Drying wet clothes and down under quilts

[Wtmurray]

I have a planned hike coming up where it looks like I’m going to get rained on a few of the days. I’ve googled hiking in the rain and read the results to prepare, but most of those are written for tent hikers and I have a big question about how one tip translates to hammock camping.

The guides usually suggest that you change into dry clothes to sleep, but also suggest that you take your wet clothes into your sleeping bag to dry them out overnight. If you have a pad beneath you, and a sleeping bag above you, I can see how this would work. But if you are in a hammock with a quilt above you and a quilt below you, it seems like having wet clothes in your hammock would get you wet (because of how the sides bunch), and that water would drip down to your under quilt and compromise your crucial bottom insulation.

How do you adapt the general advice to take wet clothes into your sleeping bag to the specific situation of using down under quilts in a hammock?

[OneClick]

Don't ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever take anything wet/damp into your sleeping system! First, that defeats the point of getting into your dry clothes in the first place. It will also degrade the loft in your down, chill your body, and probably won't even dry the wet clothes anyway. Sleep dry and warm, then just deal with the dampness the following day when you change back into those clothes. Hanging them under your tarp is the best you can do unless you have time to mess with a fire. You'll be hiking and generating heat anyway, and likely get wet from sweat or a leaky rain jacket anyway.

[Doc Homer]

Don't ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever take anything wet/damp into your sleeping system! First, that defeats the point of getting into your dry clothes in the first place. It will also degrade the loft in your down, chill your body, and probably won't even dry the wet clothes anyway. Sleep dry and warm, then just deal with the dampness the following day when you change back into those clothes. Hanging them under your tarp is the best you can do unless you have time to mess with a fire. You'll be hiking and generating heat anyway, and likely get wet from sweat or a leaky rain jacket anyway.

I totally agree.
Also wring them out as best as you can. Hang them under you're shelter where they won't drip on your system. Get them out in the sun if or when it shines, hang them off the back of your pack in dry weather if your on the move. I will usually rinse out my socks at night and if I don't have a fire they will still be wet in the morning again I hang them off my pack.
If you do have a fire that's the best and fastest way to dry stuff out.
Homer

[Rifleman]

Take an oversize tarp not the ultralight minimalist one!!

[bkrgi]

You may look into 100% Wool clothing (Merino wool being a good option) as a means to deal with wet and still retain warmth.
Wet can equal hypothermia and that can get dangerous quick even in "warm" temps. Wool deals with the situation rather well and will dry out as you get active and generate heat.

Total agree with Mark....never ever make dry things damp or wet. Protect your sleep system and always keep a dry set of clothing on hand....do anything needed to keep these things dry and in a bad situation understand what it takes to make a fire under adverse conditions or have a heat source(even if that means using your cook stove) to get yourself warmer.

[gbolt]

I agree that wet cloths do not belong in the sleep system. However, I have placed a damp shirt and a pair of socks at one end, and placed my pants at the other end of my hammock. It's a double Layer so it goes inbetween the layers but beyond my 3/4 Lenth Yeti UQ. I do it mainly to warm the clothing. However, if the cloths are rain wet, I usually wring them out and then hang them over the bugnet or partially on the hammock suspension under the tarp. For me the key is alway's having dry clothing to put on when not hiking.

[mudsocks]

I keep my tarp in a cuben stuff sack. At night I put wet clothes in the stuff sack and take it in the hammock with me. That way I only have to put on wet clothes, not cold, wet clothes. If you wake up to rain you'll be hiking in it anyway, not much point in starting with dry clothes. If it's not raining your body heat from hiking will dry them.

[Tumbleweed]

Now that is a good idea.

Having a waterproof tarp stuff sack, repurposed to store wet clothes inside your quilt system overnight will give you warmer wet clothing to put on in the morning. Nothing scares the morning cobwebs away as much as putting on COLD wet clothes. And hey, those clothes will be wet in the morning anyway...

Protect your sleep gear from becoming wet is the first commandment. The right stuff sack can help!

[rick417]

I keep my tarp in a cuben stuff sack. At night I put wet clothes in the stuff sack and take it in the hammock with me. That way I only have to put on wet clothes, not cold, wet clothes. If you wake up to rain you'll be hiking in it anyway, not much point in starting with dry clothes. If it's not raining your body heat from hiking will dry them.

Great tip! I am putting that one in the toolbox!

[JasonACraft]

What a great question and set of soultions. Nice work guys