Treated Down in Ultra Wet Prince William Sound

[Weber]

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the Stone Glacier Chilkoot 0 or the KUIU Super Down 0 in PWS, Alaska. It's a real rain forest out there. I'll be sleeping in a KUIU Mountain star 2P. FWIW I don't expect temps to get below 15 but just the sheer wetness of the island I am going to is giving me second thoughts.

I saw a review on here for both WM and Super Down that looks like both bags faired well in some light rain, just looking for any more specific field experiences in this climate.

 

[Russp17]

I live here in Alaska and my advice is go synthetic. I use synthetic sleeping bags when I'm in PWS or southeast. Treated down (I don't have a kuiu bag but I do have a treated down bag) has served me well elsewhere, but these rain forests are something else. Some of these places in PWS or southeast can get 150 inches of rain a year and just how the ground is makes finding well draining camping sites sometimes an issue.

 

[Weber]

I live here in Alaska and my advice is go synthetic. I use synthetic sleeping bags when I'm in PWS or southeast. Treated down (I don't have a kuiu bag but I do have a treated down bag) has served me well elsewhere, but these rain forests are something else. Some of these places in PWS or southeast can get 150 inches of rain a year and just how the ground is makes finding well draining camping sites sometimes an issue.

Do you have a good lightweight synthetic 0 degree I should look at?

 

[Russp17]

Sites-MountainHardwear_US-Site

www.mountainhardwear.com

I use this one... Mine is 20 degree (use to make it) so not sure how this 0 would be. I like my 20 degree.

 

[SkunkCabbage]

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[Weber]

Any conflicting opinions? Anyone pro-down in our soupy climate? narrowing in on making a purchase before the season kicks up

 

[Vandy321]

Why not get a weatherproof tent, problem solved.

 

[Weber]

Condensation

 

[Doodle]

What Weber said……and relative humidity…..rh will rob even treated down of insulating power. I love down, but if I’m heading for a damp area I leave it at home and go synthetic.

Look at it like this: you can take treated down and think to yourself “ I can maybe/probably make it work”….or you can take synthetic and think “this -will- work”.

Edited to add: the nano particles that they use on down are small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier. Very, very few things are small enough to do that, and there are zero studies (at least that I know of) on the effect of said particles on cognitive processes. Everyone does their own calculus on that, but personally, I use pure down.

 

[Weber]

What Weber said……and relative humidity…..rh will rob even treated down of insulating power. I love down, but if I’m heading for a damp area I leave it at home and go synthetic.

Look at it like this: you can take treated down and think to yourself “ I can maybe/probably make it work”….or you can take synthetic and think “this -will- work”.

Edited to add: the nano particles that they use on down are small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier. Very, very few things are small enough to do that, and there are zero studies (at least that I know of) on the effect of said particles on cognitive processes. Everyone does their own calculus on that, but personally, I use pure down.

That's an interesting 2nd point. I will have to look into that

Edit: @Doodleany sources on that? Would live to read up

 

[BrooksRanger]

I used a 0F Western Mountaineering Bag last year on a week long goat hunt in Southeast and everything was fine even thought the weather was the normal, abysmal. I was sleeping in a floor less Kifaru Sawtooth, and my bag was in an OR Alpine Bivy to make sure it stayed dry. I got rid of my synthetics and use down for everything awhile ago, but if you don't have a lot of experience trying to stay dry in the rainforest that I'd probably follow the advice above and go synthetic. I wouldn't take an untested firearm into battle, and I wouldn't take an untested sleep system in the the rainforest either.

 

[Doodle]

That's an interesting 2nd point. I will have to look into that

Edit: @Doodleany sources on that? Would live to read up

Oh geeze. That’s one of those factoids that I looked into ages ago when treated down first came out. I remember it being a reputable source. Let me poke around and see if I can track it down.

 

[SkunkCabbage]

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[Weber]

Reading this review I'm struggling to see the downside in Down.

Stone Glacier Chilkoot 15° Sleeping Bag Review

Robby subjects the new Stone Glacier Chilkoot 15° Sleeping bag to everthing a typical mountain hunt might dish out, including 0.42" of rain on the down bag.

www.rokslide.com

 

[SkunkCabbage]

..........

 

[jhm2023]

I only use down bags from the north slope down to Kodiak and almost always in floorless shelters. I've never had a single issue. Obviosuly I don't sleep in a mud puddle during a down pour with only my sleeping bag, but I wouldn't do that with a synthetic bag either. With a little common sense you'll be just fine in a down bag. Maybe some folks just have downphobia caused from some poor quality untreated down gear. I also retreat all of my down gear with down wash and down proof after each season. Playing Army for 12 years taught me that I hate bulky synthetic bags that rarely keep me comfortable, but I suppose they have there uses. Also a down bag will last a very long time compared to synthetic that breaks down over time. At the end of the day though I'd recommend trying out different gear until you dial in what works best for you and how you like things as it's really personal preference.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[Weber]

I only use down bags from the north slope down to Kodiak and almost always in floorless shelters. I've never had a single issue. Obviosuly I don't sleep in a mud puddle during a down pour with only my sleeping bag, but I wouldn't do that with a synthetic bag either. With a little common sense you'll be just fine in a down bag. Maybe some folks just have downphobia caused from some poor quality untreated down gear. I also retreat all of my down gear with down wash and down proof after each season. Playing Army for 12 years taught me that I hate bulky synthetic bags that rarely keep me comfortable, but I suppose they have there uses. Also a down bag will last a very long time compared to synthetic that breaks down over time. At the end of the day though I'd recommend trying out different gear until you dial in what works best for you and how you like things as it's really personal preference.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

What bags do you use?

 

[Beendare]

Delete

 

[tdot]

Are you considering this bag for a single trip or are you regularly hunting around PWS? If you are regularly hunting in those conditions, then buy a synthetic. Don't just buy any synthetic, get a good one, some of my worst nights in a tent were with cheap synthetic bags.

If this is just a single hunt, and down makes more sense for your regular hunting zones, stick with down.

I've used down on Coastal North Western BC both mainland and on the islands, and never had an issue.

 

[fj40mike]

"the nano particles that they use on down are small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier."

Whoa, wait, what???