Compressing down, long/short term

[Malcolm]

I'm curious what experiences others have had with down that's been compressed for a couple days at a time.

I always store my quilts uncompressed, or very lightly compressed in the cotton storage bags that come with them. When I pack for a trip, I usually wait until the morning I leave to put my quilts in my pack (loose in the pack with no stuff sack). Since they go nearly in the bottom, I can't really pack much of anything until that morning. It would be really nice to pack the night before I leave (or sometimes a couple nights before), but I'm concerned about damaging my down.

What do the rest of you do? Am I taking proper precautions, or just worrying about nothing? Has anyone here damaged high-quality down insulation by leaving it compressed too long? If so, how long did it take?

Thanks!

[GilligansWorld]

So I haven't had much issue with lower Fill Powers (think old school like 500-600fp) - we used to leave our gear stuffed as a kid and never had issues - however - With the UL movement and 850+ fp you can't do this long term. For 12 extra hours......I feel this shouldn't be an issue. Think of all the people who hike the Colorado Trail with down insulation - days on the trail - stuffing gear each day for 10+ hours compressed each day.

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[Malcolm]

So I haven't had much issue with lower Fill Powers (think old school like 500-600fp) - we used to leave our gear stuffed as a kid and never had issues - however - With the UL movement and 850+ fp you can't do this long term. For 12 extra hours......I feel this shouldn't be an issue. Think of all the people who hike the Colorado Trail with down insulation - days on the trail - stuffing gear each day for 10+ hours compressed each day.

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That makes good sense. I hadn't considered the total time things spend compressed on long hikes. Thanks!

[MAD777]

I've always packed whenever convenient before a trip, sometimes 1-2 days before. Lately, I've been doing trips lasting several days. No harm noticable in my down quilts. I do hand wash and fluff dry them after maybe 3 dozen or so nights out.

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[Shug]

I've had mine compressed for up to 5 days. Traveling. It puffs back up. Never hurt it for short spells.
Toss in the dryer (on low or air fluff) will surely bring it back to puffiness.
Shug

[sasch]

In my experience, as long as you're only compressing it for near term use, you don't have much to worry about. Especially if you are not compressing the quilt in a sack and just pushing it down in the bottom of your pack, if you want to pack the night before you head out in the morning, I wouldn't be concerned about doing that.

If you keep it compressed and stored for weeks or months, you risk affecting the down in a such a way that you damage the quilt's ability to perform and loft to its original spec. Don't do that

[SimonMc]

The effects of long term compression of down bags/quilts is often overstated. Whilst I would not recommend storing it compressed for the long term, if it is stored dry there is unlikely to be any noticeable damage.

A quote from Western Mountaineering - Contrary to popular belief, bags stored compressed can get their loft back as long as they were stored dry. NEVER store a bag wet. If you accidentally store a bag compressed, take it out and shake it vigorously. If the down is very compacted try putting it in the dryer on no heat with tennis balls. If this still does not fully get the loft back the down may be clumped due to moisture and dirt from use and is in need of washing.

[sasch]

The effects of long term compression of down bags/quilts is often overstated. Whilst I would not recommend storing it compressed for the long term, if it is stored dry there is unlikely to be any noticeable damage.

A quote from Western Mountaineering - Contrary to popular belief, bags stored compressed can get their loft back as long as they were stored dry. NEVER store a bag wet. If you accidentally store a bag compressed, take it out and shake it vigorously. If the down is very compacted try putting it in the dryer on no heat with tennis balls. If this still does not fully get the loft back the down may be clumped due to moisture and dirt from use and is in need of washing.

I wouldn't take that quote from WM as an endorsement for long term compression, but more of a reassurance that if you accidentally store a bag compressed, all is not lost.

Even if you have a high degree of certainty that there is no moisture remaining in the bag, it would seem there is little to gain by intentionally keeping it compressed for an extended period of time.

[BillyBob58]

The effects of long term compression of down bags/quilts is often overstated. Whilst I would not recommend storing it compressed for the long term, if it is stored dry there is unlikely to be any noticeable damage.

A quote from Western Mountaineering - Contrary to popular belief, bags stored compressed can get their loft back as long as they were stored dry. NEVER store a bag wet. If you accidentally store a bag compressed, take it out and shake it vigorously. If the down is very compacted try putting it in the dryer on no heat with tennis balls. If this still does not fully get the loft back the down may be clumped due to moisture and dirt from use and is in need of washing.

I wouldn't take that quote from WM as an endorsement for long term compression, but more of a reassurance that if you accidentally store a bag compressed, all is not lost.

Even if you have a high degree of certainty that there is no moisture remaining in the bag, it would seem there is little to gain by intentionally keeping it compressed for an extended period of time.

I do not want to encourage doing what I did. It may damage something, I always thought it would. Plus, storage tightly compressed for days before a trip might - I don't really know- lead to excessive time required to regain full loft that first night at camp. But, mine have often been compressed for at least 48 hours or more on my trips out west, before I get to that first camp site. I have not yet ever noticed any problems. Who knows, maybe it takes an hour or two to fully loft rather than less than a few minutes to a 1/2 hour. If so, it is not noticeable.

But here is what I did that I do not recommend: Returning from a ski trip,I accidentally left a Patagonia down vest, years old even then, stuffed tightly into it's pocket designed for such. And I forgot about it. I don't know now how much time went by before I found it hidden away in a closet, but it was certainly many months, heck maybe a year or more. I was certain I had ruined one of my favorite pieces of gear. And I can't say if it took days or weeks or months for it to recover, I simply can't remember. But recover in full it did. I went on to use this vest not only as a piece of warm clothing both backpacking and at home, buy it served as a layering piece on top of me to fill any gaps in my Pea Pod caused by the hammock edges lifting the pod upwards. I also used it to gain extra loft below by adding it to my HH Super Shelter. I'm still using it to this day, a minimum of 18 years or more since I bought it sometime back in the 90s I suppose. Being stuffed in it's stuff sack/pocket for probably a minimum of many months did no long term harm.

I don't know if this would make any difference, but I doubt this is 800+ FP down, probably more like 600-650, but I don't know.

[sasch]

I don't know if this would make any difference, but I doubt this is 800+ FP down, probably more like 600-650, but I don't know.

800+ FP down is going to be more susceptible to the effects of compression. That said, compressing any down item for a day or two isn't going to hurt anything.