Standing here getting ready for work, dont have a lot of time to research so apologies if its been covered. Any of you crazies camp with a bivy style set up? Pros, cons? Yay/nay and all that jazz? ill hang up and listen to your answer.
My understanding is that Bivy sacks are meant for keeping you alive, and warm in the snow. In a summer environment, you will swelter and sweat due to very little airspace and ventilation. Consider a tarp tent set-up, a UL 1-man tent or just sleeping out on a groundcloth with a head net instead.
I don't see bivy's talked about here much. Small single person tents are very common and will house a rider, gear, and provide enough space to change clothes. There's a growing population using hammocks for camping and many adapt it to "go to ground" and kind of used like a bivy. I just got set-up with my hammock camping gear but have yet to use it. Sorry that wasn't much help concerning bivys.
In the Marine Corps, I slept in one all of the time. It was great when you didn't want to be in a tent or stuck in a humvee or 7-ton. I've also been in one during downpours and stayed dry. I wouldn't consider it a sleeping bag per-say, but something to use in addition to a sleeping bag. The military sleeping system (black bag, green bag and camo gor-tex bivy) can be found on amazon for about $65 delivered. Its an amazing sleeping system and you would be hard pressed to find a better system for the money. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...words=military+sleeping+system&condition=used In warmer weather, use the green bag. In cool weather, use the black. In super cold, zip both together and use them like that. All of it zips together and packs fairly small.
I've bivied on a bike before. If you get one with mesh on the top and a rain fly they are not excessively warm. Advantages: Lightweight, smaller to pack, easy to set up/break down, keeps bugs away. Disadvantages: No room for gear. If it's raining and you're stuck hiding in it then it feels very cramped. I'll do the bivy for a one or two nighter in good weather but prefer the space of a 2-3 person tent for longer/wetter rides.
I've owned two bivys. One was similar to what is pictured in duck's post, the other is what I consider a true bivy. I currently own and use the Outdoor Research Alpine Bivy, http://www.outdoorresearch.com/en/or-gear/bivy-sacks/alpine-bivy.html I would almost always consider something other than a bivy. It might seem like a good idea, but it's really a technical piece of gear, made for a very specific/narrow purpose. It's made for extremes, meaning lightweight or small size and only to protect/shelter from the elements. A high quality bivy can't be beat for certain conditions, but it seriously lacks in space and comfort. A large one-person or small two-person tent is much better for "camping". If you're climbing, back packing, or mountaineering, a bivy is a great way to provide shelter, but that's all a bivy is, shelter. Hope that helps.
+1 I have a https://www.alpkit.com/hunka add in my exped downmat and a lightweight sleeping bag to the setup, & its great for wild camping & lightweight travel. Such as someone heading out on a lightweight dirt bike into the desert for a few days riding, but only wanting to carry minimal survival kit. But as stated it does have limitations
Threw mine away. It was like sleeping in a coffin, and in rain/wind it was very hard to sleep. My $.02.
here in UK, a bivvy or military termed "BASHA" is simply an army poncho stung up to keep you dry, you under it in a sleeping bag obvious advantages are real fresh air, till it gets windy and rainy, it can blow in the sides. lower you have it, less elements get in, in summer can be great in the middle of nowhere
I used to have a Moonstone Not-A-Tent. It had two poles that kept everything up off your face and you could even sit up to read. I've used it all over the country and loved it. Used it as a wilderness ranger in the Selway-Bitterroot wilderness for ten days at a clip. I wouldn't have had it any other way and finally tossed it after it started leaking like a sieve and Moonstone when belly-up. Now that I'm not carrying it on my back, I am thinking of replacing it with a solo-tent. I'll have some more room for gear and packing up in the rain wouldn't be so thought provoking. To be honest, all in all I'd get one again if the situation presented itself. I let a friend use it once canoe camping because he was in the market. I woke up at about 5 am and he'd been up for hours. It just wasn't for him. I think I you either love them or hate them. For me, if its nice, I'm sleeping with just my sleeping bag on the ground anyway. If you're interested in the best, look at the Bibler. They have a Tripod Bivy that looks like the best of both worlds between solo tent and bivouac.
