compression sack sizes

“I've got a mountain hardware 2nd dimension long sleeping bag and a mountain hardware hammerhead 2 tent, and am looking to purchase two OR compression sacks in order to compress the load. Does anyone know what sizes I should get? Remember, I am getting two bags, one for the sleeping bag and one for the tent. Any help would be appreciated.”

“Beats me. I always end up buying about three. I have no idea what happens to the ones that didn't fit.”

“Didn't your things come with bags when you got them?”

“they did, but they weren't compression sacks. Just two nylon zip bags as standard with any tent/sleeping bag.”

“Huh. Oh. Didn't know that, forgive me.”

“If I need to compress a stuff sack I just put my own straps on and use that. I'll use a long narrow stuff sack and use one strap wrapped top to bottom. That way you only have to use one strap.”

“I don't know richb, I've seen my friend compress his sierra designs nightview tent and tnf cat's meow sleeping bag into next to nothing. I would be hard pressed to believe that same level of compression could be accomplished with just one strap, but you've definitly given me something to try out.”

“Well yes, you may not get the same level of compression, but I usually only need to do this to help my sleeping bag fit into one of my smaller packs a bit better because the bottom is a bit narrow. If you really need extreme compression you may have to go with a full blown compression sack. If you can get away with a sil nylon sack and one strap like I do it's lighter too and water resistant. I hate compressing my sleeping bag too much anyway. I just tighten it up some and that's all.”

“How do you compress a tent?
Nylon and poles aren't very compressable.
Overcompressing down or other insulation is in general a bad idea.”

“I don't think you would need to compress a tent. Just sticking it into the pack with everything around it to fill up the spaces should compress it enough.”

“I haven't done this with my tent yet, but the way my friend did it with the nightview was by putting the footprint, canopy, and fly (not folded) into the sack, compressing that, then putting the tent poles on the outside of his pack. The more I think about it, the more I think heavy compression might be a bad idea, but at the present moment, 80% of my pack is filled with just the bulk of the tent and sleeping bag.”

“Hey, gevadun, this is a good question. I have a gigantic, crappy brand sleeping bag and I had the same question on the MTpalooza. Where do I find a bag to squish this thing up?”

“newgirl: from what I've been told and from the images I've seen, Outdoor Research makes the best compression sacks. My friend, whom I mentioned earlier in the thread told me on the phone tonight that for his sleeping bag he payed $30 for the sack, so I would assume this is either the #3 or #4 model, but as with all gear, I'm not buying until I see it in person.”

“How big of a pack are using? 80% filled with 2 items seems like your pack is too small for what you are carrying.”

“I have 2 Granite Gear tubular compression sacks. One is a small, the other a large. When I bought the small one at REI, they had a chart there that listed the size/weight capacity that each size can hold. With the small one, I can compress my sleeping bag with no problem. I was going to try putting my tent, my fleece, and possibly my extra clothes into the large one for my next trip, to see if it'll make a difference. This one was given to me, so I'm not sure what I can put into it yet. Plus I'm like you: do I want the added weight of compressed stuff?

Granite gear does have a site you can go to. I don't know how to do a link proper, so .....

www.granitegear.com

I just went there, and yes, they do have a chart and dimentions to look at for assistance.

Hope this helps! :-)”

“I compress both my sleeping bag and my tent. I use a Lowe comp. sack for my 3 season bag - size medium. For my tent body and fly I use (I think it's a Lowe) skeleton comp. sack - it's just two round pieces of mesh attached by four straps with compression (?) buckles. I don't use the original stuff sack with the back, but the other 'compressor' has to be used over the stuff sack. I use a size medium for that too because it's a 4 man expedition tent. Both bag (Quallofill mummie) and tent squeeze down to the size of a basketball each. For my winter bag I use a size large. It can be a bit of a job getting them in, but they end up smaller with the smaller compressors. I hope that helps.”

“Gevaudan I have a new XL granite campression bag I need to sell has never been used still in the package. It holds 1600 cubes is 10"x21" is black”

“I compress nothing and sure as hell no one will ever compress my sack. I started out putting my bag in a compression sack, but ended up putting my tent and bag in separate trash bags for protection from water. Thus protected and uncompressed, they filled into the little nooks and crannies as I stuffed them into my back pack. Worked much better this way and left more space in the pack.”

“Yes, I have a granite gear large compression sack I got for my sleeping bag. It doesn't fit well in my pack and have found it best to stuff my bag in the bottom pocket of my pack. I might be interested in picking up a smaller compression sack for clothes.”

“Interesting. I was contemplating purchasing some compression sacks.”

“my winter sleeping bag compresses down to the size of a foot ball :)”

“I had a rather incompressible bag once (on loan) and a rather flimsy stuff sack. I went on a three week trip and had to stitch up tears in the sack on at least two occasions during that time.”

“I love compression sacks”

“Yuppie hikers (snort)!”

“Double snort”

“"Yuppie hikers"

Isn't there a nice fuego thread regarding that?”

“I used to be a yuppie :)”

“I thought you used to be a hiker (snort)!”

“:O!”