Protecting your bag from compression?

[R K]

What techniques do you use to keep your sleeping bag from being overly compressed?

I keep my quilt (an arc alpinist) at the bottom of my pack for the simple reason that it isn’t really needed throughout the day and it raises the rest of my stuff a little higher so it carries better.

Now my heaviest item, especially at the beginning of a trip, is my bear can which carried vertically in my Vapor Trail which rest directly on top of my quilt. At the end of the day when I pull my quilt out it’s much more compressed where the bear can was resting. That seems like it could be damaging to the insulation.

I’ve considered getting a stuff sack like the POE Pneumo LTW Dry Sack that’s airtight and would resist compression if slightly inflated. It would also be multi-use for on trail laundry. Any merit to this idea?

Your thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

[Chad Ellertson]

Usually I use the extension collar on my pack. All the things I need for a day (poncho, water treatment and water, lunch) are on the outside pockets of my backpack. So I don't pack past my extension collar and put my sleeping bag in the top of my pack.

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