Compression sack for down bag

Works for me without any stuff sack at all. The weight of the rest of your gear will compress your bag as much as it had to and no more, which is prolly better for the down. Just my 2¢.

+1

You can make your own out of silnylon that will weigh the same (or less) than a compactor bag. So why go through the bother? Because, if you sew on a single grosgrain strap (and, of course, a tie down loop), you now have an excellent summit and/or dayhike bag that slings across your shoulder/chest.

I've made a couple – they are perfect to hold a water bottle, a windshirt, some GORP, etc. The only hitch is you will need to stuff your bag in the bottom of your pack w/o the sack the day you're gonna summit.

Whitney is a great example – from either Guitar or Trail camp, your bag will be unstuffed, unless you want to be taking it out up at the JMT/MMWT junction. Still, having a multi-purpose sack/summit/day bag is a lot better than dragging along a separate mini-pack.

Here's a picture of my sack/bag (under the red pack) with some of my stuff laid out getting ready to put back in my main pack (the camo pack on the right):

That's a good idea. I have a silnylon day back with grosgrain "shoulder straps". I can re-use that to keep down bag dry. Actually, I'll make a new bag with the right size to hold sleeping bag, then add shoulder straps and leave my current day pack at home.

Otherwise with down bag it requires a bag to keep dry, which weighs 1 ounce, which I don't need with synthetic bag, which eliminates 1 ounce of advantage of down over synthetic.

I only use day pack when I base camp, so I just leave sleeping bag laid out and don't need it's bag.

The day pack isn't very good at carrying weight or anything, just big enough for a jacket, water, a little food, a couple essentials…

It is true that just throwing it in the bottom is better as far as utilizing space, but i just like having compression sacks for my 400$ sleeping bag for multiple reasons, including wetness, punctures, and smell (on my vagabonding/hiking trips, i dont wash the down bag that much because it would cost me way too much considering i am living in it) The S2S Nanos are insanely lightweight and i trust that company enough to take a chance on durability with my experience with their heavier options. I have a 8L for my Stoic SZ 15 down bag and a 4L for my Big Agnes Mountain Cross 45 synthetic summer bag/winter bivy overbag. Both weigh less then an ounce.

Can someone enlighten me about a separate summit pack, fanny pack, whatever you'd like to call it?

I camped with a few friends this spring. We set up a base camp, then did an 8 mile day hike. My friend was camped with his daughter, so he used the lid on his Gregory Baltoro 70 (a traditional, heavy pack) as a fanny pack. By the end, he said he didn't like it as a fanny pack at all. It just wasn't very comfortable.

As we are in an ultralight forum, why wouldn't you just carry your Ultralight backpack to the summit? Maybe it's a little big for the few items you carry. Is that a big deal?

I ordered the optional lid for my Granite Gear Blaze AC 60 pack. I plan to use it on trips when I'm carrying more than my share of gear. This happens when my wife goes with me. She sleeps COLD, and takes a lot of clothes, forcing me to carry the tent, stove, water filtration, extra water, etc.

I wanted the extra 9L of space, but didn't find any value in the fanny pack webbing and buckles, so I cut them off, as well as the superfluous material that was there solely to create a compartment to hide the waist belt when not in use.

I do take my normal backpack on daytrips. It's even pretty heavy for BPL standards at 29oz, a Golite Pinnacle. Its compression system is pretty decent though. But I suppose just like the camp shoes thread, some people prefer to take an extra tiny pack (some of which can double as drybags).

The make-your-own option is a pretty good thought. When packing my bag for a trip I always consider bringing my hydration bag as a summit pack but I cant justify the weight. However, I have zero sewing skills and too many hobbies to find time to work on that. Maybe I can find someone to make it for me…

The S2S nano looks like a good option. The 8L is still under an ounce and should have enough room to fit some spare clothes in as well. In my experience compacting dry sacks, I sit on them to removed excess air, then twist the remaining material to seal it, then roll the closure.

Their Event lined bottom one is also interesting. I might buy the nano and the event bottom and test them out. Thanks for the great suggestions.

