Down Sucks (up water like a sponge!)

[Five Tango]

I have never treated my quilts with any sort of water proofing like Nik Wax,Campdry,Scotchguard etc.Would it be advasable,helpful,or not?Anybody try it?

[Carrico]

Treating your quilts with a dwr like Nikwax down proof would help a lot
http://www.nikwax.com/en-ca/products...?productid=593

I treat my quilts once a year and it makes a big difference, adds a great water repellency to the fabric and the down.

I would also suggest Dutch's winter sock if you camp in wet conditions a lot with lots of fog, I do a lot of camping on the coast and it really helps keep the moisture off your stuff. Most of the time I can just leave the tarp at home.

[Grumpy Squatch]

I've hiked the Whites for 25+ years and feel your pain. During parts of the Spring/Summer/Fall we might as well be Pacific Northwest rainforest.

When I got into hammocking years ago this was part of my calculus, along with the tendency to get warm winter days that bring freezing rain instead of snow. So my 20° underquilt and my 40° top and underquilts are all Climashield. My 20° topquilt and my 0° sets are all down. The last 5 trips I took involved rain and clouds. Except for the warmest Summer days I generally pack my 20° synthetic UQ (Loco Libre Cayenne Pepper, which unfortunately George has paused making for a while) and my 40° TQ (an Arrowhead Equipment Owyhee). Last overnight it drizzled all day, started raining heavy at 3pm, rained all night hard enough at times to mist through my tarp, then the morning found us in the clouds (near the end of the Timber Camp Trail). Stayed perfectly warm all night with lows in the upper 40s.

I can't see packing a CCF pad if I've invested in quilts. And I agree that in the 40° and even 20° range the weight penalty isn't that severe between synthetic and down. So I believe 100% in the benefit of Apex for our particular climate.

Some pics of the last hike this year. Soaked trail, fog in the morning, and clouds on the trail on the hike out:

IMG_20180520_082911.jpg IMG_20180520_082208.jpg IMG_20180520_105606.jpg