I'd always thought this was a no-no even for synthetic bags, but I see Wiggy's sells some in a vacuum sealed pouch for lots of cash, for use by pilots and so forth. You leave the thing permanently compressed in the ditch kit unless you actually bail out. Do they have some special fibers or something that can stand the long term compression?

I'm thinking of getting one of those $25 Countycomm bags and squashing it in a compression sack for storage in my BOB backpack. Reasonable?

All insulating materials lose LOFT being compressed; goose down, lamilite, steel wool, road kill sheep. The insulating material's ability to regain that loft is the criteria at issue. Obviously we can't run around with extended sleeping bags like some emerging butterfly. All materials will experience a percentile loss in spite of all the fluffing and shaking we invest before crawling inside. I am a prejudiced fan of lamilite and Jerry's product. I can't afford a permanently compressed bag, but I've stuffed mine away and anecdotally found the insulation very close to maximum efficiency within an hour. For $25 you can't lose much. Buy the bag, compress it for a few weks and then crawl into the thing on a cold night. If your uncomfortably chilled you've only lost $25 and possibly saved your life. I'd rather have a Wiiggy than a inexpensive bag, a $25 bag over a space blanket and a space blanket over nothing <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Loft in any insulating material traps air -- and the longer and more often you compress it ( and the dirtier it is...) the less effective it becomes.

Can you store your sleeping bag open? Perhaps loose or in a big pillow case ( uncompressed) on top of luggage?

TRO

The Air Force puts vacuum packed bags in some survival kits. The only one I ever got to open had been packed for about 1 year. The insulation was compressed down to about the thinkness of a good blanket. After several hours it expanded to about 1 inch thickness..not real good.

Teacher has the right idea, store it as loose as possible. Some outdoor stores sell bags just for this. I have never had a Wiggys bag, so they may be different. I do remember the Air Force bag had a down fill.

I have an old Air Force vacuum packed down filled bag. It was taken out of a pilot’s survival kit. (The surplus store didn’t know what they had!) I have not opened it and don’t plan on it until needed. I figure it will still be good until needed. At the time I got it, the Air Force was looking into using the Wiggy’s bags for their kits. I have a Wiggy’s “Superlight” and have never had a problem after having it compressed for a year or more in its bag.

My survival instructor in college, who was close to some Air Force survival instructors, told us something that has always stuck regarding the military. He said they have spent millions of dollars (probably Billions) in researching equipment for our troops to make sure they have the best they can get.

I will dig out my vacuum packed bag and find out what the date of compression is.

The Air Force bags are good equipment, and will keep you warm probably down to about 20 degrees. Thats a nice warm sleep, they will probably keep you alive much lower than this, maybe 0 or even -10, but you will not be sleeping much. Alot depends on your physical state, and how much you have had to eat. I would guess that the bag I unpacked regained about 50% of its orginal loft, and it had been packed for about 14 months. I was told that even after being compressed for several years it would re-loft to this 50% level

Speaking of surplus stores and sleeping bags. Earlier this year I picked up a fairly new Modular Sleeping System at the local army store. Green patrol bag, black intermediate bag, Gore-tex bivy cover, and compression sack. The price? a slick $125 Now thats a deal :-)

www.wiggys.com Jerry's archived articles are well worth the reading. Compressed sleeping bags are a reflection of our own inflated expectations. Even the finest kit deserves proactive use by the owner. I was out of the service, in college on a strict G.I. Bill budget. I went on a field trip with about the cheapest excuse for a bag imaginable. I froze. My next check largely went into a arctic rated down bag. I negotiated a deal because it was an unpopular peagreen colour and heavier than the popular bags. Back in the desert and I pulled out my bag. Poor thing looked like a dehydrated worm.I crawled in to tired to worry. Hey, it was a premium arctic rated bag. I was still cold. This led to a ritual shaking not unlike an italian tarantella. My peers told new members it was a evening prayer I was obliged to perform after taking part in a peyote vision quest. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I crawled back in and was so warm a Mohave green took refuge next to me. This New Age type proclaimed our campsite a power spot. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I just compressed a poncho liner in one of those vaccum bags so it will fit in my LBE buttpack...

was that a bad idea?

Just a thought but why does the military purchase "only the best for the troops" from the lowest bidder!

I can not argue that at all. All I can say is that when you buy several hundred thousand of an item the price does come down a bit.