Took me 50 miles on the AT to realize I'd been packing my sleeping bag wrong the whole time

I always stuffed it in the bottom of my pack with everything on top, and after a miserable night where it came out damp and flattened, a guy at a shelter showed me to keep it in a dry sack at the top - has anyone else had a simple packing habit that just clicked one day?

3 comments

3 Comments

claire_ramirez2mo ago

omg that's literally me, I did the exact same thing for way too long lol

paige862mo ago

13 years is a long time but is it really that big of a deal if you were happy with it?

derekjenkins24d ago

13 years is a long time" - yeah, but I read somewhere that most people on the trail figure out their system after the first week or two. I think I heard that from a hiker who did the whole PCT, he said the dry sack trick is like the #1 thing newbies miss. The real kicker is how much warmer I stayed once the bag wasn't getting squished flat under 30 pounds of gear.