Stuff sack sizes

[Quixoticgeek]

Why do kit manufacturers seem to insist on supplying gear in stuff sacks that the item will only fit into once at the factory when rolled up in a special way by some magic machine?

It's just taken me 10 minutes and 5 rerollings to squeeze my Exped Synmat 7 UL into it's pouch, and it's hardly a perfect fit...

Sorry, had to get that off my chest...

J

 

[Toddy]

I gave up on the stuff sacks, and bought a set of dry bags instead. They come multi sizes and multi coloured and just make life easy.
They're generally tough and can take a lot of squeezing to get air out and down to a reasonable size when packing tight too.
I haven't bust one yet, but I've shredded and de-strapped two stuff sacks.

M

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Pretty much everything in my pack is now in a dry bag, with the exception of the exped Synmat and the matching pillow pump. I may have to get some more stuff sacks...

J

 

[petrochemicals]

I don't like the way everything packs up to the shape of a cylinder or small object to do jigsaws with.
I found long ago the best way to pack all things is folded into waterproof bags that are left open and allow the items in the bag to compress them. Clothes bivvys tents all compact up nice. As everything in your pack becomes compacted anyway may as well use it to your advantage. It has two benefits as well, firstly everything now has the exact dimensions for your rucksack, unlike awkward cylinders of stuff, and secondly everything is really easy to pack\unpack, just fold it and let the other things in your pack do the work!

 

[santaman2000]

If you want to learn how to get anything back into it's original container (or even smaller) take up skydiving. Once you learn to pack your own chute, you can get an elephant into a number 5 shopping bag.

 

[John Fenna]

One can never have enough stuff sacks - of all sizes!
I generally make my own over-size stuff sacks for my gear (most recently in rip stop cotton, waxed cotton and Ventile from a jacket that I killed - the fabric was fine but I had worn through the seams with years of use).
I cannot stand spending ages double forcing gear into tiny stuff sacks - as Petrochemicals says, gear compresses into the shape of your pack better if it is not crushed into solid blocks before it goes in the pack! Having a huge sack also helps ... I can just throw stuff in it without worrying about crushing it small first, letting it settle by itself to fill every Crook and Nanny.
Big stuff sacks and big packs do not mean you carry more - they just help ease packing
The supplied stuff sacks get used for other, smaller, bits of lit as and when needed....
I have a giant stuff sack to store all my small stuff sacks in my gear/workroom.....

 

[John Fenna]

If you want to learn how to get anything back into it's original container (or even smaller) take up skydiving. Once you learn to pack your own chute, you can get an elephant into a number 5 shopping bag.

I do not even like flying - I do not see myself throwing myself out of a working aircraft just to worry about how well I stuffed the chute into its stuff sack and I too am more of a Christian than other ... and may come a cropper (see Big Yin - the parachutist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJR1DVaTcJI and the rest of that show...)
I will stick to walking (see the same clips...)

 

[sandbender]

"...at the factory when rolled up in a special way by some magic machine?.."

Don't roll it, stuff it in, I find that helps.

As others here have mentioned, dry bags make life easier, however if I'm cutting down on weight and don't plan on falling in a river I place an open rubble bag into my rucksack and then stuff everything into that, compressing it and twisting the top closed when about two thirds full, that way I can fill up every available cubic cm of space in my pack, once one rubble bag is full I repeat the process with another.

So usually one bag for sleeping bag, one for clothes, one for tarp.

 

[oldtimer]

Some time ago we bought identical Rab down bags only to find that the supplied stuff sack were of different sizes. I had wondered why my wife had more trouble than me when packing up in the morning until we checked our stuff sacks.

She now uses an overlarge stuff sack for her sleeping bag. This is then put in the bottom of her rucksack and the rest of the contents pushed down on top. She reckons it is kinder on the bag and that the squashiness fills up dead space. Her surplus stuff sack as supplied by Rab nicely takes my down waistcoat. Me, I stuff mine into a dry bag. It takes careful squashing to get the bag compressed AND the surplus air out of the dry bag before rolling the closure shut.

 

[MikeLA]

I dont bother - for the sleeping bag I put into the bivi bag and stuff it at the bottom of my pack and use one large ortlieb bag for everything else. Damp used kit or cooking kit goes into simple plastic shoping bags. It damp and used so why not.

 

[Mesquite]

I know what you mean about stuff sacks in general but I've never had any trouble getting my exped back in its bag, in fact it's quite easy to pack it

 

[santaman2000]

I do not even like flying - I do not see myself throwing myself out of a working aircraft just to worry about how well I stuffed the chute into its stuff sack and I too am more of a Christian than other ... and may come a cropper (see Big Yin - the parachutist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJR1DVaTcJI and the rest of that show...)
I will stick to walking (see the same clips...)

Just added that to my "watch later" list. Thanks John.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

I know what you mean about stuff sacks in general but I've never had any trouble getting my exped back in its bag, in fact it's quite easy to pack it

What method do you use? Do you fold it into 3, and roll it just the once? It used to fit fine, but the more I've used it the harder it gets to pack...

Julia

 

[birchwood]

Ha ,you lot have not lived until you have got a hot air balloon back in its bag.

 

[Chaard]

my OH bought a sleeping bag from a blacks camping store before our year long backpacking round the world type adventure.

I took it back because it wouldn't go back in the bag only for an arrogant shop assistant to tell me I was doing it wrong!

I bet him a full refund and 10 quid discount that it couldn't be done. He ripped the bag trying.