Never fold or roll sleeping bags ,always stuff them !
Foding them up can cause thin spots and damage the filling.
When stored for a ong time its supposed to be best to remove them from the sacks all together but have to admit we never bother
The manufacturers roll because it 'looks' better thus more saleable ,they dont care whether it will shorten the life of the bag as you will just have to but anotehr wont you ?
Mummy type sleeping bags should never be folded or rolled, the filling will flatten and will not fully regain its shape. That is why they are provided with a stuff bag.
I second this. Don't fold a mummy type bag - by doing this you compress the same fold lines and stress the stitching in the same spot every time you fold it. Stuffing the bag into a stuff sack randomly distributes the damaging effects of compression around the bag and it will keep you warmer for longer.
I can stuff our sleeping bags but I find it bleeding irritating, I bought a number of these from Alpkit and I can get both three season bags in the XXL £7 bag. It has a wide mouth and then you squish the bags down to seal them. They don't squish as much as the stuff sacks but it's a whole lot easier.
I then re-use the stuff sacks for the sleeping bags for dirty washing, towels etc.
The stuff sack for my sleeping bag is fitted with compression straps. After stuffing the bag in the sack, the straps compress it to about half the original size. When storing the bag I release the straps so that it is not full compressed.
Guess no one here has a Outwell 150 bag then!! There is absolutely NO WAY ever in a month of sundays that this little blighter will 'stuff'. There is one way and one way only. It has to be rolled, unrolled and rolled again really tghtly with no gaps or air or spaces or anything. I am the only one who can do it in our house/tent. OH has given up trying as it is soooooo difficult. Yes - I know you all think - what a big head blah blah etc BUT get one and try it - you'll be swearing and huffing and so on but will eventually get it and wonder why it took so long. Boy, do my hands get sore doing 4.
Quote: Originally posted by sunvalleysue on 16/7/2008
Forget the sack,just lay them flat in the car boot.
this is partly what we've taken to doing too, as they take up less space this way with gear on top of them they are no prob at all. However once home we have some great big black polyester bags from 99p store to keep them all together. And when the kids use theirs for scouts/cubs or rangers camp, then they simply take their bag and black 99p bag, as the last thing they want after a week away with cubs etc is to start stuffing.
Then again my bag gets stuffed, and it has compression straps.
So we use a combination of methods LOL
------------- Shelli
Campers do it in the mud!
Hubby says we can't camp as much this yr mmm we'll see!!
camped in 2009= 27nights
Booked for 2010 = 30 nights.
We recommend that the sleeping bags are stored as loose as possible either hanging up in a wardrobe if you have space, or unrolled and flat on a shelf or under your bed.
However as this is not possible in all cases the sleeping bags can be stored in their stuff sacs as long as they are stored loosely.
How the hell you store a bag LOOSELY in a micro stuff sack is a mystery to me tho... I'm going to buy some cheapo largish bags with zips (the kind you use for storage) and store my bags in those.