what to know before purchasing a down bag

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DOWN SLEEPING BAGS BEFORE BUYING ONE

Before I get into the specifics it is important to know the temperature rating given to them buy the selling companies are severely overrated. If that doesn’t dismay you, the following should.

Down is a moisture absorbing material of sorts. It is not considered a material like nylon.

When down is incorporated as a form of insulation in a sleeping bag it is held in place with nylon fabric. The nylon is woven tight to keep the down from migrating out but not so tight as to not allow moist vapor to pass through it. This is a fact to remember.

When you get into a down bag your body is emitting water as vapor. The actual weight of the water will vary from one to two pounds depending on body size. Where does all of the water go, it gets absorbed by the down.

The down bag is gaining weight, water weight. This actually helps to make the bag pack down easier. When the bag has yet to be used it is expanding in different ways as you are stuffing. Now that some of the down is wet it stuff easier. You are now carrying one to two extra pounds. However, we sleep better if we are cool.

The second night you get into the bag it has less thickness of insulation and there is now moisture held in the down  is absorbing heat. So, you are not so warm. The “no sleep sleeping bag” begins to prove that it is what it is. Imagine being out in the field for a one-to-two-week trip, does it last that long? But as I have learned in my research, we do sleep better in a temperature zone of 60 to 67 degrees F. If you get colder than that you will wake up.

Now we will add insult to injury. The insult is what you have paid for the down bag. I looked at the public land’s web site. They are a part of dicks. The down bags retail from $225.00 to $1400.00. So, whatever was paid for a product that doesn’t work, the injury.

If you have a Wiggy’s bag you have some guarantees such as a sleeping bag performing for the temperature it is rated for. You are guaranteed that it will not gain weight. However, the email I received while writing the article explains more.

“What I like so much about your sleeping bags (I have 3 and your sleeping mat) is that when it’s super cold out, I sleep all the way inside of the bag. Because your bags move moisture so well, it creates a microclimate when I do this. All the moisture ends up outside the bag and it is very warm and dry on the inside.

I know for decades they say not to sleep all the way inside a sleeping bag. Another myth destroyed by your insulation. At least that’s my experience.”

Doug

Doug’s experience does not cannot happen with a down bag.

Thank you Doug for concluding my article.