Quilt Protection

**Little Weasel** · 03-02-2009, 14:09

Wondering what you are using to pack/protect the quilt while in the pack?
I have just finished one of my first sewing projects which is a couple doubled ended stuff sack for the hammock. One for the hammock only and one for the hammock and snugfit still attached. I am second guessing myself if I should have used silnylon rather than the 1.9 DWR coated ripstop for in the pack protection from the rain.
I use a pack cover and a compactor bag on the inside. Thinking about making a cuben fiber liner for the pack instead of the compactor bags but that stuff is EXPENSIVE.

**Heber** · 03-02-2009, 15:04

When I'm concerned about moisture getting into my pack I put my quilt in a dry bag. There are lots of brands of these. The Sea-to-Summit bag is one you hear about a lot. But you can also get decent dry bags at Wally World. They come in a pack of three.

If you had made your stuff sacks out of silnylon then you could improvise a roll-top closure and do just as well. With DWR you won't have the same level of protection. Cuben seems like overkill.

Check out Jim Wood's excellent article on keeping things dry in the pack. He explains how to do very well with a plastic bag and a "candy cane" style closure.

http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/DryGear/index.html

**canoebie** · 03-02-2009, 16:53

Originally Posted by Heber

When I'm concerned about moisture getting into my pack I put my quilt in a dry bag. There are lots of brands of these. The Sea-to-Summit bag is one you hear about a lot. But you can also get decent dry bags at Wally World. They come in a pack of three.

If you had made your stuff sacks out of silnylon then you could improvise a roll-top closure and do just as well. With DWR you won't have the same level of protection. Cuben seems like overkill.

Check out Jim Wood's excellent article on keeping things dry in the pack. He explains how to do very well with a plastic bag and a "candy cane" style closure.

http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/DryGear/index.html

Sea to Summit has great sil bags. I use their bags exclusively for my clients now and put them inside larger bags. Sil and non-sil alike. The double protection allows for great organization and they slide in and out very easily. I really like them.

**Perkolady** · 03-02-2009, 19:50

I use a homemade round-bottom sil stuff sack, with the seams sealed, into which I usually put two quilts. I also normally use a pack liner (either a trash compactor bag or a STS). The way I pack my quilt in the pack, there is usually room to put something next to it, near the opening of the stuff sack, which helps keep the opening protected.

If I'm just bringing the one quilt, I like the JRB roll-top sack.

I know some people use turkey roasting bags...

**Ashman** · 03-03-2009, 07:50

Another vote for Sea to Summit. I just got of a trip where we got rained on pretty much all day on Saturday and snowed on Sunday. My quilts and my clothes in the S2S bag nice and dry!

**Youngblood** · 03-03-2009, 08:02

Most stuff sacks are made out of water resistant material. I line the stuff sacks I want to be sure are water tight with plastic bags. Even though the plastic isn't rugged it is water proof as long as it isn't cut and it is protected by the stuff sack from outside things. This has worked well for sleeping bags, quilts, and clothes that aren't prone to piercing the plastic.

**anywayoutside** · 03-04-2009, 12:41

Ok guys...new to hammocking, but NOT at all new to backpacking.
So you have a pack cover and a pack liner(compactor bag)...Personally I would not worry in the least about the dwr ripstop. You have TONS of coverage. If you've got water getting through your cover and liner to you stuff sack then your biggest worry will be getting your pack off so you can swim.

**wisenber** · 04-08-2009, 12:43

Granite Gear makes some stuff sacks with Event bottoms. You can seal the bag and roll the top down to further compress it. Event lets the excess air out of the bag while keeping water from coming in. They are a bit pricier than sil, but not too much. I moved to those after a not so good winter stream crossing which made for a chilly day, chilly night and chilly weekend.

**TinaLouise** · 04-11-2009, 17:13

I use a rain cover on my backpack and my quilt goes into a silnylon bag I made (not seam sealed though I may go ahead and do that) Unless it's forcasted for rain, I usually just stuff the quilt into my backpack w/out putting it first into it's sack and then even if I get into a sprinkle, the inside of my pack has always been dry.

**Dutch** · 04-11-2009, 18:32

The only thing I would add is i like to keep my water bladder outside of my compactor bag just in case that leaks. I have never had any sustantial water get through my packcover. Still all my stuffsacks are waterproof.