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How do you keep your foam sleeping pad dry?


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  • #1292717
    Bryce
    BPL Member

    @antigroundhogday

    Locale: Stamford, CT

    For the first time ever I carried a foam pad to sleep in my hammock with on my attempted presidential traverse this past weekend w/ two other BPL members:

    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.758939641886.2147474.17506531&type=1&l=9706ea2562

    In then end it was all good, but two of us carried foam pads that got soaked in a nasty downpour above the treeline.

    I use a nylofume bag as a pack liner in my GG Murmur backpack and strap the foam pad to the outside of the pack. (I tried putting the foam pad inside my Murmur but outside my pack liner and it made packing a PIA and the Murmur extremely tall).

    So the pad got soaked…. how do people deal with this while on the trail? If i slept on it my clothes and my down quilt would of absorbed water.

    Thanks.

    #1900892
    James Klein
    BPL Member

    @jnklein21

    Locale: Southeast

    If its closed cell I would just wipe it down after setting up camp with bandana or cook kit rag.

    #1900898
    James Marco
    BPL Member

    @jamesdmarco

    Locale: Finger Lakes

    +1 on that. Nightlites are generally waterproof, but I am not too sure about the new ones. Zlites are also waterproof. As James says, just wipe them dry.

    #1900899
    michael levi
    Member

    @m-l

    Locale: W-Never Eat Soggy (W)affles

    CCF doesnt absorb, so just shake it off right?

    #1900912
    Bryce
    BPL Member

    @antigroundhogday

    Locale: Stamford, CT

    My pad was a very light white pad I got out of a box that was used to pack/protect new chairs I had shipped, no clue what type of 3/8th foam it is. by 61 in by 26.25in came in around 6oz.

    My other buddy had a standard grey foam pad.

    Both were wet. :(

    #1900919
    michael levi
    Member

    @m-l

    Locale: W-Never Eat Soggy (W)affles

    Get a CCF pad…

    #1900921
    Charles P
    Spectator

    @mediauras

    Locale: Terra

    Sounds like you used open cell foam which will absorb quite a bit of moisture/water. Closed cell foam won't, which is what most backpacking pads are made of.

    #1900922
    Bryce
    BPL Member

    @antigroundhogday

    Locale: Stamford, CT

    Quite possible, as mine was incredibly light for the area of the pad. Don't really want to give up that lightness in my SUL hammock setup, we'll c what I can do.

    I'll wait for my BPL friend to chime in as I thought he had a standard CCF grey foam pad.

    #1900923
    Mobile Calculator
    Spectator

    @mobile-calculator

    #1900924
    Steven Adeff
    BPL Member

    @tincanfury

    Locale: Boston

    Bryce's pad was PEF as far as I can tell. I had a CCF pad, which I had strapped to the back of my pack vertically after being rolled.

    The CCF pad, from all indications, looked to have absorbed some water (from a test of squeezing it and seeing if any water extracted).

    Now back in civilization and being able to do some more research(via a google search), the coated *surface* of CCF is moisture absorption resistant, but the material itself (ie the edges) is not.

    This leads me to believe the following:
    -If you were to dunk it in your sink it would absorb water.
    -If you were to have it mounted vertically on your pack, the rain that hits the edge will absorb through the material
    -If you were to have it mounted horizontally on your pack, the rain that hits the top and bottom surface won't absorb much, if at all, and can be wiped off, with minial absorption around the edges.

    #1900929
    Bryce
    BPL Member

    @antigroundhogday

    Locale: Stamford, CT

    Thanks for the info Steve. I think with the nasty winds, the rain would of gotten your pad either way it was stacked on your pack (or mine for that matter), but perhaps if I go to a trash compactor bag for a pack liner (bigger than my Nylofume bags) and force myself to put the pad (CCF or PEF) inside it, that might work even though I won't like it.

    #1900931
    Mobile Calculator
    Spectator

    @mobile-calculator

    #1900932
    Steven Adeff
    BPL Member

    @tincanfury

    Locale: Boston

    yes, but mounted horizontally I believe the edge absorption would be minimal, especially with movement where the drops would shake off where mounted vertically they would have more time to penetrate the edge.

    my gut feeling is if I had taken the pad off, wiped it down and *then* done a "squeeze" test the amount of absorbed water would have been minimal, and only along the edges. As it was I tested along the outward facing edge that saw both the direct impact of the rain itself, but also the water running down the edge over time.

    Perhaps just cut a nylafume(sp?) to the size of your pad so you can still strap it on the outside of your pack?

    or just buy a larger, cuben, pack and avoid nyla-blah(?…) alltogether…

    #1900935
    Steven Adeff
    BPL Member

    @tincanfury

    Locale: Boston

    What Rodger suggests. Me likes.

    I wonder if the larger corn bags would fit over an entire pad? they are a heavier plastic though…

    #1900936
    Bryce
    BPL Member

    @antigroundhogday

    Locale: Stamford, CT

    The size nylofume bag that works well with my GG Murmur is 24g or .85oz, a trash compactor bag is 64g or 2.25 oz.

    So carrying an additional Nylofume bag (as a really long "hat" as someone else said, not sure if it can totally swallow a 26in rolled up pad yet) is the lightest option out of my current gear. We'll C…. thx.

