Longer Stuff Sack

[Black_Fly]

My sleeping pad has to fold lengthwise before rolling. This creates a bulky package and excess wear and tear on the pad. Anyone know where I can find a 25" x 5" (about) stuff sack?

 

[Big Al]

Is your sleeping pad 50" wide? I'm not following

 

[scratchypants]

If you have a sewing machine, make one - it's one of the easiest things to do. Otherwise, what about a couple of straps instead?

 

[dogbrain]

I don't use a stuff sack for a ground pad, just lay it flat in the back of the pack.

 

[Black_Fly]

Wife has a sewing machine. Hasn't touched it in 20 years. I'd break something and go to the doghouse. I feel like it needs a layer to protect the material; don't want a hole so I'm forced to cut green tree boughs for a mattress.

 

[recped]

https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/product/173192/therm-a-rest-universal-mattress-stuffsack-36-liters

This one would work, a bit long but the slightly smaller size is out of stock. Only some small ones at the Thermarest site, it may be because they are doing their near annual color switch and not helped by the COVID-19 supply chain issues.

Found one that is the right size.....

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-lis...0?ie=UTF8&condition=all&qid=1582839522&sr=8-2

Therm-a-Rest Universal Camping Mattress Stuff Sacks provide long-lasting, water-resistant protection for your mattress. Designed to fit every mattress in the Therm-a-Rest line, these rugged stuff sacks come in a range of sizes, from 1.5-Liter to 36-Liter. Made of lightweight, durable ripstop nylon fabric, Universal Mattress Stuff Sacks include a clip loop for easy unpacking and an end handle for portability. SIZES:.7L (Orange) 6.5-Inch x 16-Inch (165 x 406 mm); FITS: Regular and Medium Trail Scout, Large Prolite Plus and 40th Anniversary mattresses.11.5L (Blue) 6.25-Inch x 23-Inch (160 x 584 mm); FITS: Regular and Medium Trail Lite and Trail Pro, other 1-2-Inch thick, 20-Inch wide mattresses.15L (Blue) 7.5-Inch x 23-Inch (191 x 584 mm); FITS:Regular Luxury Map and Basecamp, other 2-3-Inch thick, 20-Inch wide mattresses.26L (Blue) 9.0-Inch x 28.5-Inch (229 x 724 mm); FITS: Large Luxury Map, Basecamp, MondoKing, other 25-Inch wide mattresses.36L (Blue) 9.5-Inch x 34-Inch (241 x 864 mm); FITS: XL LuxuryMAP, BaseCamp, MondoKing, other 30-Inch wide mattresses.

 

[Guest]

Each of our sleeping pads has a DIY dry bag made from Seattle Fabrics heat sealable material. No sewing, simple as ironing.

If you want easier and cheaper but without the waterproof aspect just find the nylon carry bag from an old folding camp chair, right about the size you are looking for with drawstring, cord lock and carry strap already built in.

 

[PaddlingPitt]

You are the go-to-guy on DIY, Mike!

 

[Black_Fly]

Yeah recped, I saw that 26L one. It's 3" too wide, but it could work with a strap I suppose. I also checked my old camp chairs and a couple were close, but alas, the seams on the bottom were all ripped up. Seems to be what goes first with those chairs.

 

[Guest]

Yeah recped, I saw that 26L one. It's 3" too wide, but it could work with a strap I suppose. I also checked my old camp chairs and a couple were close, but alas, the seams on the bottom were all ripped up. Seems to be what goes first with those chairs.

Interesting, we have a collection of old chair bags, all still in relatively good shape. The chairs are long gone, but the bags get repurposed for one thing or another. I used one a few weeks ago as a storage bag for a DIY spray cover. That cover incorporated attached rigid stays, so it wouldn’t go in a standard stuff bag, but it rolled up and slid inside an old chair storage bag with ease.

About straps on self-inflating sleeping pads, we use a strap every time, around the pad, not the bag. The strap keeps the pad tightly compressed, so once rolled so it slips into the stuff bag or dry bag easily. It also provides some assurance that, if the pad somehow inflated inside the stuff sack or dry bag, I’d still be able to extract it without a struggle or slicing the bag apart. Double sided Velcro strap cut to length works fine.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/VELCRO-Brand-ONE-WRAP-Roll-12ft-x-3-4in-Roll-Black/19535849

Just remember to toss the strap inside the empty bag when not in use, so it’s not Velcroed to your dirty socks or lost amidst the clutter of gear in the tent.

But making a custom DIY dry bag is, to me, a much better solution.

DIY dry bags for a sleeping pads have several advantages; waterproof of course, sized to the exact length and girth you need, custom features like corner grommets on the bag, less expensive than manufactured sleep pad dry bags (if you could even find one in the size desired), and no sewing. If you can use a household iron - the only thing I have ever ironed is heat sealable fabric - you can make dry bags.

Seattle Fabrics heat sealable material

https://www.seattlefabrics.com/Heat-Sealable-Nylons_c_80.html

For a sleeping pad dry bag you do not need the 400D Packcloth, the Oxford cloth or even Tafetta will work fine. For storing something hard, like chair or instrument, I’d spring for the Packcloth.

Excellent instructions and diagrams from Chuck Holst

https://www.paddlewise.com/topics/boatequip/drybag.pdf

Photos and blather from the notorious keyboard pounder ;-)

http://www.canoetripping.net/forums/forum/general-paddling-discussions/diy/83031-making-diy-dry-bags

Of all those instructions, most importantly, make a template first and once cut out fold it over to make sure everything is square, and use a board as an ironing “fence” for straight, even heat sealed seams. Label and save the template for future bags or improvements.

Again, like a broken record, making custom dry bags (or other gear) from that heat sealable material is a simple (if multi-step) process. The first dry bag was slightly imperfect, but continues in functional waterproofed service a decade later.

Since then we’ve made at least 20 DIY dry bags, half of them for friends. And, even more fun, with friends; Chip will be spending a shop visit soon making a custom dry bag for his ALPS chair, and a smaller dry bag for his Camp Time chair, and Joel will be by this spring to make custom stem tapers for his Loon

It’s a fun project, and once you’ve made one you will suddenly find the need to make more, so you might as well order extra fabric.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

I'd happily make you one but I can't compete with Amazon's prices.

 

[PaddlingPitt]

I'd happily make you one but I can't compete with Amazon's prices.

BV made a stuff sack for our new MEC tent, as the stuff sack it came with was inconveniently small. BV’s custom sack was excellent quality, at a good price!

 

[Black_Fly]

I'd happily make you one but I can't compete with Amazon's prices.

Ok BV, sounds good. PM me with price and necessary measurements.

 

[Seeker]

I'm kinda late getting to the party, but I have two inflatable pads, one by ThermaRest (a NEOAir), and one by Klymit... one folds in half lengthwise for rolling and fitting into the stuff sack it came with. The other, oddly I thought, needs to be folded in thirds to fit its sack...

so maybe you could do that... fold it roughly in thirds, slightly changing that each time so as not to 'wear it out', and it might then fit in a smaller stuff sack.