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  1. #1
    Senior Member
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    Gear Rant - the evils of undersized stuff sacks!

    Am I going to complain about how many extra grams a stuff sack or two adds to your load? Nope, that's not it. Perhaps it's the occasional disappearing cinch-lock on a stuff sack? nope.

    No, what I'm highly annoyed with is the continuing insistence by manufacturers of outdoor gear to provide with their product stuff sacks/gear bags that are exactly large enough for an Asian black belt in fold-fu to get the gear back INTO the bag in less than 1/2 hour. REI, bless their souls, recognized this problem some time in the early part of the century, and I've never had gear from them that took more than 25% more time to put back in the bag than it did to get it out of the bag.

    My Amok Draumr XL, on the other hand... It took longer to get the blasted hammock back into it's stuff sack than it did to actually set the entire thing up, and that includes inflating the mattress. Oh, and then there's the mattress. Again, it took way longer to put it away than it did to set it up, but at least with an air mattress there's some obvious reason. Still, sizing the stuff sack for your air mattress so it's a snug fit when there is ZERO air in the mattress is absolutely idiotic. How many people are going to spend 10+ minutes chasing all the air out of an XL mattress?

    Rolling the tree straps should take more time than anything else. It shouldn't be the fastest aspect of packing up.

    Am I a lone crazy ranting in the wilderness, or is this a pain shared by others?

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    Sep 2019
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    This is so awesome! I don’t know how many times I’ve gotten irate trying to get a tarp or whatever back into a stuff sack. I’ve since stopped using most of my stuff sacks for their original gear... (tarp is in a snakeskin, my camp pillow is just stuffed in my backpack...) & they now carry straps & suspension.
    I agree, why cut corners on stuff sacks?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    FLTurtle's Avatar
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    I have an REI inflatable air pad...you're right, they do a good job with their stuff sacks. I've never had an issue getting it back into the stuff sack so long as I did a reasonable job of getting the air out. My inflatable pillow won't go back into it's stuff sack, but I just deflate it as best I can and cram it in my pack.

    I don't see the problem with the cottage gear. Honestly, when I first got my HG quilts I didn't think the included stuff sacks would be big enough. They are like rocks though, so not much more compressible. I usually don't use the stuff sacks with the quilts. If I do, it's usually the UQ to protect the suspension and not tangle/snag the shock cord.

    The tarps compress well. I have a Thunderfly and Superfly in snakeskins and I can still get them back into their stuff sacks. My hammocks fit just fine in their stuff sacks. The WB hammock stuff sack is considerably larger than the Dutchware. Both can still compress further so they do a good job at filling empty spaces in the pack.

    Maybe get a larger stuff for your Draumr? How big is the one they include?

  4. #4
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
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    When I open my tarp stuff sacks, it's a total snake-in-a-can moment.

  5. #5
    Senior Member jeff-oh's Avatar
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    Another validation of your frustrations... I purchased the next size up stuff sack separately for my quilts. I could barely get them back in the original bags. There are other decent companies out there...

  6. #6
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    I totally agree. I hate tiny stuff sacks, particularly when they are too narrow for my hand with a handful of fabric to get inside. I always replace with reasonable sized sacks so that packing up is much quicker and less frustrating. Or, skip the stuff sacks by stuffing most stuff inside my giant stuff sack otherwise known as my pack.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Tyroler Holzhacker's Avatar
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    I agree with the OP and have thus used snakeskins for my tarp and oversized REI stuff sacks for my quilts. I bought an extra large custom german flag bishop bag with my DH sparrow, and use it to store my straps in a sap bag.

  8. #8
    OMG Yes!!!

    I replace all the stuff sacks with something that is about 50% bigger than the original. If I will be in a hurry when I pack up, I have a stuff sack that is 2x the size of the original.

    Does it weight a bit more? Yes.
    Does it take up more space? In theory.

    In practice, I find that having each "thingy" in a larger stuff sack makes them slightly more "malleable" and I have a slightly easier time packing my bag.
    Last edited by Semiuseless; 09-15-2020 at 11:38.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Eclectic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BikerDad View Post

    No, what I'm highly annoyed with is the continuing insistence by manufacturers of outdoor gear to provide with their product stuff sacks/gear bags that are exactly large enough for an Asian black belt in fold-fu to get the gear back INTO the bag in less than 1/2 hour.
    Bahahahaha! I love this description.

    BTW - this does not only apply to stuff sacks. We have encountered this phenomenon when packing equipment back into vehicles. Somehow, all the things that fit so nicely on our way TO camp never fit so nicely on our way home FROM camp. I have long claimed that fresh air causes all camping equipment to expand in volume by 20%.

  10. #10
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Semiuseless View Post
    In practice, I find that having each bag in a larger stuff sack makes them slightly more "malleable" and I have a slightly easier time packing my bag.
    Good point. I think you save a lot more space in the end being able to pack a conforming shape opposed to a tight, solid round/oval ball of gear. Same principle as packing quilts loose in the bottom of a pack liner opposed to a stuff sack.

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