Disaster has struck and you find your sleeping bag is wet. Whether it’s after a long night in abysmal weather or you discover the rain has got through your backpack, this is a bad situation to be in. This means either an uncomfortable night, bailing on your trip or a serious survival situation. Not good.
To dry a damp sleeping bag, for example from condensation; hang it out to dry in good weather either before you depart or over a lunch break. If your sleeping bag is soaked through, it will require a tumble dryer to dry. Otherwise it will take several days on the camping trip.
Sometimes the weather is not kind to campers, and other times it is not feasible to bail out to the nearest laundromat. In these cases, keeping warm is paramount. A wet sleeping bag is like leaving the door wide open for hypothermia to set in so you have to be prepared.
Here I will go through the steps of discovering that your not in for the warm, cosy night you hoped and how to prevent it from happening in the first place.
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How Wet Is Your Sleeping Bag?
Ideally your sleeping bag will always be nice and dry but how you deal with a wet sleeping bag, and how serious the implications will be will all depend on how wet the bag is.
Damp Sleep Bag
Most people will have a damp sleeping bag at some point, as tents can only do so much. Condensation is normally a given and pretty easy to deal with. As it does not penetrate the whole way through the sleeping bag, many will still remain warm and comfortable on the inside.
If it retaining heat then there is no real risk of continuing your trip. Of course though, you do need to dry it at first opportunity.
Best practice is to not pack anything away wet. If the weather is dry, then air it outside while you have breakfast and take down the tent. Departing your journey by a few hours to dry your sleeping bag is well worth it as it will not dry bundled in a bag.
If you need to set off, then consider airing it over a lunch break in the afternoon. Leaving it till you reach camp can be a risky strategy as the evenings are colder, you may loose light and you give ample opportunity for the weather to close in. If you do need to dry it in the evening, avoid putting it near an open fire. The high heat can damage or melt the sleeping bag so make sure there is a lot of space between them.
Of course, no one can predict the weather and that may be the last resort or you may have to try and dry it in the tent. Only sleep in the wet bag if you’re protected from the moisture yourself (such as waterproofs) and you still feel warm.
Your body heat will help dry the sleeping bag, but do not make yourself cold in the process. When your sleeping bag is too wet then sleeping in the bag (even with waterproofing) can lead to hypothermia and wrapping up outside the bag may be a safer option. Your body heat will only do so much anyway, but a damp sleeping bag should still be dry on the inside.
If you are feeling wet in your sleeping bag, then your bag is more than damp and you need to try a different tactic.
Wet Patches On Your Sleeping Bag
Having wet patches on your sleeping bag is super easy to do. Simply spill a drink in your tent and you now have a wet bag. Tents leak and puddles form underneath groundsheets. This can all lead to your sleeping bag acting as a sponge.
The good news is that this isn’t always the end of the world. If the wet patch is by your feet (and especially if you are short like me) you might not even need that part of the sleeping bag and therefore can dry it across the days causing only minor inconveniences.
For larger patches, or those you cannot avoid, you need to ensure your warm, dry clothing is not getting wet. You can achieve this by placing your dry waterproofs between you and the wet patch. Either as a blanket or under you. Or you can wear your waterproofs in your sleeping bag to ensure your dry layer does not get wet. Although an unpleasant night, you should remain dry and warm enough.
Your body heat should help dry the patch on the sleeping bag. Although, again at every dry opportunity (breakfast, lunch and dinner in good weather conditions or when the tent is put up) you should lay out your sleeping bag to dry.
If you place your wet sleeping bag back into its bag wet without thinking, you will create more wet patches. This will make the problem worse, not better.
If you have to pack your sleeping bag way still wet, then try and position the wet part out of the compressor or waterproof bag and cover with a separate one. Or cover inside and out of the wet patch to prevent transmission to dry patches of bag.
This can be done with anything you have available that you wont need during the day, such as dry food wrappers or spare plastic bags. If you can tape or pin them in place (inside and out of the bag). Otherwise just try and layer them in a fold between the wet and dry patch.
