Sunrise on the Chesapeake and damp down performance.

[Chesapeake]

While walking back to the house this morning after a long, wet, clamy night in my hammock, I had to snap a pic of the beautiful sunrise reflecting off of the flat, calm and chilly Chesapeake. I went out last night around 9, and even though I had my UQP on my 0° Incubator, my winter cover on over top of the netting on my WBBBXLC and my TQ inside with the hammock zipped up, I still had a lot of condensation on everything and a slight loss of loft in my TQ. By morning and after a night of on and of rain mixed with constant thick fog and mist blowing in off the bay and into my screened in porch where I was hanging, I had a not so fluffy anymore 0° Burrow and I was just clamy all over. The temp rose into the mid 40's during the night and I guess the TQ couldn't get rid of the condensation from me quick enough BC of the fog and mist enveloping me.

Treated down is great and certainly extends the time it takes for condensation to lead to loss of loft but it still can wet out eventually and will clump up and flatten a little like it did to me last night. However, it did take 2 days to get to that point, (I hung my rig Monday evening) and it took a constant fog, mist and high humidity mixed with rising and falling temps before it happened. Certainly much longer than if it hadn't been treated. I think it performed exceptionaly well in those conditions and did exactly what its designed to do: give you a little more time before loss of loft. I brought my TQ, UQ and UQP in with me this morning and hung them up in the bathroom, then turned on the bathroom heater and my ceramic heater to dry them out completely w/o having to risk damage in the dryer. This method works great! Just flip them over after a bit and move the down around some and they will fluff up like new and be completely dry w/o any clumps or damage from hot metal in the dryer. I love my HG quilts and the down they use is top notch. I'll never use untreated down after seeing how well these preformed.

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[Shug]

That is one reason I just don't use overcovers or socks. Warm but wet for me.I keep giving them a try with same results. Can't afford that out in the woods.
Some folks have great results with them. That is why options are wonderful.
Like your doing...best way to find out is to test.
Shug

[TrailSlug]

Same here. The only way to battle condensation is to provide maximum air flow and if you had on a top cover and your screened in porch still had the wind break on three sides then there not going to be any air flow. In addition if it's foggy then this is simply going to happen after a while as fog is 100% humidity and there's no room for evaporation in this kind of weather. This is why a lot of guys in the pacific NW use synthetic insulation due to the constant wet weather.

[jellyfish]

Beautiful pics.

This is the reason I'm sewing gear with Climashield Apex. I'm your soggy neighbor on Delmarva and I think you are less than 30 miles from me. Thanks for the report.


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[Chesapeake]

Absolutely. Test test test. I'd much rather try different combinations of insulation and cover in different weather conditions at home, then get out in the woods and be s.o.l BC my gear malfunctioned. I tested it to failure in virtually 100% humidity and got roughly 2 nights out of it before it was starting to become less effective. I figured I could leave it out there without it being damaged from it being out in the weather directly , but still get the effect of the super saturated air and condensation due to it being open completely in the front with only the screens for protection. Now I know roughly how far I can take it before I start to get into trouble from loss of loft. Excellent lessons learned and no damage done. And my drying out method seems to work great too.

[OutandBack]

Chesapeake if you are hanging in the fog and or a cloud I don't see how anything could stay dry in those conditions.
I don't think this has anything to do with condensation from your breath when the temps drop below freezing which is when the inside of a covered hammock starts having issues with frost inside the hammock if not vented properly.

[Caminante]

I'm almost in the same boat as you. Hung my stuff Monday and slept out back Monday and last night. It was so warm this morning, very strange. Had a lot of fog, but mostly stayed dry, I'm not sure if it was because I had my winter tarp pitched fairly wide but with the doors shut. I must be a dry breather, don't usually have many condensation issues.

In any case, my quilts were still a little droopy this morning so I'm thinking it's about time for a wash in the tub, anyway. I'll try your drying method.

[Chesapeake]

Yeah I know. I wanted to see how well it would do. I wasn't expecting it to stay dry, quite the opposite actually. I meant my perspiration,both types, couldn't evaporate after a certain point due to the air being so saturated and the temps going from around freezing to the low - mid 40's overnight. I was impressed by how well it did and even with the conditions being less than ideal, the loss of loft wasn't extreme, just a little clumpy and not as full. It was mostly the TQ that was effected surprisingly. The UQ didn't get vary wet at all. I suspect that this was due to the cover being on and with it not sealing completely on the left side, the humid air could get in coupled with my perspiration, the TQ was getting it from all angles. But the UQ was semi protected by the UQP, which wasnt totally wetted out when I checked in the morning just damp. They are completely dry and back to full as new loft after only a few hours of hanging in the bathroom with the heat on now. I did notice a kinda wet dog smell when the TQ started to get damp. It was the same smell that it had when I first got it. The smell of the oils or chemicals on the down possibly? Its pretty much gone now though.

[johnspenn]

Treated down is great and certainly extends the time it takes for condensation to lead to loss of loft but it still can wet out eventually and will clump up and flatten a little like it did to me last night. However, it did take 2 days to get to that point, (I hung my rig Monday evening) and it took a constant fog, mist and high humidity mixed with rising and falling temps before it happened. Certainly much longer than if it hadn't been treated.

I'm not trying to be contrary, just wondering. I'm not yet sold on treated vs untreated down.

Have you experienced untreated down wetting out faster in similar conditions, and now find that untreated down will not wet out as fast?

Nice report, you really do have a picturesque spot there on the bay.

[Trail Troll]

So would it be wise being in the south with our crazy humidity to not even consider down? It gets pretty muggy year round here, and I was wondering about that for when I do get enough for a good set of quilts, or make my own.