Originally Posted by
Doug64
Adam, I can't remember where I read it, but they were discussing the resiliency of down. They used the example of some army surplus down bags that were stored in vacuum containers for a long period. Supposedly, the bags reagined most of their loft when removed from the containers. It might be worth researching a little before writing them off for your bag. Compressing bulky items like sleeping bags seems like the best use for compression sacks. I don't use my down bag very much (gone mostly to synthtics), but I have compressed it (only when using it) for countless days over the last 30 years. The stitching has failed in spots, the down has shifted some; but it still has a lot of loft. However, I am a little hesitant to compress any bag when they are wet, but wet down does not need much compression.
There is always a certain amount of compression involved in packing a down sleeping bag. Even just sleeping on it compresses it. My old randonnee riding partner is an extremely experienced outdoorsman/bushwalker/bushworker/tour guide, and of course in that case, compression of everything is essential to get it into a pack. He just advised, as all good outdoors people do, that when storing it,l to take the bag out, loft it, and leave it in something like a clothes basket. Probably makes sense with all bags, synthetic or down/feathers.
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I don't use compression sacks, but rather adhere to the old rule that a piece of equipment should serve double duty. So I use Sea to Summit dry sacks. They enable me to compress the items by pushing down on them while they are on the ground or floor, then folding over the top the required number of times to seal. Then I have a compression situation going, and because I don't use waterproof panniers, I also get good weather protection. Plus I can colour code (although I know I could do that with simple compressions sacks.
The Sea to Summit bags I use are made of the more pliable and softer waterproof and seamsealed fabric than the ones used for canoeing/kayaking.