Sleeping Bag Soaked Through
This does happen, usually with poor preparation or equipment failures. A day full of rain is no different from falling into the river on your kit. Even the best waterproofing has its limits or perhaps your kit has seen better days and you are finding out the hard way. Or you may be unlucky enough to wake up with a flooded tent and your roll mat was no defence.
In this situation, your first option should be to get out and find somewhere with a tumble dryer. Whether this is a laundromat, or a friendly village pub it is your best bet. Get your map out, or your phone if you have signal. It may be a large detour but will be worth it. Get a taxi if you can and have to.
A soaked sleeping bag will take days to dry otherwise. Follow the manufactures instructions for your specific sleeping system but you are likely will be waiting for three hours or more as they usually need a low heat.
Take the opportunity to rest up, enjoy some good food or even spend the night in comfort. Once your bag is dry, you can get back out on the trail, although I would try and fix whatever caused you to be in the situation in the first place!
Bailing on the trail may not be possible for some. Extremely poor weather conditions may mean it is safer to pitch up a tent (or create a shelter if you’re just in a bivvy bag or tarp) and stay put. Or you simply could be miles away from civilisation. In this situation, survival kicks in. So long as your body is able to keep warm and dry, then the sleeping bag can carry on drying.
Firstly, are you alone on this adventure? Have you got someone with you with a dry sleeping bag? If you both have a roll mat and it is not super cold, then you may find you can use share your friends sleeping bag but unzipping it and using it as a duvet for you both. If it is a bit nippy then add a few more layers and hunker down for the night. You can keep doing this whilst your sleeping bag drys out.
This may not be in option in super cold environments or when you are by yourself. Then you have to ensure that you can keep warm.
What you can do next depends upon the type of sleeping bag you have. Many synthetic bags claim to keep you warm even if they do get wet, and therefore you could pop on your water proof layers and hop in the sleeping bag almost like normal. Maybe add some more layers if needed but ensure that your warm clothing layer keeps dry. It wont be a pleasant night but it may help dry out your bag.
If you are finding that your wet sleeping system is making you colder. Wet clothes will do this, especially a down sleeping bag then it may be better to avoid the bag altogether. Leave it hanging in your shelter to dry as much as possible and for yourself put on all your warm layers and sleep without the sleeping bag.
There are a few tips you can try to keep yourself warm. If you have a camping stove, then make a hot water bottle with the bottles you have. Be careful not to burn yourself, and you may have to allow the water to cool a little as these bottles are not made for this.
Make yourself a hot drink whilst you’re at it. Layer up, put on your hat and gloves in order to cover as much skin as possible. Then even if it is late, remember to keep eating lots of high energy foods. Calories are energy and energy means warmth.
It is also important to protect the extremities from any risk of a cold injury. Place hands under armpits or hold your toes. Keep them moving to encourage blood circulation. This also goes for yourself. If you find yourself getting cold, then do some exercise but do not get sweaty. Sweating again will lead to you feeling colder afterwards as you remain wet.
If you are finding yourself still getting progressively colder, it may be time to take out your head torch and walk through the night. That should maintain body heat through movement. Of course, you need to be extra careful with your footing, the conditions and navigation when travelling in the dark. Once it is warmer, likely daylight if you still can’t reach civilisation it will be worth trying again to dry your sleeping bag and getting some rest before the temperature plummets again.
In any of these scenarios, whether you are super experienced or not, if you feel hypothermia is a real risk then at this point there is no shame in trying to call for help from the local mountain rescue.
As you can see, a wet sleeping bag is a serious issue when camping if you’re unable to get it dry again so now I will go onto how you can prevent this from happening.
How To Keep Your Sleeping Bag Dry
Most of your kit on a camping or hiking trip will get wet in some way. It becomes your main priority to keep your sleeping bag and a set of warm clothes dry. The best way to do this is appropriately sized dry bags.
