Store Compressed or Uncompressed?

[Lmcelvie]

So a climashield that was kept compressed for 14 weeks is there any way to save it or start over with new insulation

[donig]

So a climashield that was kept compressed for 14 weeks is there any way to save it or start over with new insulation

It's probably just fine. Lay it out and see if it puffs up.

[OneClick]

I have a Mountainsmith 0° synthetic that's been packed TIGHT in it's own compression sack for about 10 years...I won't be testing that thing!

[wvumountaineer52]

So a climashield that was kept compressed for 14 weeks is there any way to save it or start over with new insulation

From previous experience synthetic insulation doesn’t loft or restore like down. If it doesn’t locked up after 24 to 48 hours I consider getting new climate shield


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[County_mountie]

I have always stored by sleeping bags be it down or synthetic in the uncompressed state. Everything has a memory and thus will try to revert back to that state. Seen guys in the military keep their bags stuffed in the sack and when they went to use them they were almost unusable. Keep it out of the bag and hanging up or at the very least loosely in a big storage bag....just my two cents worth.

[jhersh]

The OP's original suggestion was that repeated compression/decompression cycles might degrade the loft of a down bag or quilt, rather than just compression time. The issue then arises: how do you test for that? I would suggest that thru-hikers routinely test this theory. They do a full compression/decompression cycle virtually every single day for months at a time. Especially the ultra-light hikers, that have to stuff their quilt into some pretty small backpacks (as an aside, I have no idea how you guys get everything into a 45-liter pack, but that's a discussion for another thread).

So my question would be: do thru-hikers typically find that their insulation degrades over the length of a thru-hike?

[Grumpy Squatch]

I think this might offer some insights, but I think there are far too many variables in a real-world test like this. Thru-hikers experience different weather so some bags are soaked and others aren't. Then there are the dirt and body oils that accumulate from daily use which almost certainly contribute to degredation of the insulation, regardless of the number of compression cycles. But if they report no real change, then I guess we don't need to worry about any of this stuff.