i use my stuff sack for my clothes my sleeping bag already has a compression bag. i sweat alot and i always need dry clothes at the end of the day so it's important fpor morale that i've guaranteed dry clothes to change into.

I use them for food (essential), nighttime clothing (personal choice and organisation) and the sleeping bag (habit)

If the weather is good I dont bother with a liner. If the forecast is in anydoubt I put a rucksack liner in (aka bin liner normally...)

The weight of those 3 or 4 items is minimal (for me) but just adds an element of organisation and protection that i like

They are worth 100 times the small amount of weight involved. Organised and waterproof, there is seldom a time in the UK when they are of no use.

the only thing I would add is that I have been caught short once or twice with wetting through. I now mainly use Exped sacks as they are pretty reliable although heavier than most other silnylon sacks
The other thing is that once I used a thin sack for my food and the container with my dried porcini mushroom mix spilled. It took me ages to get rid of the smell from the rest of my kit and rucksack...... :(

"the only thing I would add is that I have been caught short once or twice with wetting through"


That happens as you get older. :)

where's the smiley for "looks at the tawt who just posted the last post look"

:)

Do any of you guys put anything hard inside your Expeds. I'm just wondering if too much rubbing will take the skin off the inside!

Faux pas aside. I've just started using these bags. When it rains I put my DSLR inside one, but wrap it up in some lightweight packing material first to protect the waterproof lining. How tough do you think it is?

Iain, I think you're right to protect the lining. It's bound to go eventualy. However, it may be more likely that the lining gets corrupted in the creases of the roll-down. Thats the most noticable point of wear on my sea-to-summit dry bags which have been used on numerous canoeing trips over a period of 8 years or so. If this turns out to be the life-limiting factor then taking the time to wrap up your gear is effort wasted. I've only been using expeds for a year (that only equates to two trips so far) so I can't provide useful data.

Only just spotted this thread... o

On the PCT I walked almost 2000 miles before getting caught out by a stuffsack that wasn't waterproof (God bless California sunshine). That was the day I'd been hiking with an injured French Canadian through torrential rain (Sisters Wilderness area, Oregon) and we took out our down bags to find they were heavy, sodden, clumped up lumps.

A night in those and we'd've been hypothermic, without doubt.

Fortunately, we discovered this mishap while stood at the bar of a very remote lakeside resort that had opened specially for us when the owner saw us struggle in out of the rain. He gave us a cabin at a very special rate and saved us from a great deal of misery.

Trail magic is real!

Since then I've always used a proper sealed drybag (various brands) for my down bag. As my sleeping bag of preference is one or another PHD Minim (I've got a couple of slightly different models) it packs small enough without any serious compression so volume isn't an issue I need worry about.

Watch the seams on those dry bags though. I tested an Ortlieb one several months back and one of the sealed seams burst open. Still haven't heard back from them as to why, but it hasn't happened with the replacement I was sent.

I would be interested to know if anybody has had any problems with silnylon stuffsacks failing. I like their low weight, but they do feel very fragile and I've read in a couple of places that they're not really that waterproof. This has worried me enough that I've taken to using the rather heavier Exped ones if rain seems likely.