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Drying my down bag


cracked

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I slept in a snowcave last night with my down bag and no bivy (stupid, but I didn't have time to buy a bivy). Now my bag is a bit wet, lost maybe half its loft. Can I just air-dry it? Do I have to use a (clothes) dryer? Should I bring it back to REI( wink.gif)?

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I have never used a bivvy bag inside a snow cave and I'm not used to having my sleeping bag get all wet that way. I'm guessing you were camped at low elevation where the snopack was unfrozen and water may even have been percolating through the snow so the whole place was 110% moisture? (That wouldn't have had to have been all that low this weekend, I suppose). It'll dry OK if you dry it by any method and then give it a good shake, though. Just don't leave it clumped up or in a pile in the corner or something.

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Hah! I thought it was you who never uses a bivy sack! We were on Ptarmigan Ridge, below Coleman Pinnacle, trying to get to the Park Glacier on Baker. But we didn't.

 

You're probably just a smarter winter camper than me. All I know is that my two partners used bivy sacks and stayed dry, while I didn't and got wet.

 

Thanks for the info, I'll just air dry it and see what happens. bigdrink.gif

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Just be careful with a totally wet sleeping bag, though. I've ripped the baffles by washing a sleeping bag and then tossing it into the drier with a tennis shoe. (The tennis ball might be a better call, you might not want to use maximum high heat, either.)

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Just be careful with a totally wet sleeping bag, though. I've ripped the baffles by washing a sleeping bag and then tossing it into the drier with a tennis shoe. (The tennis ball might be a better call, you might not want to use maximum high heat, either.)
I've done that same and it is a bummer. Don't use your home dryer. Use one of those humongous commercial ones at the laundromat. Two or three tennis balls work better than one.
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Another vote for the commercial dryer and numerous (at least three) tennis balls. Buy new ones then give them to your dog afterwords. Don't use antything with edges as it may tear the fabric on the shell.

 

I washed all my down stuff after both alaaska trips this way. The tennis balls are the most effective way I have yet tried at restoring the loft after it gets wetted down.

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