# bivvy bags



## yello (5 Mar 2009)

Has anyone used a bivvy bag _without_ a sleeping bag? 

All the searches I've done seem to assume that you'd use one but I'm wondering if it'd be sensible to use one with just a silk liner in summer.


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## Redmountduo (5 Mar 2009)

Doubtful in the uk.

I have used them like this in France but always had a bag with me. Even when day temps have been 30+ the nights can be cold.


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## chris667 (5 Mar 2009)

A bivvy bag and a sleeping bag is pretty minimalist already!
I wouldn't.


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## Alves (5 Mar 2009)

I have used one with my clothes on as a semi emergency measure when mountaineering, got stuck halfway down a mountain when night came and we dropped and broke the torch. It was grim. Condensation was a problem on the inside of the bag and I ended up very damp and uncomfortable. It was a quality Goretex bag with a slightly furry lining which is meant to reduce condensation.
I have had happier experiences with bivvy bags too but would always use as a last resort compared to a lightweight tent.
The one situation they do excel in is the rare guaranteed good weather overnight (High pressure system in place, great forecast or in other countires than Britain with more reliably predictable weather) and then you can watch the stars from the top of a mountain. But all too often, that isn't how it ends up!


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## andygates (5 Mar 2009)

Wouldn't it be nicer to use the sleeping bag without the bivvy bag? That's what I plan on doing for any fine-warm-high-summer camping avec tarp and titanium.


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## yello (5 Mar 2009)

Thanks folks. Sounds like a no go then. I was just playing with it as an idea for basic & super-lightweight free camping.


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## thomasthompson19 (29 Apr 2009)

I have here. A man using a Bivvy Bag. Here's the story... 

listen ... 

Several years ago, I was struggling up a mountain side laden with a pack full of everything I 'might' need for an overnight stop, when I met an older guy, lying in a Bivvy bag on a gentle slope, leaning against a large stone supping on a brew. 'You okay?' I asked concerned that he was injured in some way. 'Oh fine, couldn't be better, just waiting for the sun to go down and to count the stars'. 

It looked like it would be a very cool night with a good breeze, but he continued to tell me that he was warm inside his bag and he often came and Bivvied down at busy beauty spots, long after the crowds had gone home, to experience the solitude and simple pleasures of such vantage points. 

As I walked away from this very happy and obviously comfortable guy, I began to add up what was in my sack and mentally 'take out and weigh' everything I hadn't, or wasn't, going to use on that 2 day trip. Then I read The Book of the Bivvy by Ronald Turn bull and my life changed forever!

His rule is you should spend one night indoors for every night you spend in a bivvybag, as there are times when the breath ability isn't quite what it could be, and you are left with a 'damp' experience. However I've now done several week long trips with a tarp and a bivvy bag and each time I smile at the memory of the moment when I realized that carrying less is so much more fun. It's more flexible and provides greater views' than the inside of a tent which, when you stare up at the nylon mesh, could be pitched anywhere. Try it! Ronald is quite correct, it puts the fun and injects the youth back into your life, and you get to count the stars. Honest!!



Emergency Bivvy


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## ASC1951 (29 Apr 2009)

Alves said:


> The one situation they do excel in is the rare guaranteed good weather overnight (High pressure system in place, great forecast or in other countires than Britain with more reliably predictable weather) and then you can watch the stars from the top of a mountain.


I made a special trip to Tenerife a couple of years ago at new moon to bivvy up by the observatory, just a goretex bivvy bag and all my clothes, hoping for an overwhelming sparkly sky just as I remember as a child.

I found:
- it was stunningly cold. Ok it was at about 8,000', but still well above freezing.
- the stars were there in abundance, but they don't look the same through Old Person's Glasses.


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## Andy in Sig (29 Apr 2009)

I would take at the very least a lightweight summer bag for use with my bivvy bag. Even most summer nights the temperature will drop to a level to where you start feeling a bit cold.


