Re: [Paddlewise] Sleeping bag liners

Although bag liners are terrific in the winter, I would suggest avoiding cotton
ones.  You tend to blow off a lot of moisture even if you're just happily lying
still all night long.  Moisture reduces the insulative value of the bag.  The
trick is to get the moisture to flow through the bag and out into the
atmosphere, rather than have it in your bag.  Thus anything absorbant, be it the
inner liner, the bag, or the outer liner, is not a great idea for the winter.

Also, drying out a bag while on a trip in the winter can be problematic.  Even a
high end bag will retain some moisture after you have been in it for a few
hours.  This is no big deal in the summer, for the bag will air out almost
immediately.  In the winter it just ices up.  After a few days the moisture
build up in the bag in the winter will start to be noticable, and if unattended
can seriously affect the insulative efficiency of the bag.  Thoroughly airing
out the bag in the winter every day or two is important.

The obvious question is how about using a cotton blanket as a liner to absorb
the moisture rather than letting it get into the bag.  I tried this for a week,
and will never do it again.  It did not help keep moisture out of the bag, and
to make things worse, it left me with an iced up cotton blanket.

The bottom line for crashing in the snow is to maximize the ability of you bag
and liners to evaporate off moisture as you sleep.  Use thin nylon or silk inner
liners, or thick polypropelene/fleece inner liners if your bag needs a bit of
help keeping you warm, but avoid cotton liners if you are going to be in the
deep freeze for more than a couple of nights.  Whatever you use, let it air out
in the day for as long as possible.

Richard Culpeper
Happy and warm at -40
www.geocities.com/~culpeper

Sisler, Clyde wrote:

> Anyone use these things?  I sweat a lot in hot, humid weather and it seems a
> cotton liner would help keep me more comfortable and my bag a lot cleaner.
> In wintertime it would help keep body moisture from the bag, keep heat in
> and probably lower the bag's rating by a few degrees.
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