Sleeping wet in a sleeping bag.

[GrantK]

drying anything is much more forgiving in a synthetic bag, you can dry "Damp" clothes in low humidity in a down bag, you can usually dry "wet" clothes in a humid environment in a synthetic bag... with down there seems to be a hard-line where the bag can't dissipate any more moisture and gets saturated... my personal preference is to strip down and have a second dry set of clothes but if that isn't an option full suit in a synthetic bag works pretty well...

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

I think there are a couple of different situations being discussed. Sustaining yourself over the long term with wet clothes and emergency action. Either way, as body heat evaporates water from wet clothes inside a bag, the moisture is first going into the insulation. As down gets damp it becomes less efficient quicker than synthetic; which will retain its insulating properties better when damp. If you are hunting in damp areas a lot, I would definitely use a synthetic bag. Your cold/wet clothes will dry faster while you are walking the next morning, vs while trapped inside a bag, plus you will actually sleep good, and your bag will still be worth a $hit the next night. If you are wet and worried about survival, start a fire....

 

[Elkmagnet]

If you have never had to put frozen clothes and boots on have you really lived? I can recall a few mornings where the boots were too frozen to be tied until mid morning.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

If you have never had to put frozen clothes and boots on have you really lived? I can recall a few mornings where the boots were too frozen to be tied until mid morning.

When holding over jetboil to thaw, ensuring laces are secure is key...

 

[Elkmagnet]

I think when it comes to stripping down and sleeping vs wearing them dry you have to factor in the weather for the following day.
If its going to be 40+ and sunny the next day I'm stripping down and putting on frozen clothes knowing that they will dry tomorrow.
If it is going to be 15 out the next day and I have the feeling that having dry clothes is a safety issue I would do as in the video above.

 

[WYWINCHESTER]

When holding over jetboil to thaw, ensuring laces are secure is key...

Sounds like experiance talking there.

 

[DouglasR]

If you have never had to put frozen clothes and boots on have you really lived? I can recall a few mornings where the boots were too frozen to be tied until mid morning.

This one time at ski camp I didn’t know you should loosen all the laces in your boots before you go to bed and I thought I was gonna have to go barefoot in snowshoes a few hundred yards back to the car.

 

[Akcabin]

I would take the clothes off before I got into the bag. Hang them with sticks in the legs n such so they can get better air flow if they were soaked. If damp maybe try wearing them. But probably wouldn't want my sleeping bag wet inside. I was on a drop off moose hunt on the Stony river. It rained a bunch. The bush plane that was to pick us up could not make it over the mountain range and risk flying blindy back down through the clouds. So we spent an extra week out there. There was always inches of rain inside the tent.
Suck it up buttercup time. Actually I did ok n look back on another moose hunt with a smile. And a grizzly bear stole my moose antlers to boot.

 

[Irrelevant]

When holding over jetboil to thaw, ensuring laces are secure is key...

one of the reasons I went from a pocket rocket to a windburner was that I ruined $300 boots trying to thaw them over the torch. Windburner is much gentler heat.

I'd never wake up if I went to bed in wet clothes. I have a helluva time staying warm with dry down, let alone wet!

 

[kiwi hunter]

been wet several times and most certainly do not recommend

 

[Phaseolus]

one of the reasons I went from a pocket rocket to a windburner was that I ruined $300 boots trying to thaw them over the torch. Windburner is much gentler heat.

I'd never wake up if I went to bed in wet clothes. I have a helluva time staying warm with dry down, let alone wet!

Yup, some of us just sleep cold, starting out wet and cold would not be good for me. I’d have to heat water and put it in my nalgene.

 

[WyoDoug]

Don't sleep in wet clothes if you do not have to. I always carry a dry set in my pack in plastic bags to keep them dry. If you think you are close to hypothermic get out of wet clothes as soon as you can. If you have no other option, yes you will eventually dry out in a sleeping bag but if you are hypothermic you may be in trouble and prolly best to sleep in yer birthday suit than sleep in wet clothes. If yer just damp you will likely be OK just slipping into a dry sleeping bag.

I was near hypothermic last year on my antelope hunt and a game warden helped me get the goat to my truck in ice cold drizzling rain. I started up my truck and stripped off the cold wet stuff as soon as I could and the warden kept an eye on me to make sure I was OK until I gave him the thumbs up and drove home. I have been hypothermic several times in the military and went through heat exhaustion and heat stroke. None of those are fun to endure and not something to mess with. My advice, if you are wet and cold, get out of them damn wet clothes.

 

[hank4elk]

I guess I was a dummy.I always have a 2nd set of clothes. Many times on pack trips. 60lb packs were normal.
Never let your bag get wet. Dried a few down bags in the sun the next day.

Built a few huge dry everything fires,waiting it out. Stayed up by the fire all night in emergencies. Put on damp gear & got the hell out ASAP a few times.
My boots always kept as warm & dry as possible. They sleep in my down parka at times.