I like to keep a small-packing bivy and tarp in my gear if I'm riding somewhere I don't plan to go camping, but want to have the option in case of mechanical issues, etc. Usually want it for an emergency when on a motorcycle. I like a tarp n' bivy for backpacking too, but on a bike I like to have some place to keep my riding gear.
Lots of good info here thank you all. I ask about a bivy because in my sick little head I feel that when camping less is more. If i cant get in my back pack i dont need it. So my 3 must haves; food, water, shelter. My opinion of shelter is that it should be just that. Keep me out of the elements and keep skeeters from chewing on my sweet ass. Though having room to change clothes would be nice, but it's not a deal breaker. But not having a place to keep gear sucks so that would be a deal breaker. So looks like the bivy is out. Ok so what's everyone's favorite one person tent??
If that's the case I'd try camping without a tent and see if it appeals to you. All a bivy really does it keeps you dry, which usually means it keeps you warm(er). If you like camping sans tent you'll appreciate a bivy for when the weather turns. I just realized I have/had three bivys...and again, they are great for what they are, but they are not a tent
I have and use an Outdoor Research Bivy and love it. Mine is the 2 person model, which they dont make anymore. It has a two pole system that keeps the outside off of the face area, and flips to just a mesh for those nice nights to look at the stars. The double unit has enough space inside to stash all my clothing, it is more size wise a 1 person tent. Quick to setup/teardown. I got it on a deal, and would consider a small 1/2 person tent if was the same packsize. If my wife tent camped it would be way to small for 2 persons, good just for me on the bike.
I like the Big Agnes FlyCreek 1 .. small and light, though after a long weekend in one I went back to my Hubba Hubba (2 man) as I really enjoy a bit of space in my tent.
I'm a Kelty fan. I've been using one of their 2 person "Salidia" tents for a few years now and still like it. It's a bit short so you can't stand up in it but you have a vestibule to store some gear enough room inside for you and your helmet and jacket. I only keep my boots and luggage in the Vestibule. However many people you want to put in a tent add +1 to the size so you have room to move around and store gear.
I own several bivy's and over the past 25 years or so have slept a bunch of nights in them. Other than being small the various ones I own have little in common, some are bug shelters that weigh 7 oz. and the other end of the spectrum is a 2 1/2 pound bomber 4 season shelter that I've used heavily for a long time. Originally these were the only reasonably safe option for a couple of reasons but that was years ago and under much less forgiving conditions and tents have come a long ways. I still use mine for some trips and always with a mld patrol shelter to put overhead. In the photo is everything a guy would need to camp comfortably in temps to about 40. The redbag holds a western mountaineering down bag, on the left is a 25x77 thermarest neoair at 19oz and the center bag holds an MLD bivy and the patrol shelter tarp and stakes, the end of the poles can be seen under the neoair. I tour on an xr and a small kit helps but 2 1/2 lb tents are so readily available that if I'm going for over a few days I usually carry one of those just for the simplicity of setup.
I'll be the one man out that thinks you were right on track with the bivy. Light is right. Under 2 pounds. I carry a silnylon tarp that packs up like a grapefruit for rain but rairly need it. The package gives you more room in the rain than any tent of the same weight and size and you can't beat the feeling of hanging out in just a bag and bivy if the weather is not horible. You can use the tarp to give you a place to cook or sit by a campfire in the rain which is more than any tent can do. Put all your gear in a black plastic yard waste bag overnight if the weather is bad or just hang it on your bike if it is clear. A bivy, tarp, and plastic bag give you more options than any tent of the same size and weight. Any bivy that provides some support to keep the bug netting off your face will be a happy home. Bivy (including bivy, poles, stakes, & ground sheet), sleeping bag, pad.
I have a two pole goretex Outdoor research. I hate sleeping in the thing, it's great if you're a back sleeper and don't mind not having a lot of room. Mine sleeps hot, so I sweat and soak my bag, not a big deal with fake down, big deal with real down. I keep it around and toss it in the car for winter trips as a just in case deal. With as much space as you have on a bike, I'd rather have a very small 2person tent, or one person If I way backpacking again.