8 Bivi bag....is it too good to be true?
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Hi John Fenna, from my understanding confirmed by forum member Leon-1 in an earlier thread (happy to be proved wrong) anyone that sleeps in a brit army issue bivvy bag is sleeping in a MVP bag, does anyone have a brit army issue bag marked goretex and not MVP or is it just mine that is so.
Edit -- sorry John Fenna my reply was actually to post No. 7 by IJ55 who you quoted, apologies.
Hi,
WL Gore the makers of Goretex, need to licence the factory and ensure the assembly methods and particularly the seam taping is done correctly to their specifications I believe. As a manufacturer you just cannot order Goretex fabric from them and start knocking up garments or Bivvy bags.
I also think they control the number of licences given out in a particular area. This is part of the reason IIRC back in the late 80's early 90's that Karrimor was using Sympatex for it's wet weather gear. Gore wouldn't give them a licence as you had Berghaus ,Pheonix and Sprayway all making Goretex kit in the UK for the UK market..
The rules that apply to civvy kit ( goretex labels etc) generally do not apply to MOD contracted items..
Cheers
John
WL Gore the makers of Goretex, need to licence the factory and ensure the assembly methods and particularly the seam taping is done correctly to their specifications I believe. As a manufacturer you just cannot order Goretex fabric from them and start knocking up garments or Bivvy bags.
I also think they control the number of licences given out in a particular area. This is part of the reason IIRC back in the late 80's early 90's that Karrimor was using Sympatex for it's wet weather gear. Gore wouldn't give them a licence as you had Berghaus ,Pheonix and Sprayway all making Goretex kit in the UK for the UK market..
The rules that apply to civvy kit ( goretex labels etc) generally do not apply to MOD contracted items..
Cheers
John
Hi, i have seen brit army issue clothing with the goretex label but never the bivvy bags, surely if goretex (WL Gore) was the supplier of materials for the bivvy bags then they would show the goretex label as does the clothing.
Just been for a look at mine and it doesn't say either, just says "sleeping bag cover 2001"
It would if you can get one new for £18, and we don't know this cheapo leaks yet do we? Anybody actually try one? Just guessing at the quality from the pictures and the price.
Unless the chap is sleeping in the open, no tarp or tent the breathability aspect is the most important issue (so long as he is on a ground sheet of some sort) as he's won't be exposed to rain or wet ground and as I said it will at least warm up his bag in winter. I'd buy one but the postage to the UK is almost the cost of the bag.
IIRC British Army bags are not Gortex but are made from Breathtex?
http://www.breathetex.com/
I got my lad one of these last year, the only problem is that the fleece is fixed so it can get very warm in them. They do breath well and keep out the rain plus the price is right
Breathtex Jacket
Hi,
I don't think it really matters if a Brit Army Bivvy bag is Goretex or some mysterious MVP material.
When I'm lying in my maggot after a long hard day all I want it to do is:
A. Keep me dry
B. Allow my Maggot to breathe so I dont get all clammy
My ex army OG 'sleeping bag cover' made by CQC has done the above for quite a few years now without any problems..
I don't think it really matters if a Brit Army Bivvy bag is Goretex or some mysterious MVP material.
When I'm lying in my maggot after a long hard day all I want it to do is:
A. Keep me dry
B. Allow my Maggot to breathe so I dont get all clammy
My ex army OG 'sleeping bag cover' made by CQC has done the above for quite a few years now without any problems..
My British army issue gear says mvp... I don't own the British army bivvi bag but I'd buy one if I needed a new one. If I lived in Ireland I'd buy one of those others for 8 euros just to see what they're like as well though!
Hi johnboy, while i agree the most important thing is that the bivvy bag keeps you dry (mine didn't) i also disagree that it doesn't matter whether you know what the bag is made out of for a couple of reasons, if you are told goretex breathes and keeps you dry and you then buy a bivvy bag which is described as being goretex but in actual fact it is made by a different company/material with simlar properties to goretex and then that bag fails to keep you dry you are then unsure if the bag leaked because of inferior materials or faulty goretex, if you knew for definite it was made using goretex materials and then it leaked you would know for sure it was not inferior materials but some other problem, mine was sold to me as new and being goretex, however on a very cold night in the Black Mountains with no other shelter than my new brit army bivvy bag condensation built up inside the bag and actually froze the outer of the sleeping bag to the inside of the bivvy bag, once the condensation froze inside any breathabilty was obviously drastically reduced, the point is did the bag fail on me because it was made of inferior materials or did it fail because it was goretex and goretex is not up to the job, without knowing 100% what the bag is made out of i can only guess at why it failed and therefore not be able to rectify the problem and when buying another replacement bag how would i know what material to avoid and what material does actually work and keep you dry. Also if it is sold being described as goretex then i expect it to be actual goretex so i know what to expect from it's qualities, if i were to buy a ventile jacket for example i would expect it to be made from actual ventile but if it later transpired it was not ventile at all but some material that had similar qualities to ventile then i would be very dissapointed and in fact want a refund.
