Vesper 32 baffle damage?

Most likely is it’s still wet.  If the down in a beffle is damp and clumped, then the rest of the baffle is empty.

He can beat on the clumps.

Let it sit for a week and see if it dries.

Run it in the drier some more

That’s what’s happened to me before – I thought it should have been dry…

Most likely is it’s still wet.

Sending him your suggestion.  I can’t check it myself because he’s in Taos and I’m in Austin.  I think he knows it takes forever to dry because he’s washed bags before.  But, always good to check again.

I have washed it, thought that I ruined it because it was clumping, just kept at it and it eventually recovered

I’ve had down clump when wet.  You can carefully pull the clumps apart with your fingers through the fabric. The clumps can then better dry and re-fluff.  You want to avoid them drying in a little compressed ball.

One possibility is that an internal baffle seam tore if the quilt was handled roughly when wet. There is a way to look for a torn baffle once everything is fully dry. You gently pull the seams on the inner and outer fabric apart-stretching the baffle at that point.  You work along the baffle and search for areas that offer no resistance. That would be where you can pull the inner and outer fabrics further away from each other than a sewn baffle would allow.  At that point the baffle is no longer attached to the fabric.You could even redistribute down back into the empty column by carefully poking it back through the torn opening.
Can you fix it?  If it is the stitching that has separated, you can resew the stitching.  You can feel the baffle mesh inside the shell fabric.  You find the baffle, you then resew it by capturing the baffle and fabric in a fold.  The fold need only be 1/8th of an inch or so and will not compromise the bag.  The fold will be noticeable but you avoid sewning through the entire quilt or opening it up.  You could sew it by hand if it is only a few inches long.

A nuclear option would be to sew through the two layers of fabric where the baffle should be.  You now have a sewn-through quilt at that point and a cold spot.  But the rest of the quilt is still useable.  You could sleep with your fleece over you at that cold spot like a mini blanket inside the quilt.

I know this because a quilt I made myself was done with poor seam tension and seams starting deteriorating like crazy.  It can be fixed and life will go on.

Scott

Jerry, Well yes it turns out you were right.  I assumed (ahem) he knew for sure it was all the way dry when he reached out for help.  Because, we went through the whole process once before when he was here in Austin.  But nope, he forgot how long it takes.  After he kept going, he now says it fully revived after a whole, whole lot more drying.  Thank you for prodding me to circle back on that.

Scott, Despite the above resolution, I still really appreciate your additional tips.  I am going to save for future reference.  Because, you never know what might happen to gear in the future.  And, although I’ve always had pretty good luck with my own stuff, there are family members who have a much more fraught relationship with the physical universe, and I am their go-to for rescue.  Also I am the one with the sewing machine.  (Yes I taught everyone to sew but they don’t do it.)

great that it’s revived

it does take a long time to dry

hold it up to a light source, like a window, and look at all the baffles.  If there are any empty spots, beat on the baffle where the down is until all baffles are filled