Bivy camping anyone?

[Couchybar]

I usually winter day hike solo . Thinking also of using leantos more to save weight when solo camping. I am thinking of getting a bivy. It could be a useful emergency tool and a lightweight alternative to a fully occupied leanto or double as a sleeping bag cover in the leanto under windy conditions.

For me the Pros:
quick to set up, take down and pack
could be used anywhere
should be the warmest winter sleeping option (I use a vbl with my down bag)
could be used in a leanto during hostile conditions (sleeping bag plus cover)
comparatively lightweight

Cons:
speed and ease of setup offset when there is a need to use a tarp
forget about changing before wriggling outside ( I use a vbl and wake up wet)
Maybe too hot for warm weather use (I perspire like you would not believe)
A real pain to enter and exit. (don't trust the side zipperd ones)
porcupines et al

Would appreciate any comments and experiences.

 

[Gris]

BD Lightsabre supposedly represents state of the art ...

 

[Tramper Al]

How does that work?

I've been carrying a bivy in winter for emergency use for years. Occasionally, I have used it inside a shelter if it's just a bit colder / windier than I had expected.

However, I wonder about the everyday use of bivy / sleeping bag / VBL. If, as you say, you wake up wet, and cannot change clothes inside your bag, then it's that a fairly marginal way to begin each and every cold winter day in the mountains? I have survived my few forays into real time winter camping by waking up dry, and being able to pack my dry sleep layers away so that they will still be dry the following night. Wouldn't you be better off with a warmer sleeping bag, and skipping the VBL?

I'm just asking . . .

 

[HAMTERO]

bivy

I have an Integral Designs Event bag cover that I use with a floorless tent for winter camping and I carry it on day hikes in case I get stuck out. It is pretty breathable. No zippers, just a drawstring opening. I got it direct from ID in Canada. They have a number of other bivys. I use a synthetic bag though. I couldn't get too excited about waking up wet in a VBL.

 

[woodstrider]

Bivy Bag

I use a bivy bag ocassionally and I have found that it is not the best choice for some conditions

It is very warm , in the winter, to sleep in, but not so good for protection when one has to do camp chores like cooking or making water.

In the summer it totally blows- it is just too warm to sleep in. One steamy summer's night and the bugs were rapacious and I could not sleep out of the bag, so I laid awake most of the time boiling in my own sweat. I much prefer a small solo tent in these conditiona, mostly all netting. I've been using an Eureka gossamer for abot 8 years and find it works wel for me and the difference in weight is more them made up with a more comfortable night's reat.

I have used a sleeping bag cover in a tent to boost the warm of the bag or to give me extra protection from the elements. Once i even used it to camp out under a tree.

 

[Couchybar]

Hello Tramper Al
Appreciate the response and the question. I use the vbl with a -20F EMS down bag. The vbl was purchased to help keep the down dry but you might have something there, the bag still feels airy and cool without the vbl (evaporative cooling?). The bag still gets quite damp, I guess from breath moisture or a lack of seamed seels on the western mountain vbl. On the last night out I would usually forego using the vbl, I wake up dry

My metabolism is usually roaring when I wake up in the morning. I can usually quickly suffer through changing and or adding layers before I cool to much. I guess that with practice I can learn to like this non cafinated morning jolt

Woodstrider, thanks for your comments. In winter I usually do not reenter the tent in the morning once I leave it. I wake up, suit up then exit. All other chores are done outside. True I have never encountered rain while winter camping and this is probably only a matter of time. I hope that the light tarp over the cooking area might help in those curcumstances. Is your sleeping bag cover breathable? I have not camped in summer for many years but I remember the promise I made to myself to get more mesh in any new tent

Hamtero have you had any issues with drafts on windy or flooding on rainy nights?

Gris I am looking at that BD bivy for weight, entry and three season dry weather venting and also the OR Deluxe bivy for ruggedness and weather resistance.

Thanks

 

[WalksWithBlackflies]

Two years ago, I saved some $ and bought the Integral Designs Crysallis (http://www.integraldesigns.com/product_detail.cfm?id=687). It has worked well for me. Waterproof and breathable (as much as can be expected). It has a "breathing hole" near the head to help with ventilation. I haven't had a single problem with the zippers. The bug net is nice on warm nights. It was nice to be able to camp overnight and only bring a day pack (which will change now that bear canisters will be mandated... but that's a different rant). A tent gives you more versatility, and you'll quickly find out if you're claustrophobic or afraid of things that go "bump" in the night. You'll feel like a burrito when bears are nearby.

 

[HAMTERO]

more bivy stuff

I have not used the bivy i have in rain yet, just snow. With a tarp I think I could keep the rain out OK. The one I have does not have any poles to hold it off of your head like the OR deluxe.
I do all the cooking and snow melting and as much other stuff as I can in the bag/bivy and then get up and start rolling. My bag is a 20 degree one but I wear a big primaloft coat and pants in it and have been OK down to zero.
I like that setup so when I have to get up to pee or in the morning packing up i'm toasty.
There is a lot of info on the web if you search for "ultralight hiking". One site is Backpackinglight.com
I just got tired of hauling around a 8 pound winter tent.
Lloyd

 

[dave.m]

CouchyBear,

I'm not really sure what your interest is here. Winter solo or year round solo?

