For Bivi Bag Virgins!

[RAPPLEBY2000]

It's been said before many times and I'm just saying it again!
this book is fantastic,
if you've considered Bivying (bivy bag)read this before, and after you will love it!
there are many many anacdotes that will amuse teach and give you courage when you need it the most!
the funny thing for me is i've been to several of the bivy sites he mentions!


Here's a link to the book/publisher!
The Book of the Bivvy

I had to order mine as they go pretty quick off the shelves!

[torc]

I agree with you Rappleby, it's a very useful and entertaining book that is the perfect antidote to "kitchen sink syndrome", and the routes mentioned sound quite good too.
Happy trails......Torc.

[Zodiak]

I am (was) serioulsy looking at getting a Bivi bag over the next few months so I invested in this book and I am glad that I did, its really well written and very easy to read.

Unfortunatley its put me off the whole idea, I was OK until it said you can either be warm and wet or cold and dry!! Perhaps I will get one of those tarptents instead?

[Lithril]

There is quite a good interview with this guy over at www.backpackinglight.co.uk, they have a massive podcast you can download.

Quite interesting if my memory serves me correct.

Matt

[redcollective]

Hey nice link Lithril - check out their other podcasts page - there goes my Sunday!

[anthonyyy]

I listened to that podcast and it put me off getting his book. It sounds like an ode to misery.

[philaw]

I tried bivying on my Minster Way walk last week; during the totally mental heat wave. I was using a cheapo bivy bag that says it's breathable, but is probably only minimally so as it's PU coated something-or-other.

The first night I slept like a log because I was exhausted, but the second night I was simply too hot and sweaty, and ended up sleeping on top of the bivy bag with the sleeping bag as a quilt to get comfortable. If it's been raining I would've been in deep trouble, and my stuff got damp from the dew when it wasn't getting sweaty inside the bivy. I'm sure it's a different experience with a decent gore-tex bivy, or just the right sleeping bag for the weather (my only one was too warm), but there's little flexibility.

It must help to have experience, as with anything. I didn't pitch the tarp because it obviously wasn't going to rain, and it's only just now occurred to me that I should have used it as a ground sheet. What a spanner I am.

Anyway, it hasn't put me off. Some places just aren't tent-friendly grassy plains, and that makes them worth going to.

[sandsnakes]

http://www.genuinearmysurplus.co.uk/...-bags/rowid=30

Try this link. I have a bivvi from this guy, it was issued but unused, still in its original wraper.

My experiance of bivvi's (UK army surplus as above) was that the chaps who slept in tents woke up damp when I was dry in a bivvi and under a tarp. So horses for courses.


Sandsnakes

[anthonyyy]

[url]

My experiance of bivvi's (UK army surplus as above) was that the chaps who slept in tents woke up damp when I was dry in a bivvi and under a tarp.

Sandsnakes

Thats the way it should be. Yer man with the book seems to think that you SHOULD suffer and delights in buying the cheapest gear which wont quite do the job.

[philaw]

http://www.genuinearmysurplus.co.uk/...-bags/rowid=30

Try this link. I have a bivvi from this guy, it was issued but unused, still in its original wraper.

My experiance of bivvi's (UK army surplus as above) was that the chaps who slept in tents woke up damp when I was dry in a bivvi and under a tarp. So horses for courses.


Sandsnakes

Even though I said I was sweaty and uncomfortable, I think I would've been fine with a light weight summer sleeping bag instead of my down one, and if I had a genuinly breathable bivy it would've been cushy. It's really worth a go if you want to get off the beaten track, as it opens up whole new areas that are untentable.

[miniac]

I have a Terra Nova jupiter bivvy bag and have spent some great nights out in it. Two nights on the top of Hevelyn and many nights around Table top mountian, Breacon beacons.

Dont be put off untill you try it!!!

[dean4442]

I've spent many nights in an army issue bivvy bag and been very comfy

[Simon R]

Whenever I use a bivvy bag I only get into it if it's going to or is raining, or it's a bit cold and I want some extra warmth. Otherwise I'll sleep on top of it, using it as a ground sheet but you can still get into it quickly if it rains. This way you don't get any condensation or a damp sleeping bag.
Not carrying a tent is great unless there is midges around, they drive me mad!

[wanderinstar]

You could also try Amazon.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1...081231?ie=UTF8

[maddave]

Just bought it for £4.00 off Amazon.... It's hilarious !! The guy knows how to be informative but not get too serious even SWMBO is reading it and laughing !!

[dropkick]

I built my own bivy and have never been wet or cold in it.
Ventilation is the key. Just like a tent a bivy won't stay warm if it doesn't breath (and your sleeping bag won't keep you warm either if it gets moist).

