GEAR REVIEW - REI 16 Liter Lightweight Compression Sack
This REI 16L Lightweight compression sack compacts your sleeping bag, insulated jacket or other gear to take up a minimum amount of space in your pack.
Big Disappointment :)
Overall Rating: ∑ | Price Paid: $22.50 |
Positives: Lightweight | Retailer purchased from: REI |
Negatives: Difficult to Use, Not Durable | |
Weight: 3.2 ounces | Bottom Line: Don’t Recommend |
We at Outdoors Los Angeles have always had good experiences in the past with REI branded products. We are particular fans of their Half Dome tents and MTS thermal underwear. But in this case the lack of quality surprised us. The REI item failed on us during only its second use. We tested it out last weekend and had no problems getting a synthetic sleeping bag into it and well compressed on its first use while packing for a weekend adventure. We were so excited that it let the sleeping bag fit comfortably in our backpack's bottom for a change. All seemed wonderful as the price appeared to offer a tremendous value over the other brands REI carries for compression sacks.
But alas, our initial impressions were shattered when on Sundaym after two nights spent at camp, when we went to re-stuff it the seams tore without much compression at all. We had made efforts to be extremely careful, compressing only about an inch at a time rotating around the four different compression straps. The seams ripped apart in two spots. And although it still technically worked we lost confidence in continuing to use it as we felt the compression segment might fail at any moment especially when trying to compress again.
We were of course extremely grateful for REI's wonderful return policy for its members and promptly returned it. The clerk stated that we probably needed a bigger one. However, we had relied on the packaging that had said that this size was ideal for a synthetic bag and the The North Face cats meow we tested it on should have easily fit the description. Perhaps we needed to go up one size but then I am not sure how much more compressed the bag actually would have been over its stock The North Face stuff sack.
This compression sack just doesn't meet up to the usual high quality standards of REI products.
This compression sack just doesn't meet up to the usual high quality standards of REI products.
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