bag combo.....great for summer canoe trips and trout camp.

I prefer down for insulation in most cases as I feel the comfort range is far broader and I've never wetted my bed.

 

[AKDoc]

I used a down bag for summer back-packing trips and over-night stuff for many years, but I'll admit that I was initially hesitant to go with a down bag in Alaska wx for extremely remote fly-in's...the ones where I'm totally dependent on someone to come and get me in two-weeks after the hunt, as well as when I'm remote dropped in the mountains and it's 7-10 day float to a take-out village on the coast. That said, I switched to down for those trips as well about ten years ago, and I'll never go back to synthetic. I did take a Reactor Extreme insert with me on remote stuff (just in case), but I've never used it...in fact, I haven't even brought it with me the past few years.

A good quality down bag (850+), a waterproof compression sack, a sleeping pad with high r-value, and every couple of days I open the bag to air-out for a bit draped over my tent...if/when Alaska wx allows me!

 

[SuspiciousFish]

When I was in Boy Scouts my very first backpacking trip was to Mt. Daniel, WA when I was 13. I borrowed an old down sleeping bag from the Troop and it rained hard the entire trip. My Scoutmaster was an old Marine and we were only allowed tents on the 50 mile trip so we made tart setups. Sometime around 3:00 am a wind gust picked up and tore apart the tarp setup resulting in our shelter flapping in the wind while we got drenched. The sleeping bag immediately sucked up rainwater like a sponge and I lay shivering the rest of the night. The bag weighed abut 30 lbs when I had to pack it out the next day. Granted it was an old Down bag from probably the 1990s and didnt have the DWR etc new bags have but it was definitely a lesson. That trip was legendary even years later lol