Originally Posted by
Just Bill
Two more practical questions on this issue in my opinion:
How quickly do you need your bag to work?
Will overcompression wreck your bag? For the most part no, a wash and dryer time with a good set of tennis balls will restore your loft. Course last I checked I don't pack those things or have half a day to spend in a laundromat. The faster you need your bag to work the less you should compress it. When I used to speed hike I was in my bag within 10 minutes of it coming out of my pack. Even on more casual trips you may not want to pull your insulation out and expose it to the elements for an hour or two for it to recover. So really it comes down to recovery time to achieve peak loft. Your body heat will help fluff the down but if you find you need more than a few shakes and thirty minutes to get that thing looking right then you're probably overdoing it. When down is tested in the lab it is conditioned and rested for 24 hours.... if you got that kind of time then you probably aren't using a compression sack to worry about it.
Did you buy a ultra light/ultra expensive set of insulation?
If so it seems a bit silly to agonize over $600 bucks of 900+ fill down and then 'add back' 4-8 ounces of compression sack to the equation.
No to mention paying another 5% for the privilege of carrying that compression sack.
It might also not be good for that ultra light shell material/construction either to manhandle your quilts as you crank the straps to submission... regardless of what happens to the down inside when you work with very light shells you typically have to use lighter thread. The down may last you a decade... but if the shell that turns it from a pile of fluff into a piece of insulation may not last more than a few seasons if you treat it poorly.
An exception to the rule:
Maybe you're in a kayak and space is critical... or at least negates the weight of the stuff sack. You probably NEED a drybag so might as well make packing easier by oversizing the drybag and giving it a knee before you roll it up and realistically you've got the same level of compression and you don't have all those straps and buckles snagging on stuff in your boat.
Generally speaking though from a backpackers perspective:
-A trash compactor bag/pack liner is usually the lighter option and protects all your gear, not just your insulation from moisture.
-Nothing lighter than no stuff sack... and loose packing your insulation into your pack is a good way to fill all the nooks and crannies without beating up your bag. A full pack always carries better and loose stuffing your insulation is a great way to ensure your backpack stays full.
-A hard lump of anything can be hard to pack around or work with and can cause your pack to carry poorly.
-A loose stuffed down piece is easy to slip in and out of your pack... allowing you to take advantage of a warm rock outcrop or just the breeze when you're taking a rest. Getting a little sun (UV light) on the shell helps kill any hiker funk before it gets out of hand. Often when backpacking many folks like to 'get up and go' which means that you packed up with a bit of body vapor and ambient humidity still trapped in the insulation. So overall having easy access to your insulation during the day means you can care for it more easily. Clean, dry down works better, smells better, and lasts longer. Even if you have treated down and you're not as concerned about moisture... mildew and other funk is really the bigger enemy with down products than anything.
-On damp multi-day trips... keeping your bag fluffy and fresh may mean the difference between having to head into town to dry it or ensuring a good warm night on day three and beyond.
Overall decent rule of thumb- if you're compressing something beyond what you're physically capable of you're probably overdoing it.
When compression sacks first came out people used to break them all the time. The buckles and stitching regularly tore out. If you're cranking on a buckle and webbing so hard you're breaking your stuff sack... regardless of what happens to the down inside... you probably need to evaluate your pack system as a whole if you can't fit a modern down bag in there without resorting to a 3:1 mechanical advantage to pack it.
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