bivvying routines (bivvy bag)

[scrogger]

Hi Guys I am sure some of you will have some good tips , do and donts etc as regards sleeping under the stars with a bivvy bag. I have not used my x forces bivvy for a while and I am venturing out tomorrow night (moorland location in the North Yorks moors) and was wondering how more experienced usrs set them selves up for a comfortable night.

My past experiences have been very hit and miss. I would just be interested in other peoples experiences and views are there any big NO NO's etc.

I intend to use a down bag inside the Goretex Bivvy with a 3/4 thermarest inside the bivvy also. I have a down jacket in case its really cold whilst sat up having a brew etc and warm head gear.

I just seem to take ages to get set up putting bag inside bivvy and usually end up making a mess by standing on my s/bag or some other calamity!!

cheers guys

Andy

[SimonM]

Do you intend to use a tarp over you or not? In winter I always take a tarp / poncho with me, as it really adds to the comfort factor if it is bucketing down.

It also gives you an "admin" area where you can store your gear and brew up etc in the dry.

If not taking a tarp, and you expect rain, take a dry bag that is large enough to put your rucksac in.

Routines wise, I sometimes pack my sleeping bag inside the bivy bag. That way, when I arrive I just give it a shake, slide in my Thermarest, and that's me set up.

I always get changed to go to sleep these days. Even if you think you are dry, you are usually damp, and this can lead to a cold, restless night.

If it is expected to go below freezing point, put your water bottle inside the bivvy bag.

Arrange / position your rucksac so that you can reach it in the morning. That way, you can make a brew without getting out of you doss bag.

Finally, sleep with your hat on!

Simon

[MartinK9]

As above, also not teaching you to suck eggs but the siting of your set up is also important, protection from the elements, free from potential overhead disasters and ridding the ground of sharp, pointy objects that always seem to wake you up in the early hours.

Martin

[Shewie]

Like thew others have said

Take a couple of poles with you Andy if you weren`t already and sling a little 8x6` tarp up between them. A bivvy will keep you dry while you sleep but that`s about it, you wouldn`t be able to sit up and cook/read etc without the tarp.
Take advantage of any available shelters like walls etc just to give you a bit more protection.
Sounds obvious mate but make sure you don`t site your camp in a hollow as I will probably be cold and could fill with water if it rains.

Let us know how it goes and get some piccies, I`m panning to do a few more hilltop nights this year with just the bivvy, stove and food and leaving all the rest of the kit at home.

[discoveringtheforest]

I say no tarp,you wouldnt want to have too much fun now,wouldnt you?

[scrogger]

Thats what I like about this site tons of info. I dont have a tarp at the moment due to a mishap with my 1 yr Border Collie and the fact she didnt like the smell of it!! I dont really have anything else and have just ordered a dd tarp through the group buy. (Its not here yet!!!! )
So unless I take my tent fly I will be a bit more open to the elements it reckons to be dry(ish) so should be ok.

My main concern is the bivvy leaking (its x forces and a few yeards old though in good nick) as im taking a down bag fo the warmth and pack size!!

Kit list as follows:-

Army bivvy, Rab down bag, Rab down jacket, hat & gloves and buff etc, Jetboil stove on this trip I got it free ( with a new Trail credit card a couple of years ago ) lol its ok actually works well. 3/4 thermarest. Spare 100 weight fleece. Merino wool base layer. skeletool,
para cord. head torch , compass etc. think I have all bases covered. will see soon enough. Might have to have a skeg around the garage for something Tarpish.

I wonder if I could get away with hacking the big family tent that I hate to bits. nah best not she would do me in.!

cheers guys Andy

[Shewie]

You can borrow my 8x6` if you`re passing Leeds Andy or I can bring it to work (Pontefract area)

[scrogger]

cheers for offer Rich im heading straight up north to the moors. I will hold out for some good weather, should be finishing the days walk near a forested area so if needs much might be able to fabricate something bushcrafty!!!.

Mind you with a skeletool im not gonna get too far.

cheers once again though.

Andy

[w00dsmoke]

If you don't end up using a tarp this could save you from getting a very wet night.

Try and get in the bivi before it rains, if it is pouring and your not in it and you have no shelter like a wood or high dyke, you will get wet going in to your bivi no matter what you do. It's impossible not to. Whatever you do, get out the wind, it will make life so much easier and possibly dryer too.

