Down Sucks (up water like a sponge!)

[heyduff]

This weekend, I went on an overnight in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Of course, I brought a tarp and it kept the rain from falling on me but I had not thought about the rolling in clouds that came in under the tarp. By morning, I was a soggy mess--the down was wet and provided little warmth and woke up chilly. I will have to rethink my setup on future setups for similar nights out in the wet. Any suggestions? (Don't camp in the clouds, right?) I was thinking I should have brought my synthetic UQ and TQ, maybe brought my Superfly to have the doors block some of the moisture blowing in?

[SilvrSurfr]

Very rarely, I've been out in 100% humidity and fog so dense you could hardly see. I turned on my headlamp while underneath the TQ and could see the moisture permeating the air. A UQP isn't going to stop that - synthetic might be marginally better than Dri-Down, but I'm not going to carry 20 to 30% more weight to get 20 to 30% more warmth, especially when it's such a rare occurrence that you see fog and humidity that high.

I'm just not going to choose synthetic over down based on two occurrences in eight years. As for UQPs, I always use a 4-season tarp so don't feel the need for a UQP.

[HandyRandy]

Embrace the suck! Honestly, your best bet is to bring a CCF pad in addition to or instead of your down UQ. If it’s going to be a sticky night, keep the UQ packed and opt for the pad. Then hike to greener pastures!

[cmoulder]

This weekend, I went on an overnight in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Of course, I brought a tarp and it kept the rain from falling on me but I had not thought about the rolling in clouds that came in under the tarp. By morning, I was a soggy mess--the down was wet and provided little warmth and woke up chilly. I will have to rethink my setup on future setups for similar nights out in the wet. Any suggestions? (Don't camp in the clouds, right?) I was thinking I should have brought my synthetic UQ and TQ, maybe brought my Superfly to have the doors block some of the moisture blowing in?

There was another fairly long thread on this recently.

Down seems to work for some people, but I've been in that situation with 100% or near 100% humidity for days in a row and have seen down fail miserably, and Climashield Apex work quite well. I have an EE 40deg Apex TQ and it is my go-to when several wet/damp days in a row are expected. I recently got a EE Revolt Apex UQ to go along with it.

Gotta go with what works for you!

[j-Fish]

Embrace the suck!

Someone has been watching Darwin on the Trail lol. This is a great quote that gets said constantly on my hikes when things are less than comfortable.

Honestly, your best bet is to bring a CCF pad in addition to or instead of your down UQ. If it’s going to be a sticky night, keep the UQ packed and opt for the pad.

Never thought about that, it would suck carrying the extra weight but worth it if you are hiking very wet conditions.



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[Two Tents]

In summer often I can see the cumulative effect of moisture in my down. I have recently been rethinking carrying down on trips where its hot and humid. Sure a down quilt can get dried out but only if its sunny and I have time for a long mid day stop to unpack and hang it up. The Climashield Apex is a good option to have in the gear room to choose on such trips. Apex packs remarkable small and I'll bite the weight penalty over down to avoid the wilted lettuce that down feels like after day three.

[cmoulder]

In summer often I can see the cumulative effect of moisture in my down. I have recently been rethinking carrying down on trips where its hot and humid. Sure a down quilt can get dried out but only if its sunny and I have time for a long mid day stop to unpack and hang it up. The Climashield Apex is a good option to have in the gear room to choose on such trips. Apex packs remarkable small and I'll bite the weight penalty over down to avoid the wilted lettuce that down feels like after day three.

Also, in the 40-50°F range (referring to bag/quilt temp rating) the down/Apex weight difference isn't very much at all. My EE 40deg Apex TQ (10D shell) weighs 17.7 oz and packs pretty small. But it's very important that the shell is also light, 10D or 7D... a 20D shell will throw a monkey wrench into the formula and negate the entire exercise!

[HandyRandy]

Someone has been watching Darwin on the Trail lol. This is a great quote that gets said constantly on my hikes when things are less than comfortable.


Never thought about that, it would suck carrying the extra weight but worth it if you are hiking very wet conditions.

Yup! I even have a the t-shirt he sold for a limited time, one of favorite shirts! Well a short CCF pad + down UQ is probably only a tiny bit heavier than switching to synthetic and much cheaper and more versatile. In the colder times where the pad starts to get cold is probably going to be less humid anyway, so it works out. I use a shortened Thermarest Z style with the reflective coating. A pad can be strapped to the outside your pack because who cares if it gets wet! So no lost pack capacity compared to what you lose going synthetic. A spare pad makes a good ground sheet under your hammock as well when you don’t need it.

[Biker Bob]

Same happened to me in Virginia. I started a thread a few weeks ago about down and damp.It was suggested I take a day off and let the sun dry out the insulation. Not where I was. Based on what I learned, I will stick to synthetic. Folks from flatlands including Florida need to get in the mountains (why are they called Smokey?) to understand humidity. Fortunately, I was using a synthetic sleeping bag for insulation so it stayed warm even if slightly damp.

[Pennsy Camp and Canoe]

I'm sure down is great, but not for me. Here in north central / western PA moisture is a constant, with 200" of snow, non stop rain during spring, 80% and above humidity all summer long. Add in the fact that we canoe camp, and synthetic is our choice, I can't justify the cost of down when the weight saving is out weighed by the chance of failure in our damp environment.