 

[longbow51]

Great video from Stone glacier

OK, I know these guys are SEALs, Delta Force, etc., and could kill me with a spork, but I've done it for 50 years. Remove all wet clothing, towel off with any remaining dry item (sock, bandana, etc.) get in sleeping bag. Not filming it , cause, well shrinkage, dude. Warm and dry in 10 minutes. Then, wring out wet clothing (in vestibule), then bring in inner layers, then outer in cycles. All the while drinking hot cocoa. Stay toasty warm the whole time.

Age and experience win every time

 

[44hunter45]

Yes. As I recall it was with synthetic bags. No down.

This one?

The Darkroom: A Navy SEAL Rewarming Drill | SITKA Gear

www.sitkagear.com

 

[JAG]

Corey and Randy recently did another interview with a Sitka Gear rep, except it was John Barklow. Barklow was with the Navy for 26 years and taught survival in Alaska during that tenure. Many of the tweaks discussed on this thread were addressed in that podcast as they addressed possible improvements and successes during Corey's recent Alaska Roosevelt Elk hunt.

Synthetic bags are better for wet and rainy climes and for drawing humidity away from wet clothes. Down bags tend to clump up when wet and lose their loft. The drawback of sleeping in your bag with wet clothes to draw them out is that your bag gets wet. If you have many days ahead of you, the question becomes how you dry it out with a copious and sustained amount of rain in the forecast.

Corey claimed they were not able to start a fire since everything was saturated. Mind and speech got a little slurred, so they kept hiking to stave off hypothermia.

Do any of you have experience with those mylar space blankets and their effectiveness?

 

[rustednuts]

Corey and Randy recently did another interview with a Sitka Gear rep, except it was John Barklow. Barklow was with the Navy for 26 years and taught survival in Alaska during that tenure. Many of the tweaks discussed on this thread were addressed in that podcast as they addressed possible improvements and successes during Corey's recent Alaska Roosevelt Elk hunt.

Synthetic bags are better for wet and rainy climes and for drawing humidity away from wet clothes. Down bags tend to clump up when wet and lose their loft. The drawback of sleeping in your bag with wet clothes to draw them out is that your bag gets wet. If you have many days ahead of you, the question becomes how you dry it out with a copious and sustained amount of rain in the forecast.

Corey claimed they were not able to start a fire since everything was saturated. Mind and speech got a little slurred, so they kept hiking to stave off hypothermia.

Do any of you have experience with those mylar space blankets and their effectiveness?

I've used the mylar blankets in wilderness medicine classes when burritos someone. That is where you put them in a sleeping bag and then wrap them in a tarp or space blanket like a burrito. I've never been in one but the participants say it is instant heat.

 

[longbow51]

Any non-permeable barrier works the same. On a very windy day, actually tried the Mylar "rescue blanket" I had carried for years. In minutes was sweating. An industrial size garbage bag, which essentially costs nothing, would have worked the same.

 

[WyoDoug]

Any non-permeable barrier works the same. On a very windy day, actually tried the Mylar "rescue blanket" I had carried for years. In minutes was sweating. An industrial size garbage bag, which essentially costs nothing, would have worked the same.

This would warm you up but would not dry you up. It retains heat but also prevents the moisture from escaping. This works if you strip all wet clothes off you then get under it. One of the keys to the question orginally posted by the OP is about getting into sleeping bags wet. I recommend stripping wet clothes and hanging them off the ground where they can air dry and then get in dry sleeping bag the way you were born. Hopefully you brought spare clothes but in a pinch once your clothes are drip dried, you can put them in the sleeping bag with you to warm up.

Once you are soaking wet you not only want to warm up. You want to get dry. As any military member can tell you, you do not want to be wearing wet socks very long or soggy boots. Wet clothes draw heat from your body rather quickly so you definitely would not want that in the sleeping bag with you. Sometimes they suggest you have another warm body in the sleeping bag with you though that can get kinda kinky and strange, but when you are fighting hypothermia you give up your pride sometimes.

Your method is great....to keep warm but not to dry. In the case the OP talks about, you need to do both and sometimes quickly.

 

[Bambistew]

I've had a few wet bags over the years. I will tell you that I will never get in a bag with soaking wet cloths again. With any bag, down or synthetic, you'll find that the moisture will end up on the shell of your bag, take the head away and it will migrate back in. My experience is if its humid out, it can take days to dry out. We get our share of humid/wet weather. I've crawled in to both down and synthetic bags with damp cloths and come out dry many times, however one time I crawled in my bag after an afternoon of hiking and being soaked from the waist down. The moisture left my cloths, and stayed in my bag, reducing the insulation considerably. It rained/spit snow almost non-stop for 48hrs. My cloths and bag dried out about day 3 once it stopped raining/snowing and RH dropped. That first night wasn't much fun.

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