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## Cromcruaich (29 Apr 2009)

What really is the difference in weight between an ultralightweight tent and your standard bivvie bag - 400g? Take a pee more often to account for the weight difference.


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## hubbike (29 Apr 2009)

thomasthompson19 said:


> Then I read The Book of the Bivvy by Ronald Turn bull and my life changed forever!



I had a similar experience when I discovered this great little book. got a bag and walked the 100mile southdown's way in 2 and a half days sleeping in the bag. And for walking I think its a great option.

there was a guy in the book who uses an opened out old fertilizer bag as both a cape in the day (instead of a jacket) and a makeshift bivvy bag at night (with no sleeping bag, he reckoned extra clothes for daytime was more useful)

However, on a bike I think a lightweight tent is a much better idea because extra weight makes little difference when you are carrying a weeks worth of food and spares/repair kit.


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## yello (29 Apr 2009)

I'm pleased to hear that some do use just a bivvy bag (or fertilser bag!). Makes me think it is do-able as an option.



hubbike said:


> However, on a bike I think a lightweight tent is a much better idea because extra weight makes little difference when you are carrying a weeks worth of food and spares/repair kit.



I'm looking to travel ultra-light. Certainly no 'weeks worth of food'!! Maybe the odd bag of haribo might sneak into my bar bag but that's it.

I was thinking of a bivvy bag as a 'just in case' option on LEL, so lightweight and small tiny pack size was preferable.


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## Crackle (29 Apr 2009)

Think about a tarp too, really will make a difference in bad weather and they fold up quite small. Substitute bike for pole here.


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## andym (29 Apr 2009)

Crackle said:


> Substitute bike for pole here.



Really? Surely a bike is a lot less more difficult to keep upright than a walking pole. Do you have any pictures? (Not that I don't believe you or anything).


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## Crackle (29 Apr 2009)

andym said:


> Really? Surely a bike is a lot less more difficult to keep upright than a walking pole. Do you have any pictures? (Not that I don't believe you or anything).



I haven't used one with a bike but you'd simply peg some lines out to the other side of the upside down bike. Somebody did a ride report on here using a similiar method, though there were 3 of them.


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## andym (30 Apr 2009)

The pictures seem to show the bivvy suspended between 4 upturned bikes.


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## hubbike (30 Apr 2009)

Walking pole looks ok but the bike set up looks a bit flimsy to me. ok in the sunny south, but if the wind picked up, and it started lashing it down with rain, I think the bikes would fall over and you'd be left in a soggy heap. 

I'd love it to work but don't really think thats the way. maybe you could rig up something similar to this yourself


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## trio25 (30 Apr 2009)

The bikeamper has pretty poor reviews. Singletrackworld did a bivvy test and it leaked loads and the guy in it got very cold!


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## andym (30 Apr 2009)

The guy on www.backpackinglight.co.uk has a photo gallery showing a number of different setups for a tarp using sticks (as opposed to walking batons). However, the most practical/credible set up I've seen was (I think) a 'flying vee' with a line attached to a tree trunk. I think he demonstrates it in his 'tarp video' taster which can be found here:

http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/page104.asp


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## psmiffy (30 Apr 2009)

why bother with the weight of a bivvy bag when you could just sleep in your waterproofs


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## hubbike (30 Apr 2009)

psmiffy said:


> why bother with the weight of a bivvy bag when you could just sleep in your waterproofs



hee hee 

On a winter climbing course the instuctor told us that your clothes will keep you alive. just dig a coffin shaped snow hole to keep the wind off you.

tramps and homeless people have slept outside in all seasons for hundreds of years by seeking out bridges, drainage pipes, walls, hedges etc.