Hi slammer187, we have never met but I think we now some people in common.
I have just had a look at this bivi bag and it works out at around 14.50 euro delivered. That is a great price for a bivi bag delivered in Ireland.
If you buy a used bivi bag on ebay you will pay around £30 sterling which is nearly 35 euro. You will then have to pay around £10 sterling shipping so you have now spent nearly 47 euro. You have been advised that if you buy a used bivi bag that you will need to reproof it. Buying a bottle of tech wash and then TX direct will set you back around 20 euro. So thats around 67 euro spent on a used bivi bag. To me its a no brainer, I would buy the 14.50 bivi bag and take a chance. Worst case scenario is that it does not work out and you can put it on ebay and will probably lose out on around 5 euro (the price of a pint in Dublin). You have been told about it from someone who actually has used it and user experience must be worth more than opinions gained from looking at an image and reading a description (no offence intended to all the people who posted). If you are still not happy to purchase this bivi bag then some research will lead you to better value than a used bivi bag I am certain. In fact the forum you saw the link for the cheap bivi bag also has links to new bags at a selection of prices from a reputable supplier.
Hope this helps.
The fact at the end of the day is to buy something reliable, well-known, and something which has been tested and approved by various other people of the same trade or hobby.
In our case it is the army bivi bag, not some cheap un-known stuff that you rely your warm, dry sleep on.
In our case it is the army bivi bag, not some cheap un-known stuff that you rely your warm, dry sleep on.
But until someone does buy the cheap bag we will only be able to speculate on its quality? It may be crap, but a toss of the coin and it could prove to be fantastic value for money; we'll never know until someone takes the plunge and gets one.
I do know somebody who has bought one and I have seen it in the flesh as it were. The guy that bought it told me that while he rearely uses it becuse he prefers a hammock but that he slept out in it one night with a tarp over him and he woke up to find the whole area covered in snow. He was warm and dry. The time I saw this bivi bag was in a woods in the hills of Wicklow in at least -4 last year. He was sleeping in a hammock on this particular night. As far as I could see his sleeping bag was a Vango, he had a standard roll mat and had used the bivi bag as an extra layer. He slept very well and told us that he was not cold during the night and I have no reason not to believe him. To put this in perspective I was in a lightweight 2 man tent, lying on a thermarest, sleeping in a snugpak softie elite 3 sleeping bag, all expensive gear over here, and I woke up cold and had to use spare clothing to get through the night.
If you were planning on just using a bivi bag on its own without a tarp and a mat of some sort then it would make sense to spend a bit of money on trying to get the best you can afford, but in all honesty this bag would be an ideal entry level bivi bag for anyone living in Ireland who may be using one for the first time and may find (as many do) that they would prefer the comfort of a tent or hammock depending on conditions. In the past I have used the old olive (small) basha as a bivi bag/sleeping bag cover and breathability was not an issue because it was only snapped together but it did keep the wind off. Most people on here use a tarp over them so the bivi bag really only needs to be windproof if we were to be honest. The tarp can be set up to keep all rain out.
I would consider contacting them, and asking them whether they have any military significance etc....
Thanks for that preacherman, I will get one for my son, his issue bag leaks and as you said the cost of reproofing is not that much less than buying one of these even including UK postage.
Hi Rik, I reckon you cant go wrong really. It only works out at the price of a few pints over here. The guy I know that has one is on here and will probably post up his experience with the bag if you want to wait a bit just to be sure. I have not seen him since that trip but he posts here when he has something to say. He might be along in the next day or two.
I have a pair of the boot liners shown on the same page. They work pretty well.
Jim
If you give it some Nikwax, you can't really go wrong first time - I have actually got it to waterproof toilet roll before. (Don't ask!)
Yes i agree it has to be worth a try, and it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out to be made with the same materials as the brit army one, opinions reached by viewing a photo are of very limited use indeed as are those by the seller as his chief priority is a sale so seek out the advice slammer187 of anyone that has actually used it to get an unbiased opinion if possible like preacherman has said, one thing you could do slammer187 is ask the seller for the weight of the bivvy bag to compare it to the brit army bag which is approx 900g, though if the weight is the same it is no guarantee the bag is the same of course so knowing this is of limited use really other than for knowing weight for carrying/rucksack pack-weight, if cost was a factor i would be happy to try it but if not on a budget and you intend casrrying your bivvy bag any distance i would personally go for something much lighter in weight such as snugpak or alpkit.
