Down Bags: Stable vs. Shifting Down

imported
#1

All my life I’ve used synthetic bags and I’ve no complaints about them. But, now it’s time for down, with baffles.

Here’s the issue:

My preference is a fully baffled bag. I’m not interested in a bag with no side baffles, despite claims that there is some sort of an advantage to “moving the down around” for greater or lesser warmth.

My view is, that I want a stable situation, where I don’t have to be constantly adjusting the location of the down. Furthermore, I’ve never found down to be all that easy to move around in an enclosed space. Ultimately, having to move down around, strikes me as a daily inconvenience, just one more thing to do.

So, please tell me, which do you prefer, and why? The fixed down in a fully baffled bag; or the movable down (from top to bottom and back to the top) in bags with no side baffles?

Thanks much.

Conan

Conan

#2

Well, I have a baffled down bag, but can’t say I’ve used it yet. However, I have a down comforter on my bed that is baffled and I’ve also used a down comforter with free-floating down. I MUCH prefere the quilted one, because inevitabely, the down all lumps up in one spot on the open comforter, and heat wasn’t distributed evenly. I would imagine this would be the same issue w/a sleeping bag. Also, I had diffculty moving the down around inside the open comforter. Just a thought…

Michele

#3

Conan, I’ve had both over the years and prefer the baffled bag. It,(the unbaffled bag) tended to migrate on its own, and felt like there was always one more chore to do. I had trouble getting all bays exactly where I wanted them. The idea behind it makes sense,but does not work for me.Oo

Onlyone

#4

Dear Michele and Onlyone,

Thank you for your responses and confirmation of my own perceptions and experiences.

Michele–I’ve had the same experiences you’ve had with down comforters (and also with down parkas, jackets and vests). Clumping and difficulty moving the down around.

Onlyone–You verify that the problem is equally real with down sleeping bags. Clumping and difficulty moving the down around.

This leaves me wondering why any company would bother to make down bags with no side baffles. All I can imagine is that it is a cost cutting measure, with a proposed benefit put out the public, which, unfortunately, isn’t really there as a practical matter.

Conan

Conan

#5

Is it too late to add my two cents here? I did use for years a Marmot down bag with no side baffles. It was, however, a fully baffled semi-rectangular bag. I really liked that I could hold the bag up and shake more of the down onto the top for extra warmth. As you know YMMV, but the compressed down on the bottom isn’t doing you any good anyway. So I had a different experience from Onlyone. It certainly works better if you can keep your bag quite dry.
:wink: I finally went to a Nunatak Backcountry Blanket for less weight…sweet.
http://www.nunatakusa.com/Sleeping_Bag_Back_Country_Blanket.htm which you can check out if you are so inclined.

Cheers

:tongue P.S, I always use a liner to keep my bags clean, too.

Lady Di

#6

BTW, I had some custom features on my Nunatak bag, too. I just can’t stand mummy bags! :frowning:

Lady Di