Kayak Sleeping Bag

[alcoons]

Anyone have suggestions for a sleeping bag to replace my wife's wonderful but very large (even with compression stuff sack) sleeping bag? Needs to stow nicely in kayaks, but she usually is in a double - so it does not have to be ultra-small.

She is 5'5, thin and all muscle ( needs a 15 degree bag) for 3 seasons.

Thanks,

Al

[Guest guest]

Make sure it's synthetic, not down, as down doesn't stay warm if it gets wet. This will make it a little larger as it won't compress as much as down. However, most bags are a tad less puffy than they used to be.

I don't think it's the smallest option, but I finally replaced a bag last summer with a 15 degree Mountain Hardware bag that I was very pleased with in a variety of temperatures, but have only hiked and car camped with it. It does fit in the bottom of my backpack without being compressed, so I assume it will be fine in my boat. It's an expensive brand, but i got it on a sale at the Kittery Trading Post and found I fit in the Small size (I'm about 5'4"), which reduced the price more. I forget the model name, but it has an extra zipper within a zipper expanding system that allows you to actually widen the bag by a couple of inches and regulate temperature -- it's a two way zipper, too, so you can give yourself extra room in the knees only, for instance.

--b

[Guest guest]

I purchased the new REI Nooksack +10 this spring. I have the Nooksack +35 that I use in the summer and they are perfect for kayaking.

The insulation is primaloft sport (very compressable , almost as good as my down bag) and they keep you warm when wet. The +35 got real wet last summer in Maine, the fog was so thick that it filled the tent, but the bag kept me warm all night. The next morning it dried in about an hour in the sun.

They compress to about the size of a soccer ball, they come with a compression sack.

Jonathan

[Brian Nystrom]

I've carried down bags on kayak camping trips with no problems. Between the watertight compartments in the boat and the dry bag, there's no way it's going to get wet. If your sleeping bag won't fit in any of your dry bags, you can double up a couple of trash bags over the stuffsack.

Compression stuffsacks can be a real godsend when packing a kayak. If the bag you get doesn't come with one, it's worth the few extra bucks to buy one for it. It makes getting the bag down to a manageable size much easier.

[Dee Hall]

I have been thinking about this subject quite a bit since it came up. Since I have little tolerance to being wet and cold when I am not active, just the idea of a wet sleeping bag can bring tears to my eyes. However, it does seem that a sleeping bag in a drybag in a relatively dry hatch would have significantly less probability of getting wet than one in a coated stuff sack on a backpack.

However, Jonathan brings up the issue of that persistent dampness that one gets on a foggy trip. So I think the question is: is one's sleeping bag substantially more likely to get wet while you're sleeping in it on a kayaking trip than while you are sleeping in it on a backpacking trip. I don't have experience with getting wet in either case, so perhaps others who do can chime in.

[Guest guest]

Dee:

In my experience, wet gear stays damper while paddling on the ocean vs. backpacking. The reason? As Jonathan suggests, oceans are generally damper environments, and not only when it is foggy.

Another reason, I believe, is salt: as salt spray gets onto/into clothing, tents, and sleeping bags (not while in the dry bag), it dries and then continues to attract dampness, much the same way a salt shaker full of salt will attract any moisture around. Clothes just seem to stay damp. Can fog carry salt particles? Dunno, but I'm inclined to believe that microscopic salt water droplets are created by spray and migrate to your gear when camping on or near a beach. Any atmospheric scientists have hard evidence of this?

On a thematically related but technically distinct topic, salt can also accumulate on the surface of Gore-Tex dry suits and dry tops, making them lose their breathability. It is among many reasons why you should rinse Gore-Tex gear thoroughly in fresh water (the more immediate reason is the stink).

What to do when on a multi-day trip when you don't have access to fresh water? Rinse in salt water. The salt accumulates with repeated sprays all day, and while a salt water rinse is also salty, the concentration is less than the many layers of dried salt.

Oh, by the way, rinse when the drysuit is on you...you don't want to get the inside wet or salty too.

Scott