RE: [Philmont]: Down vs synthetic bags?

I meant to respond to this earlier but a structure fire this morning
kind of killed my early Sunday morning quiet time when I usually read
the chatter and take care of email. But I digress.... This thread made
me realize that the bag I used for out 2004 trek was about 34 years old.
It was an OBS bag that was my 'big' Christmas present in the early 70's.
At the time it was the Supply Division's answer to high tech gear and
was called the "Blue Cloud" supposedly a sub zero bag, that never met
the claim. However even after the heavy years of use it had, it was
perfect for me at Philmont. I think it's weight is around 1.5 pounds
after the down loss over the years. I found that it stuffed well into an
EMS shopping bag and that was my stuff sack for it, which I am still
using a year later. Keep the bag dry, and it will keep you warm. Some
nights too warm, most nights just right.
 When we hit Wild Horse, I had been watching myself slip into
hypothermia for about an hour or so. I was soaked from a hailstorm and
only had partial raingear on due to the heat of the climb. It didn't
matter much as we were all soaked with sweat before the temps dropped 15
degrees in as many minutes. The ground was completely covered with with
hail as we entered and selected a campsite. Everyone wanted to wait
under the trees until the heavy rains subsided, but I informed the Crew
Chief and the other adults of my condition and that I could wait no
longer. My tent mate and I got the tent up in the downpour, I climbed in
and striped off my clothes, put on a dry fresh set of dry sleeping gear
plus a few extras. It was the only time on the trek we broke bear
protocols. My crew chief awakened me at around 6pm with a bowl of hot
food and demanded that I eat it. I told him I could not leave the tent
as I was not yet warm enough and he insisted I eat in the tent,
CAREFULLY, over the plastic sheet he had brought along. (yes, I can see
you all rolling your eyes, too bad.) I ate it all and put the stuff
outside the tent which they picked up later. I dropped right back off to
sleep and didn't move again until about 5 am when nature called. The
next day I was a little weak, but recovered quickly. Not much attention
was paid to my condition after that because we were all concerned about
a youth in our sister crew with tendonitis who wound up being pulled
from the trail later in the day.
 On hindsight, I would not have changed a thing we did. I knew what was
happening to me, and everyone took appropriate actions. My main thought
was to treat it quickly so as not to slow down the crew on the following
day. I think everyone appreciated that I recognized the signs, and I was
relieved to see that they all bought in to the fact that they would have
to deal with it as a crew. It wasn't 'my problem', it was 'our problem'.
It was also no big deal. I am very 'studied' in outdoor emergency care
(this was my third experience with hypothermia). My tent mate was a very
experienced EMT, and the crew was relatively mature in such matters.
(over the years they have seen field sutchering (sp?) with sewing
thread, a medivac for a burn patient, and many other things most Scouts
don't experience, hopefully.)
 But the point of this note, (and yes, there actually was one) was that
my beat up old down bag did the job just fine, and BOY did it feel GOOD
to climb into it and dry clothes that night I was in such bad shape. The
reason I made this point in such a round-a-bout way was for the newer
members just joining the list for next summers treks. You will deal with
the whole gamut of weather conditions when you are in God's Country and
you need to prepare your crews during those training hikes. Plant the
seeds in their heads to prepare them for all the issues and conditions
they may have to deal with. Most crews come off the trail as a bonded
unit ready to conquer the world. Some come off having barely survived
the experience. Which type do you want your crew to be?
Happy Hiking,
Tom
IWGBTP sometime soon
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-philmont@troop47.com [mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com] On
Behalf Of Pete Swiggum
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2005 1:54 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
Subject: [Philmont]: Down vs synthetic bags?

For the record, synthetic-filled sleeping bags are just fine in many
camping situations. It's my opinion, however, that down sleeping bags
are the best way to go in the long run for nearly any outdoor trek.

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Received on Sun Nov 27 19:44:01 2005