I made my bivy so I can open it up and lie on top of it, and still close it over top of me with a minimum of bother, in a short period of time.

I put a zipper down 3/4 of the bag on the right side, plus pieces of velcro on the flap that covers the zipper, used to either align everything or to close it if I don't need to zip up.

The foot of the bivy isn't openable as it doesn't have a zipper, and I leave my sleeping bag tucked into it. However it does have a air vent sewed into it.
- A 25 mm slit with bug netting and a cover tacked down over it every 10 cm.
This allows it to breath and expel moisture.

The head cover folds out over the top and if needed is pulled down over the head and secured to the body of the bivy with velcro. The head cover has a large window of netting to keep out bugs, and a waterproof cover to cover the window if needed.

I used this often in winter and summer for many years and stayed warm and dry.


disclaimers:

I am now a hammock camper as the ground has gotten harder than it was when I was younger.

I did start to use a small tarp overhead towards the end as I slept through a small shower with my bivy open one night.

[crazydave]

bivvy bags goretex type are great for stop and sleep - I'd add either a poncho or basha to the mix if only to help keep kit dry. remember that it adds a half season rating and cuts out the wind chill of just a bag alone.

there's nothing like waking up on the top a git big hill knowing the only way is down and there's only you up there - probably better than your first night in the woods without a tent

[PhilParry]

I've spent many nights in an army issue bivvy bag and been very comfy

Lucky lucky man!

I recall a guy on my Fundamental Bushcraft course the morning after sleeping in the standard army issue bivvys....needless to say it rained quite a bit (4 days solid!) and he was actually wringing his sleeping bag out in the mornings!!!

Needless to say it put things in perspective for the rest of us, who were getting down about the rain. At least we were dry in our own Gortex Bivvy's.

Poor bloke!

Phil

[Sickboy]

I think the key to being comfortable in a bivvy bag is to go one season down on the rating than you would if you were in a tent, spent last night out in mine (terra nova discovery) with a one season down bag, plenty warm enough even in the rain (ggrrrr), a decent mat helps aswell (ultralite T rest).
But all in all there's a reason i've just bought a hammock, sleeping on the floor will only ever be so comfortable.
Keep an eye out for a lighty used bivi bag in the for sale section soon

[crazydave]

keep the bag and dont use down bags in a hammock unless you stick a kip mat under you - hammocks are generally comfy but a wee bit over rated as they can cause knee joint and back problems - not a good idea in winter as you cant keep your shelter warm due to the high tarp not keeping the wind out and bivvibags dont go very well with hammocks so keep your options open.

[Zodiak]

keep the bag and dont use down bags in a hammock unless you stick a kip mat under you - hammocks are generally comfy but a wee bit over rated ...

talking of which, that operation is a right pain on a cold wet night if you have to get out of you hammock, get your boots on to make it a reasonable distance away and then get back to bed. And it gets worse as you get older, trust me on that

[Spikey DaPikey]

I always sleep better in my hammock, than any other time, and i have dodgy knee's as well.

If you set it up correctly,it works very well, the same goes for anything else.

[moko]

Ive used a bivi bag for years and have never had any trouble. Being a ground dweller I simply slip in a 3/4 length sleeping mat and a 2 season synthetic sleeping bag (which when conbined with the bivi bag rates it to a 3 to 4 season bag) into the bivi and away I go. I use a basha to keep the worst of the weather from my face, kit and fire. It is low impact, light and adaptable. Its the only way to travel. Go on, get one, you know it makes sense!

[gunnix]

keep the bag and dont use down bags in a hammock unless you stick a kip mat under you - hammocks are generally comfy but a wee bit over rated as they can cause knee joint and back problems - not a good idea in winter as you cant keep your shelter warm due to the high tarp not keeping the wind out and bivvibags dont go very well with hammocks so keep your options open.

I normally have back problems but when I sleep in a hammock I'm completely comfortable and no pain on the back the next day (for me it's even better then a bed). From what I heard and experienced hammocks set up right and lying diagonally are the best thing there is for a painful back.

(I slept 3 months in a hammock without ever seeing a bed - now just for camping because I have no place to put it up at home)

sorry for offtopic

[wentworth]

I sleep better in my hammocks. All you have to do is sleep on the diagonal, as previously mentioned. If you feel that your knees are hyperextended, put something under them, such as a rolled up jacket.
I've never had any back problems with them...?
I won't sleep on the ground again unless I can't find any trees.

[sargey]

i've spent weeks and months living in bivibags of various sorts over the years, and in some very foul weather. never had any significant issues that i can recall...

might have to check out the book

cheers, and.