When you are in your bivi there are several ways you can sleep depending on the weather.
If it's belting down, sleep on your side with the hood pulled tight, you can even pull your rucksack in with you to give you some small admin space and to keep the fabric off your face but make sure the hole is facing down the way, that way water is unlikely to run in. You can always turn the bivi bag upside down and use the huge hood like a tarp by attaching a cord with a small pebble and it becomes like a single hooped bivi almost (without the hoop).

If you sre under a tarp and the bivi has a central zip, you'll get a much more comfortable night by not fully zipping up, it will give you more room to move snd you'll feel less calustrophobic.

Go to sleep with your head torch on your head that way when you wake up in the dark bursting for a wee you're not crossing your legs while you remember where your torch is!

Use a fleece muffler/headover of some description to breathe through if it's cold, your face will be warmer and you'll get to sleep more easily.

Share your pics with us on your return, good luck.

WS

[spoony]

get a poncho, coppers on evil bay

[william#]

i started using bivi bags over 18yrs ago
and never looked back and i have hardly ever used a tent since
i recently bivi ed in the recent heavy snow i havnt been out in a bivi in snow since 94.
the ongoing thing i have had with bivis is the getting in i have always used the top loaders i have seen bivis which zip from the side but not for sale so if any one knows of a good supplyer(i hear the french army ones are good).
also even though im not broad i find the bivi a bit restrictive esspecially with a side zip sleeping bag though this i have found is made easier with a centre zip sleeping bag like master ray sales.

routines change depending on weather and time of year in woodland i tend to use a tarp as well.
but tbh the attraction of them to me has always been how fast your bed is ready and the waking up looking at stars through the night (or freezing cold or with rain splatting in your face or like in 94 with a few inches of snow covering me).

i tend to roll it out put sleeping bag in it (unless i have pre packed the bag in the bivi) roll it out and put in therma rest . in case of v cold weather i arrange my pack and boots to act as extra insulation for the ground .

i generally always have a bar of chocolate and a hot flask to hand for those waking up times when your just freezing.

another thing i have noticed about sleeping in bivis (for me any way) is i tend to almost always lucid dream when out in one , i imagine this is due to the natural cycly of sleep yu have while out meaning yu awke every few hrs briefly just to check on things and a general more shallow sleep as your body is on standby as your out and possibly more vulnerable (though to be honest often i feel safer in the woods than at home )

[scrogger]

Thanks guys the tips and info are all brilliant, the one to do with the hood and the stone is a good one and I will use that for sure if it rains.

Cheers guys .

Will take some photos but will need some help loading them.!!!

Andy

[Nat]

Considering how frosty it has been at night in York, the moors are going to be damn cold. A tarp/poncho would be a good idea. I found a 3/4 thermarest too short so your feet might get cold which won't be good.

Just make sure wherever you set up you're sheltered.

Have fun

[Sussex Man]

I know this was posted a while back now, but for new readers of this thread it may be helpful. There is a very good book on bivy bagging called the way of the bivvy or something similar. The guy who wrote it has done a podcast on itunes under either parctical backing or light weight back packing?

I have always found that a breeze over the fabric of the bivy bag works very well at evapoating what pass' through the goretex. Also i have a central zip on an issue arctic sleeping bag and find it very helpful to cool down or get in and out. Tarps are very good but can take away from the whole experience (imho).

Anyway its all about roughing it a bit that makes it such a laugh.

[william#]

yes bivis this time of year are hard work
i use a 3/4 therma rest and in the snow it just didnt cut it (despite having a mountain iceline 950 bag) i ended up having to use ruck sack for legs and ballance my heals on my boots under the bivi bag to stop the intence cold transfering into my body ( the worse part was by far the heels and though the rest of my body wast toastie it was very annoying feeling the cold there). oh and the ocassional climb out run on the spot for 5 mins then get back in.
i got a friend who saw the photos of the bivi set up in the snow and wanted me to take him on a bivi trip i have agreed but told him not till it gets warmer as though i love bivi s there is a bit of an art to them and its best to have your first uncomfatable nights in the warmer months before completely putting yourself off them by going out for the first time this time of the year.

i dont have a garden any more but when i did i swear sleeping out there with new kit in various weather conditions and times of year ironed out many problems that would of really ruined nights out further away from home

if i was out more than a night this time of year i would go for the tent option besides its about time i used that hillberge thats gathering dust.

