No stuff sacks?

[morriceosaurus]

I started backpacking 3 years ago and found it so strange to have all these odd shaped parcels fitting into my pack (like tetris but less fun). This summer so far... I have ditched the under quilt and top quilt stuff sack, best decision I've made. Now I'm looking at ditching the hammock stuff sack and clothes bag. Not really for the weight but my pack seems to feel more balanced and it is super easy to use my pack as the stuff sack.
So far I have seen no downsides to this and wondering why people use them in the first place?
thoughts?

[somniferous]

I don't use stuff sacks for the quilts, they get put into a trash compactor bag in the bottom of the pack. This fills all the nooks and crannies much better and the pack is roughly always the same volume. I still use stuff sacks for the hammock and clothes though, I don't want to have to dig through my whole pack to find either (especially true of socks/underwear). Plus the shape of the hammock/some clothes would mean that they could wrap around other stuff in the pack making them harder to remove.

Lacking down, hammock and clothes stuff sacks usually don't pose as much of a problem of expanding to completely fill a stuff sack unless you really pack a lot or use a stuff sack that is too small.

[Wanderlost]

I don't use stuff sacks for my quilts. My hammock still goes in a bishop bag, more just because of the ease of deployment. I don't really carry extra clothes so there is no clothes bag. Most I usually have is my sleep clothes and a fleece in the summer months.

I do prefer it this way. I find the pack fills out more uniformly than if I were packing a bunch of different bowling ball shaped objects.


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[GadgetUK437]

odd shaped parcels fitting into my pack (like tetris but less fun)

are you sure you are not confusing stuff sacks with compression sacks?



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Gadget

[johnspenn]

I don't use stuff sacks for my quilts, hammock or clothes. Smaller things (matches, first aid supplies, backup water treatment, etc.) go in a stuffsack, but my pack serves as the stuffsack for most of my stuff.

[Foxpoop]

I don't use stuff sacks for the quilts, they get put into a trash compactor bag in the bottom of the pack. This fills all the nooks and crannies much better and the pack is roughly always the same volume. I still use stuff sacks for the hammock and clothes though, I don't want to have to dig through my whole pack to find either (especially true of socks/underwear). Plus the shape of the hammock/some clothes would mean that they could wrap around other stuff in the pack making them harder to remove.

Lacking down, hammock and clothes stuff sacks usually don't pose as much of a problem of expanding to completely fill a stuff sack unless you really pack a lot or use a stuff sack that is too small.

I do the same as Somniferous except I use a Cuben pack liner instead of trash compactor bag.

If you are going to have dirty clothes, it's probably a good idea to at least have one stuff sack for those.

[Squid In The Woods]

I use stuff sacks for hammock, tarp, and UQ. Since I only have one large main compartment it helps finding things a little easier. I don't usually have a lot of extra clothing so I keep them loose. Clean clothes floating around inside the trash bag liner with everything else and wet/dirty clothes outside the trash bag liner. My pack is stretchy enough it's not too bad getting all my items to fit.

[GadgetUK437]

I prefer oversized sacks that allow the contained items to flop around and conform to whatever else is around them.

+1 to that.


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Gadget

[Billy Goat]

I like stuff sacks for my stuff simply for organization and ease of location. But I have only recently come to the conclusion that bigger is generally better. In my early days, it seemed to me that the smaller the package, the better. It all looked so neat and tidy before packing to be stacked up in snug little organized tubes and bundles cinched up tight. But I would find voids all over that were difficult, at best, to fill and completely impossible at worst, taking up valuable space with air. Now I prefer oversized sacks that allow the contained items to flop around and conform to whatever else is around them. Often, everything in my pack comes out when I get to camp, and that means putting everything on the ground. It helps to keep dirt or mud or leaves off of the stuff that I would find it undesirable to have soiled in such a manner. Some may say that packing should be done in a manner that would allow first in, last out, organization. To some extent I do that. But for decent and comfortable weight distribution it's not always possible. But almost always I learn something new every time I go out. My first trip was in a November and my pack weight with water and food was 65 lbs! Now it's under 35 with some luxury items. We had SO much extra crap we didn't need, and came back with a mountain of uneaten food. I may eventually dump the stuff sacks, too, but I don't see it happening any time soon. I didn't see myself dumping the hard packed compression sacks, either, but those are a thing of the distant past.

Cheers,
the Goat

[zukiguy]

I'm having a similar thought with my hammock/quilt setup. I just got an UQ that can nearly permanently attach to the hammock and the TQ/pillow will easily stay inside with the netting zipped shut. Maybe I'll ditch the individual bags and give the trash compactor bag a try. I've also got an old pack liner (roll top waterproof bag with relief valve) floating around somewhere.

Anyone using those big ziplock (or off-brand) storage bags with the valve to attach a vacuum cleaner. I know you can also squeeze the air out of those and they're pretty heavy and waterproof. I was thinking I could put my whole sleep system in there loose, cram the bag in the pack bottom, then the air will squeeze out as I add heavier items on top.