How waterproof is your sleeping bag?

[tasadam]

Following on from the good work of our member DonQx in this topic, I decided to copy his useful research here and ask everyone, if they felt inclined, to do a similar test.

Get camera ready.
Lay sleeping bag out and find the tag / logo / identifier so everyone can quickly see in the photo what the bag is
Drip a few drops of water on the bag fabric
Wait approximately two minutes
Take photos similar to these and put your reply in, with any comments you might like to add, such as
- How old your bag is
- How much use it has had
- How quickly the water absorbed in (if it did)
- How much the bag cost when you bought it
- Whether or not it is supposed to be waterproof or water resistant
- Anything else you see relevant.

I figure the info could be useful.

Just back from 4 weeks camping & cycling on the big island

Made an accidental discovery about Tactel material while on the road ... for whatever reason the material in the bag I took (not the one for sale) seems to be pretty water resistant ... how did I find out? ... spilling water on it while making coffee early in the morning

Just conducted a bit of an experiment comparing 3 types of winter bags, dripping a few drops of water on them, then take a pic after ~2 mins. Here's the result

Top of the range -20C Winterlite bag from ~20 years ago (basically from the company that is One Planet now) with nylon outer ... absorbed most of the water



My current winter walking bag, about 1 year old, Pertex outer which I thought is considered among the best materials for breathability & water resistance ... absorbed a surprising amount of water in a short time



And the 2nd hand but fairly new looking Roman bag with Tactel outer, not considered to be water resistant, but absorbing the least amount of water in this little test




May have to revise this statement ...

As I understand it, Tactel is particularly soft, strong, highly breathable and yet wind resistant ... but not especially water resistant.

... seems to me that the Roman bag with Tactel material is more water resistant than my other winter bag with Pertex material ...

... Adam, if you're reading this, your thoughts? ...

a.

There you go Andreas, I wasn't watching but found it, and my thoughts are Excellent research.

[north-north-west]

Ahhhh, the memories. Love that photo of the old J&H bag. I had one of these for ages and absolutely adored it . . .

[Son of a Beach]

Ahhhh, the memories. Love that photo of the old J&H bag. I had one of these for ages and absolutely adored it . . .

I was thinking the same thing. My J&H Winterlite died only last year (quite spectacularly). It was a fantastic bag.

[flyfisher]

Did you find a suitable replacement for the winterlight ?

FF

[Son of a Beach]

Yes, I've got a Zephyr now... haven't used it much yet. It's been good so far, but haven't had any really cold nights out yet. I don't expect it to be quite as warm as the Winterlite, but that was waaaay too hot, even when sleeping on the verandah of huts in the snow.

[sthughes]

Well the response to this has been a bit underwhelming - guess everyone is a bit lazy to pull out their sleeping bag just to get it wet! So seem I had to get it out to pack it up for the weekend I figured I'd have a go.

Kathmandu Moonraker Epic V4
Purchased July 2007
Used for around 30 nights
Negligible water absorption after 12 minutes.
$425 new.
Supposed to be water resistant.
I've had it fairly wet with condensation a few times but it has always beeded and been easy to shake off to the point where there are puddles in the tent. Breathability isn't fantastic but fine when it's cold.

Attachments

Immediately after adding water

resized-P1070908.JPG (38.13 KiB) Viewed 7616 times

12 Minutes Later

resized-P1070916.JPG (40.01 KiB) Viewed 7616 times

Absorbed water - damn hard to see - very slight.

resized-P1070919.JPG (38.61 KiB) Viewed 7616 times

[tasadam]

Mont Franklin sleeping bag, cost $429 about 20 years ago.
Not supposed to be waterproof, and I already know it isn't - I got soaked one night on moonlight ridge.

Two photos, before and 2 mins after.

Water just been placed on, enough time to pick up the camera.

Water just on.jpg (47.5 KiB) Viewed 7576 times

1 minute 58 seconds after the previous photo was taken.

Water after 2 mins.jpg (46.48 KiB) Viewed 7576 times

[tas-man]

Fairydown Everest mummy seeping bag, purchased in 1969 for $47. (more than my weeks wage a that time) Had options then for either nylon or cambric shell fabric. I went for the nylon as although not claimed to be waterproof, was less absorbent than the cotton cambric more common at that time. This has been my one and only sleeping bag for 40 years of bushwalking, but weighs in at 1.9kg so I am considering something like the OP Cocoon at less than 1kg to save weight. First photo is when water applied, then two minutes later. I was surprised at how little water was absorbed for such ancient fabric technology.

Water applied.

P1060196.JPG (191.54 KiB) Viewed 7510 times

Two minutes later.

P1060200.JPG (203.39 KiB) Viewed 7510 times

Last edited by tas-man on Wed 11 Nov, 2009 5:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[north-north-west]

Memories, again. The Everest Mummy were the bags P&W used back in my day. Brilliant bags if you take care of them, but they don't like too much UV.

[sthughes]

Brand New Marmot Arroyo, $245 delivered from USA. No water absorbed, supposed to be a little resistant ("100% Nylon Silicone DWR 1.05 oz/yd").
Sorry about the focus - I was using my old camera at an awkward angle - how did I ever live with that 1.5 inch screen!
(Oh and just an update - another 6 nights usage and my Kathmandu Moonraker is still the same )

Start:


3 Minutes:


After:

[Nuts]

I use one of these in summer, they are warm enuff, Very lightweight...... ......!!

[sthughes]

About 820g in it's bag so not too light, I plan to use mine for 3 season use with a liner and perhaps thermals/socks when cooler, still keep the Moonraker for winter though. Will save me 700grams but more importantly I might get some sleep instead of roasting!

[Nuts]

I find they are good down to a few degrees then i'm looking for other things to wear. Have had a couple of cool nights but not that other layers wouldnt fix. I find them warm enough so 'one' can still be mostly closed up in them in summer without sweating. More importantly, they save that unnecessary half kg