Whatever you are advertised, your backpack is not waterproof, neither is your rain cover. Ultimately, they keep the worst off but in torrential rain they will fail. Or putting your bag on wet ground.
Your sleeping bag compression bag is also likely not waterproof. For the best security, place it in a dry bag that fits. This will likley be around the 20L mark, but maybe more for different size sleeping bags and if you want to include bivvy bags or liners.
Most bivvy bags are waterproof to some level, so placing in that would offer another layer of protection, but the dry bag is a must. I would still also use a backpack liner as a first line of defence. The dry bag as a last defence.
Then as you have put in all this effort to ensure a nice dry night, only get your sleeping bag out of its dry bag once you have set up and are in your shelter for the night. No one needs to be preemptive and find a downpour ruining their night.
Your sleeping system can also get wet whilst you’re in your nice cosy tent. It can be super easy to spill a drink or have a bottle leak onto your sleeping bag. Keep any bottles away from your bag at the bottom of your tent, along with any wet clothing.
Some people do say you can help try your clothes by placing them under you or between yourself and the bivvy bag, this can be ok but you risk soaking your bag so I wouldn’t risk it with anything more than damp clothing.
Lastly, it is possible to have a nasty shock in the middle of the night and find your tent leaking, or water flowing through your shelter or finding yourself sinking into a puddle.
Firstly, positioning your tend so that its sheltered as much as possible will help with keep some of the rain at bay, especially if it’s blowing horizontal. This could take the form of a wall or mound.
Secondly, choose a location that is not a natural dip. That’s where the water is most likely to pool. As for water running through your tent. There sometimes isn’t much you can do as for positioning goes but you can either raise your tents groundsheet off the ground so the water flows underneath or raise yourself up.
If you just have a basic roll mat, then placing ferns, branches or anything else you can find naturally to raise yourself up under your tent may be sufficient. Otherwise lay on kit you don’t mind getting wet such as your rucksack or bring in items from outside to place under your roll mat. It wont be a comfortable night but it would be worse if you were soaked through!
Lastly, it goes without saying but check and practice with your kit. Whilst you are still in the nice warmth of your home, place your backpack, packed as you were to go out the door in the shower. Maybe even shower with it and save water. If they remain dry after a good soaking, then your packing is likely efficient.
New kit may have faults that you didn’t see, older kit will see wear and tear. Check that there are no holes, check that all the taped seems are in good condition, wear your waterproofs on a wet day, test out your tend or bivvy in the garden.
Don’t do what I did and assume it’s good to go only to find out twenty minutes into an eight hour hike in constant rain that my waterproof jacket was no longer waterproof. Gortex sadly does break down eventually, and re proofing doesn’t cut it on days like that!
Do Sleeping Bags Keep You Warm When They Get Wet?
It may seem counterintuitive that a wet sleeping bag may still keep you warm but it is possible for some materials to do this. The main example is merino wool, which still keeps its thermal properties so can your sleeping bag do this too?
Many synthetic sleeping bags claim to still keep you warm when they get wet, however, down sleeping bags do not. A wet sleeping bag, will not be as effective at keeping you warm than a dry one so prevention is better than trying this out.
Should you find yourself in this position, you need to make the decision on the ground. Is it warmer for you in the wet sleeping bag (in your waterproofs so your dry clothes do not get wet too) or are you better off skipping the bag and wrapping yourself up in all the layers your have?
Conclusion
A wet sleeping bag should be avoided where possible, but should you find yourself in this terrible position then you do have some options. First priority is getting the bag dry.
Tumble dryers are the fastest way to dry a sleeping bag, otherwise you could be waiting days for it to dry on its own depending on how wet it is.
Where getting to a tumble dryer is not an option, then hang it out wherever you can for as long as it is dry enough and adopt a more survivalist strategy until you are able to get it dry.
Unless you have a buddy or it’s a warm night, get ready for a sleepless one. Fingers crossed, this is only a what if scenario now you are all prepared. Happy Hiking!