Anyone know where I could get this combo and kill two birds with one stone? The make-my-own option was mentioned but that wont work for me. I like the versatility of this option however.

I use the Zimmerbilt Summit Sack for my down bag. Gets the bag into a good size and shape for the bottom of my Gossamer Gear Mariposa. With the cord straps it turns into a great little minimalist day pack. It is made from 1.43 oz cuben fiber and weighs in at 1.2oz on my cheap digital scale. It costs $38 and has been a great multi-use item.

I remember reading a Jardine book where he inveighed against packing a down bag tightly, claiming that a tight pack lost a certain measurable percentage of loft on each stuff. Since reading that I've been packing my quilt in a rather large stuff sack. Recently it's been a turkey roaster bag and no strap compression. Waterproof; twist and bight the top, secure with GearTie.

Right. To make the priorities clear, I would foremost like a waterproof sack/container for my down bag. Thats why I asked about the roll-top closure at the top of the post.

Second, compressability would be nice, but like another poster said, I would also be fine with the rest of the stuff in my pack determining how compressed it needs to be, as long as it gets to a reasonable size in the stuff sack to begin with.

so…

1. Waterproof
2. Compression/reasonable size

Bonus: Double duty as a summit pack. If it can double as a summit pack I would feel better about losing compression due to the flexibility.

The zimmerbuilt option looks nice, just not waterproof.

Sorry for making this complicated :[

I should have looked sooner :/ but some other, similar threads suggested the S2S Ultrasil drypack (http://www.seatosummit.com/products/display/162) and the Exped Cloudburst (http://www.exped.com/exped/web/exped_homepage_na.nsf/).

Thoughts?

Along with several others, I took your statement literally that "Any other suggestions would certainly be appreciated." Done and out.

Sorry if anyone commented with something different that I didn't run with. All of them were good and I think I clearly stated any reservations about them. What I was looking for did change along the way thanks to some of those suggestions, but again, sorry if I offended anyone who gave their advice.

Ill comment again when I decide on something…

I have used the S2S Nano bags extensively and they are unreliable because they require an impracticable degree of care. They ultimately develop pin holes which can be repaired with silicone, but it becomes an ongoing process with new dabs required after each trip. There is a slightly heavier S2S variant made from cordura, which is also prone to failure.

I recently purchased the the S2S Event bottom 8L bag for my WM Ultralite. It is significantly heavier but is usefully durable and because it breaths by allowing air both in and out, it relieve some pressure on the down, keeps it dry and even theoretically allows moisture from the previous nights sleeps to evaporate during the day out of the bag into the pack, although I doubt is is very effective that regard.

Derrick

I've never understood WPB "dry" bags

A waterproof bag will let air in and out enough to equalize pressure

WPB doesn't work unless there's a temperature difference across it, like if you're wearing it

WPB is kind of heavy compared to waterproof materials

I upgraded to my nanos from the S2S event compression sack (different from the version with only the event bottom) and that thing was insanely durable … but weighs 4 times more then the nanos. Ive taken it and thrown it threw thickly bunched up tree to stash it many times with confidence.. I had it for two years, and used it constantly and never had any problems. Of course, i wont do that with my nanos but basically, all i do is take it out of my pack, take the sleeping bag out, and put the nano back in my pack. Hopefully, small holes wont develop. Incidently, one aggrevating thing about the nanos are that they do not have a fabric handle on the bottom so you can hold it secure while you pull your sleeping bag out.

Following the advice of some of the people in the thread, I tried tossing my sleeping bag in the bottom of my bag. I used my sleeping pad on top to protect it and put everything else in on top of it. It worked out better than anticipated. I was a little hesitant about the level of protection to the sleeping bag but after packing everything in I saw it was fine.

To make a long story short, I ended up getting a Zpacks cuben pack liner and will just put my sleeping bag at the bottom of the pack. Ill also use a lightweight plastic bag (shopping bag/garbage bage/etc) to protect my sleeping bag from any residual dirt or dampness left on my other gear.

Thanks for the help!