[calibanzwei]

I'll be testing out my olive force's one next weekend - 3 days in the Peak district. All of this is good reading so I'll let you know how I get on.
Cheers

[Wild Thing]

William#

Try Endicitts in Exeter for the side opening bivvi's.

http://www.endicotts.co.uk/product_i...oducts_id=1338

http://www.endicotts.co.uk/product_i...oducts_id=1339

Hope this helps

Phill

PS no connection etc

[william#]

hey wild thing
that looks like what ive been looking for you may have just made my bivi life a lot better
thannkyou
now just got to sell my present two
lol

[scrogger]

Well guys just got back form a succesful if not a little uncomfortable first nights bivvy.
We were in a small sheltered area of forest with a small brook running though it with lots of dead wood for a fire!!.

Inexperience let me down a little bit with choice of lie as the area I wanted to kip in had a slight and I mean only slight incline. I was plenty warm enough and once n the sack at the start of the evening I wore a down jacket so I could make a brew from my bag.

Im no slim Jim having a 45 inch chest and I must say I found the top loading ex forces bag a bit of a tight squeeze with a winter bag in it. plus I put the thermarest 3/4 inside the bivvy which I think worked well but I did slide a lot. I used the end of a karrimat that I cut to use as a sit mat to make up the shortfall in length.

It was a beautiful clear but cold night with a bright moon at times on the whole a successful night but I am going to have to consider a zipped bivvy with hopefully a bit more room.

wild thing those endicotts bivvys look class !! might have to have a looky at those.

cheers for the other info as well guys!!

[w00dsmoke]

Hey good on you bud, no pics? Tjhe cammo army bivi's are a bit bigger than the olive ones.

Why don't you customise your bivi by adding an expander panel and side zip?
Or buy the goretex online for £20 and make your own?

[scrogger]

yes mate got pics will rezise and post them later. My minds working overtime now on what might work the goretex sounds like a poss I have a firend who is a seamstress.

[retrohiker]

Great thread! I've had a bivi bag for probably 10 years and only used it 2-3 times. I haven't found it to be that useful. I carry an 8x10 silnylon tarp that weighs less than a pound and provides more than sufficient shelter in the worst thunderstorms that I've ever encountered. My bivi only weighs in at about a little over a pound (20 ounces) but it's weight that provides no benefit so I've pretty much quit carrying it. From the thread, it sounds like everyone recommends carrying a tarp or poncho with a bivi. Way not just carry an slightly larger tarp for less weight than the combined setup?? Maybe you guys can help me see the error of my ways .

[w00dsmoke]

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/...ast_radar.html

This is why!

[drewdunnrespect]

just baught one from genuine army surpluss great things cant wait to try it out

[addo]

plus I put the thermarest 3/4 inside the bivvy which I think worked well but I did slide a lot. I used the end of a karrimat that I cut to use as a sit mat to make up the shortfall in length.

Thats a good idea. Im finding my 3/4 is making my feet a tad chilly, and ive been thinking of taking a sit mat to prevent compressing the sleeping bag, or when hammocking, just to sit on when cooking round the fire.

[Peterlee_Paddler]

Scrogger, we could have been renamed Simon & Garfunkel that night, as we were both 'slip slidin' away'
TBH, the pitch wasn't really too steep as my other rollmat with 'textured' surface would have been fine. Our self-inflating mats have to take some blame for that, I reckon.
Lesson learned.
My 3/4 mat was long enough for me at 6'2" as I use the sleeping bag stuffsac (on top of my sitmat) filled with spare clothing as a pillow, enabling me to locate the mat about 8" further down the bivi. I sleep in the semi-fetal position anyhow, so saving a few more inches to boot.
Had it been considerably less that the 2 degrees C that it was that night, I'd have taken my full length/width sleepmat.
Cracking spot, though

[Chris G]

I've an ex-army bag but so far not used it. One question I have is if the weather is bad to really bad, do you use some form of sheet/lofting (leaves, etc) under the bag to help keep the water from coming in through the lowest side? Or are they really that waterproof?

Chris

[Chris G]

No worries; I found the answer in the Trueways e-letter.

Yes was the answer by the way.

[scrogger]

A Cracking spot it was !! made all the more better with the clear skys all the stars and the really bright moon. Looking forward to the next trip im sure it must get easier and more comfy as you go along.

I saw a thread on Thermal mugs on here so im gonna get me one of those to make a brew in before bedding down then if I wake up chilly or bored I can have a hot drink without messing with stove and pans etc.

Andy