Space Problems?

[NothingRhymesWithRachel]

So, I have a 65L rucksack. Huge, right? Well, I thought so until I started packing the damn thing.

I have a Mountain Hardwear sleeping bag (I'm going to Scotland early next year, so having protection down to -7 C was vital), and, I bought a Vango Banshee 2-man tent (I wanted a tiny bit extra space for my pack to fit).

Anyway, the weight of these does feel fine when all together on my back. But my main problem is, my sleeping back takes up pretty much the entire inside - and that's putting it in the stuff-sack it came in. The tent is an equal size when stuffed (I can't even get the thing back into its original stuffsack, I've had to use a dry bag), and I'm at a loss.

Any suggestions on how to cram it all down? If I wrangle both of them in/on my pack, I can't fit anything else in there. It seems ridiculous given the size of the rucksack! The tent is one of those streamlined ones (so it's not a big dome tent or anything), and the sleeping bag, another member here (Quixotic Geek) can fit it into her 35L pack!

Where am I going wrong?

 

[mick91]

My advice is undersling the bag. Sew some/more webbing to the bottom of your bag and let your sleeping bag live there

 

[dave89]

Not sure what bag you've got but I strap my tent to the side of mine

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

[crosslandkelly]

Or strap the tent to the top of the pack.

 

[NothingRhymesWithRachel]

Okay to give some idea what I'm working with, here's some pictures:

(that green bag is the tent. I managed to get about 75% of it into its original stuffsack, then the rest went in the dry bag. It took me ages.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CSe31wVWEAA4TuP.jpg

That's a photo of my tent being placed vertically inside my empty rucksack. It won't fit in horizontally (which would be BETTER because I could put it at the bottom).

My rucksack is an Osprey 65L Aerial Women's rucksack. It's bloody massive, which is why I am so confused about the size of all the gear.

 

[crosslandkelly]

What tent do you have?

 

[NothingRhymesWithRachel]

As I say it's a Vango Banshee, 200 I think? Just a 2 man tent, cos the 1 man was basically the same price (due to a sale) and tiny.

 

[sunndog]

That is a fairly bulky tent but you can pack the poles seperate then stuff the tent in a smaller space

 

[NothingRhymesWithRachel]

The poles/pegs ARE separate. This is my problem. It was the only tent available that I could afford (it was on sale, so reduced from its original price). I don't mind bulky, but there's bulky and then there's 'need a vehicles because you can't carry it' kind of bulky. There HAS to be a way of getting it down smaller.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Just looking at the packed dimensions, it states 47cm x 13cm x 12cm, or basically 20" x 5". It looks like you need to roll it up a lot tighter. I know, it sounds obvious, but try practicing getting it rolled up as tightly as you can.

 

[NothingRhymesWithRachel]

Just looking at the packed dimensions, it states 47cm x 13cm x 12cm, or basically 20" x 5". It looks like you need to roll it up a lot tighter. I know, it sounds obvious, but try practicing getting it rolled up as tightly as you can.

I'll give it a bash, will try anything at this point haha. I keep reading 'stuff not roll' and whatnot. So I stuffed. Don't stuff a Vango, it don't work lol

 

[sunndog]

Bloody hell, that is a fair old size then. The fly to my sil mini peak (two man) goes in a 6ltr drybag
I just assumed it was the poles causing trouble. Looks like its strap to the outside or save up for a smaller tent then i'm afraid

 

[sandbag47]

The sleeping bag could be put in in your pack without its compression sack. Stuff it in as hard as you can and that should save a bit of space.
I hate to say it but unpack the tent and practice packing it away a few times, rolling it as tight as you can with the poles and pegs in the middle. Sometimes it's just practice that you need.

 

[crosslandkelly]

This was the only vid I could find, it's for the 300 but should be much the same.
[video=youtube;mp4blaFDLHY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp4blaFDLHY[/video]

 

[GGTBod]

If the lid of your rucksack has extendible straps you can sit your tent horizontal ontop of your gear once the bag is full and pull the lid/hood over it having it poke out at both sides held in place by the hood and buckled straps and then have your sleeping bag on the bottom outside as mentioned above, this leaves your whole rucksack free for your gear and as the tent is always the first thing you will want to grab when setting up camp it works out good.

Like in this image

 

[Bishop]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CSe31wVWEAA4TuP.jpg

Ah, ok.. compressing the sleeping bag might be a good place to start.
Put a bin-bag in the stuff sack and then put the sleeping bag inside, this provides rain & dunking protection in case of botched stream crossings.
Grab a couple of old belts and put them around the stuff sack top to bottom and you have a cheap compression sack.
Apply grunt to the belts and with a bit of luck the sleeping bag will now go sideways into the bottom of the pack.

Not familiar with that tent, but if the fibreglass poles are removable then strapping these to the outside of pack could not hurt.

 

[NothingRhymesWithRachel]

Okay so I tried re-rolling it. It took me two attempts, but I got it in the original stuffsack, and lo and behold it's now sitting at the bottom of my pack:

(Sorry about the wonky angle!)

Seems okay now. All I need to do is make sure I remember how I did it! haha. Thanks for the help I've literally been messing with that for two days trying to figure it out.

 

[GGTBod]

It's often the way with new kit and stuff sacks/storage bags, once you have packed and unpacked them 20 odd times you fit them in with space left over

 

[kizzer35]

Maybe something worth mentioning is that if you are having difficulty packing the tent in its stuff sack when it's dry, you will probably have a lot more difficulty doing so if the tent is wet. Camping in Scotland means it's likely your tent will be wet at some point, so it might be worth finding a slightly less snug fitting alternative to the sack the tent came with and packing it in that instead. All the best.

 

[NothingRhymesWithRachel]

Maybe something worth mentioning is that if you are having difficulty packing the tent in its stuff sack when it's dry, you will probably have a lot more difficulty doing so if the tent is wet. Camping in Scotland means it's likely your tent will be wet at some point, so it might be worth finding a slightly less snug fitting alternative to the sack the tent came with and packing it in that instead. All the best.

The way I packed it in the pic below, I actually found I had about an inch diameter spare so if it did expand, or not roll up quite as well, it should still work (that being said, I do have a spare drybag if the need calls for it, it's a bit bigger and means I can still roll it with no issues.