For winter solo, I would stick to my sleeping bag cover (not a bivy, described below) and my MegaMid. Better yet, if I had the $$s, I would upgrade the MegaMid to the smaller, lighter Beta Lite. Shelters are cold in teh winter, due to cold underneath you. Bivy sacks don't really give you wind protection for changing, cooking and living.

A variation on this theme would be to use a real GoreTex bivy or sleeping bag cover in conjuction with a small tarp (but not a full tarp tent). GoreTex bivies due give more warmth and windproofness but will be stuffier and give more frosting. See Colin Fletcher's "The Complete Walker" for a good description of this type of rig. The advantage of this might be that you would use the tarp to rig a door for a shelter.

For year round use, you need to think about bugs. I use a non-GoreTex bag cover that :
* Has a waterproof bottom
* Has a super breathable, water-resistant (but not waterPROOF) Pertex top
* Big roomy cut - Big enough to put sleeping pad inside
* Big bug net hood

This keeps snow and spindrift off in the winter and can give enough bug protection in the summer, albeit in a very stuffy, hot and cramped sort of way.

For real bug proof use and for workable winter use, you might do better with a solo tent. All of these solutions are going to put you in the 2-3 lb range once you add up all the parts like ground cloths and such.

 

[Couchybar]

Thanks all, lots of useful feedback concerning gear and info resources. I have not visited Backpackinglight.com in years and don't own the complete walker , checking them both out.

dave.m I was thinking more of winter but now I have promised mysef to get out during the snowless months. I do own an Rei solo light tent (a few inches to short and could use more roof mesh) that I can use for planned multi night three season base camp situations but like rico the thought of doing single nights out of a light daypack is very appealing ( hence bivy)

dave.m do you used the MegaMaid during the N.E 's warm and WET seasons?

 

[woodstrider]

Bivy Camping

Couchybar

I use a bibler bivy that is made of their own single wall fabric. It has seen me through cold nights in the Adirondacks in the winter and spring thunder storms. It is too hot for the summer.

I have also used an OR bag cover made of dryloft. I use it in the winter to boost my bags temp. rating and to protect it from condensation. I will also use it in the summer or fall for days when I know the weather will hold.

 

[dave.m]

dave.m do you used the MegaMaid during the N.E 's warm and WET seasons?

Yes, it works for me but "buyer beware". It does impose certain constraints!!

In torrential rains with super-saturated air, condensation is a problem. I'm not sure it is any worse of a problem than it is with any other tent with a fly but it sure looks worse since you see all the condensation with no inner tent to hide it!

Bugs are a hassle depending on the time of the year. There are times when I've eaten supper inside my bivy. But if you think of it as a portable "lean-to", it lowers the expectations somewhat.

On the plus side, it is noticably lighter for anything nearly comparable in size. And being floorless, you have the opportunity for creative pitching over small bushes and rocks and such. I've found this helpful in NH where its hard to find a big enough place for a regular tent.

One of the most interesting things about it is how much closer to the wood I feel in the floorless tent. Not like being so hermetically sealed in my regular tents. We are definitely in "acquired taste" turf here though. Sort of like, I like bourbon but understand that lots of folks don't.

Here is a TR about what it can be like to use the 'mid in rainy conditions.
http://home.comcast.net/~pinnah/trip-reports/sabbaday.txt

Lastly, run to your local library and get a copy of The Complete Walker. This is one of the most endearing books I've ever read for its warmth and humor. The technical advice is top notch too. Fletcher talks a lot about the uses of tarps.

 

[HAMTERO]

Bourbon and floorless

That's what I call winter camping!

 

[Warren]

Bivy/tarp and bivy/megamid is my preferred overnight setup. I can second, there's nothing like the acquired taste of bourbon and floorless camping.

Spindrift and those nights where the humidity approaches 100% are about the only drawback for me and a bivy as well as some discipline about keeping stuff in their stuff sacks resolves that problem nicely.

 

[afka_bob]

Links-R-Us

Dave.m, Warren, and other VFTTers have discussed much of this in this thread about megamid camping from January of 2004.

In that thread, Dave.m has graciously not identified me as the one who did not adequately ventilate -- a very important consideration when using these tents.

PS:
Curiously, this was the same hike that was also mentioned in this thread. While I do hike (attn: Spencer and Hampshire), perhaps I shouldn't!

 

[Halite]

OR Deluxe bivy has been my bombproof security blanket when soloing in the warmer three seasons. I'll bring a small sil nylon tarp if it really looks like its going to be wet. Generally, I'll take my chances and just change into raingear if it's raining when I need to do the morning pre-hike routine. A sil nylon poncho that could double as a tarp might be a great option. A spare kitchen garbage bag to keep the boots dry outside the bag also helps.