    #1900937
    Bryce
    BPL Member

    @antigroundhogday

    Locale: Stamford, CT

    cellophane bags from the grocery store would get killed IMO from being beaten up, and would fully swallow my 26in rolled pad. But good idea perhaps for smaller bag, I can live with Nylofume weight.

    #1900938
    Steven Adeff
    BPL Member

    @tincanfury

    Locale: Boston

    another option: buy an XXXL rain jacket…

    I believe that is the sign it is time for me to leave work for the day.

    #1901000
    michael levi
    Member

    @m-l

    Locale: W-Never Eat Soggy (W)affles

    A ridgerest or zlite will NOT absorb any water, do you want me to dunk mine in my tub for 10 minutes and weigh it?

    #1901001
    michael levi
    Member

    @m-l

    Locale: W-Never Eat Soggy (W)affles

    (google)

    Z-rest (lite?) dry: 405g

    Z-rest after half a minute submerged, then shaken: 434g

    Z-rest after one hour , 3/4 of it submerged, in luke warm water, then shaken: 435g

    So, give or take a gramme, a fairly new z-rest is not absorbing any water. Surface scratches might make a difference but I doubt it. I am going with the idea that my sleeping bag was absorbing some of the residual rain water on the top surface and the rest combined with condensation is what showed up the next day underneath the mat.

    #1901006
    Bryce
    BPL Member

    @antigroundhogday

    Locale: Stamford, CT

    The water gain in the Z-rest was 30g, more than a nylofume that I am reasonably sure it is waterproof. Plus my generic pad is bigger. I don't want my down bag or my only set of clothes to absorb anything if possible.

    Only kicker is the insulative properties of my pad, which I bet are less, but was fine for me down to low 50s this weekend anyway.

    #1901011
    Mike V
    BPL Member

    @deadbox

    Locale: Midwest

    I have never noticed any water being absorbed by either my blue foam CCF or my ridgerest and have never had a bag wet out as a result of using one that has been in the rain.

    Also, just curious if you were camping in a hammock with nighttime temps in the 50’s why bother with the pad? I imagine if it is cold enough to require a pad or an under quilt, an open cell pad would not cut the mustard so to speak.

    #1901012
    Bryce
    BPL Member

    @antigroundhogday

    Locale: Stamford, CT

    I am a cold sleeper, and leave it to me to sleep in a hammock for the first time in the White Mountains, haha. The projected lows could of gotten down to the 40s so I wasn't taking chances as a cold sleeper. Also as light as he white foam pad I had, as long as I could fit it in/on my pack I figure it was still worth it, I was still under 5lbs base weight.

    #1901058
    Robert Blean
    BPL Member

    @blean

    Locale: San Jose -- too far from Sierras

    To summarize a few points:

    *) By definition of what CCF means, a CCF pad will not absorb water. If it did, then its cells would not be "closed". It can, of course, hold water on its surface. If it gets wet, it needs to be wiped off before I'd want to put a sleeping bag on it.

    *) An OCF pad is like a big sponge. You must keep it dry. Back when OCF pads were more popular, the products were OCF inside a coated nylon cover.

    *) CCF does not compress very much. That is why your major choices for carrying it are either to make a tube inside your pack or to roll it up and carry it externally. Because they have limited compressibility, they tend to be "hard" — something vendors try to address with clever geometry of the pad. That is also why they do not need to be a thick as an OCF pad for the same R-value — they will not thin out much when you lie on them.

    *) An OCF pad is very compressible. I feels soft and "cushy", but you need a much greater thickness than a CCF pad of the same warmth — because when you lie on it you will make it much thinner under your body pressure points.

    *) Because a CCF is compressible, you can compress it enough to carry inside your pack, where it will not get rained on.

    The OP said that his white foam was packing in a package — I have never seen CCF used that way — always OCF.

    #1901059
    John Almond
    Member

    @flrider

    Locale: The Southeast

    Another option is to perhaps move over to a poncho for your rain gear. You can get multi-use out of it: rain gear, pack cover, ground sheet for breaks (as long as it's not raining hard), "front porch" for your hammock, and improv Grizz Beak for your tarp (increasing your rain coverage with a small hex tarp). You can, with some modification to it, even use it as an underquilt protector if you eventually wind up going with a down underquilt.

    Hope it helps!

    #1901097
    James Marco
    BPL Member

    @jamesdmarco

    Locale: Finger Lakes

    Water gain on ZLites, RidgeRests or Nightlites will be minimal. All are water proof. CCF pads by nature do not absorb water to any significant degree.

    Sctratches, open sides, and cut edgs will allow the "CLOSED" cell foam(CCF) to pick up a few grams, but the material IS waterproof. Generally, wiping down with a bandana is all it takes to remove visable water.

    Most packing foam is NOT suitable for backpacking. As you found, they do pick up water…like a sponge. I would look for a different source of water not your pad, if you are waking up with a wet bag (not damp, bags seem to be damp all the time in the NE.) Just hang them out (if possible) for 5-10 minutes.

    BTW: Thermarest pads are NOT CCF. They use an open cell foam inside a waterproof liner. Required for blowing them up.

    A liner and open cell foam is almost always heavier than a CCF pad for any durability.

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