How to Keep Your Sleeping Bag Dry While Camping

Learn how to keep your sleeping bag dry while camping with these tips from an expert camper! Find out how to hang up your sleeping bag and let it dry even more while keeping it dry.

How to Keep Your Sleeping Bag Dry While Camping

When camping, it's important to keep your sleeping bag dry. If your bag gets wet, there are a few steps you can take to ensure it dries out before nightfall. The most effective way is to hang up your bag and let it dry. Depending on the location and time of year, the time needed to restore drying will vary.

On a sunny, warm, arid morning in Mountain West, it can be done quickly. If you're hiking the Appalachian Trail in February, you may need a motel room. If your bag is only damp or has just gotten wet in one or two places, you may be able to dry it at night with body heat. Many camping experts say that a wet sleeping bag isn't the end of the world and that you'll only suffer a slight temperature loss.

As you might have guessed, it all depends on your camping habits to avoid sleeping in a humid place. You can probably continue to use the bag as it is, dry it in the sun before going out to camp or during the day during a rest stop. If the temperature is likely to drop below freezing at night and you're exhausted after a long day of hiking, you're at risk of hypothermia without a functional sleeping bag. Many people use sacks to replace their tents, an interesting option for novice campers, but a reasonable option for a long-distance backpacker who needs to travel with little luggage and weather resistance. Everyone thought it was silly to spend my money on buying a liner for the bottom of the ALICE backpack for my sleeping kit and all the other clothes were in a couple of waterproof bags on the top.

Learn how tent waterproofing works and see if some of those ideas could be transferred to sleeping bags. The most important thing to remember when taking good care of your sleeping bag is not to leave it in its storage bag for long periods of time. I line my bag with a waterproof bag, as described in the article, but I wonder how much moisture the bag will absorb at night in my tent, while I sleep. For example, I normally use a plastic bag as a backpack liner, which I have used more than once as a travel bag in cold weather. If you find yourself in this situation while out camping and there's no way to dry off your sleeping bag before nightfall, there are still some steps you can take to minimize any potential damage. Hang up your bag and let it dry even more while keeping it dry.

This technique is my favorite and the most effective. If the humid weather hits me and I feel uncomfortable or close to the safety limits of my systems, I'll take the first chance I get to dry out. If you're camping with someone else and you have at least one dry sleeping bag between you, you might be able to gather enough heat to keep you warm all night. I'm going there in less than 2 weeks for a week and the forecasts are for constant rain and low temperatures ???? I'm going to sleep in a small SMD tent at the campsites, but during the day I'll be on my feet from morning to night.

Ashlee Salter
Ashlee Salter

Evil food aficionado. Friendly social media buff. Incurable tv enthusiast. Devoted internet junkie. Freelance travel fanatic. Freelance writer.

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