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## psmiffy (30 Apr 2009)

why not if you are intent on roughing it - Ive spent a few nights out in not so good weather working triple shifts on construction sites catching a few hours kip whilst waiting my time to do my bit - lie back on a sand stockpile and sou wester over the face to keep rain off

Probably why I overload my bike with luxieries like tents, mats and sleeping bags


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## andym (30 Apr 2009)

psmiffy said:


> luxieries like tents, mats and sleeping bags



...and clothes, and cooking equipment and food.


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## psmiffy (30 Apr 2009)

I know - am I totally without any hope of redemption


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## Zorro (30 Apr 2009)

When I was on an army excercise I thought it would be a good idea to leave the sleeping bag in the barracks and just sleep in the bivvie sack. Even though it was summer it was not a good idea. I woke up with minor hyperthermia!!

I would always use a sleeping bag unless you can guarentee the weather is going to be hot.


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## hubbike (30 Apr 2009)

Maybe you could sleep through the day (using the sun to stay warm) and cycle at night (using pedal power to stay warm). Its likely to mess up your circadian rhythms. and you wont see much scenery.


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## snowy10 (30 Apr 2009)

I always take my sleeping bag as well as the bivvy, even if it is the lightweight summer type.


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## samid (30 Apr 2009)

hubbike said:


> hee hee
> 
> On a winter climbing course the instuctor told us that your clothes will keep you alive. just dig a coffin shaped snow hole to keep the wind off you.


What if it snows during the night?


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## hubbike (1 May 2009)

samid said:


> What if it snows during the night?


you finish up like this guy


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## fitzgerald19 (19 May 2009)

One of the most lightweight forms of camping outdoors is bivvy bag camping, where you do without the need to carry a tent along with you.

A bivvy bag (some spell it bivy, with one V) will keep your sleeping bag dry from any light rain and dew. Since it is also waterproof underneath, the bag presents a barrier to the cold moisture that rises up from underneath your body while you are asleep.

The word bivvy is a soldier's abbreviation for the French word bivouac, which can be both a noun and a verb. Soldiers are taught to bivouac down for the night. They make a bivouac (shelter) to protect themselves as best they can from the elements. This is done where carrying and setting up proper sleeping tents would be too time-consuming. However, a bivvy bag is just a bag. It is compact, lightweight and ultra-convenient.

Most good bivvy bags include a zip-across insect netting to keep the mosquitoes and no-see-ums from eating you alive while you sleep. The best bivvy bags use a breathable but waterproof fabric which allows water vapor to escape yet stops water droplets from coming in. The original type of special fabric was made by Goretex™, but there are other — and cheaper — fabrics available nowadays which stop water droplets, but pass water vapor.

I own two camping bivvy bags. One cheap and one expensive. The top-quality bivvy bag is made of Goretex™ and has been woven or printed in Australian Army desert camo. It cost me about $400 at a specialist camping outfitter in Kent Street, Sydney, a few years back. The other bivvy bag I own is a cheap blue and black one that's made in Korea. I think the brand name was Rhinoceros... It cost me about $50, and this bivvi doesn't have an insect mesh like the Aussie one does. They are both great for lightweight camping or for hiking.

You can use a bivvy bag to camp out in most weather, although driving rain will get in and soak you from the head and shoulders area. This would be most uncomfortable, so some kind of mini-tarp would be a good idea to give extra protection from the rain if bad weather is expected.

A bivvy bag will also work to keep you warm and dry even in the snow. However, you will still need to have a thick enough sleeping bag that is rated for those very cold temperatures. And the same bivvy bag will work very well as a survival bag, something that will keep you dry and hopefully stave off hypothermia (exposure) if you are ever caught out in the wilds while hiking in changeable weather.

Bivvy Bag


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## Alves (19 May 2009)

Thanks Fitz, your experience of bivi bags is interesting.
"A bivvy bag will also work to keep you warm and dry even in the snow"
My experience is that you invariably end up with a damp sleeping bag in Scottish conditions even with a premium Gore-tex bag (with the furry inside layer to reduce condensation) as no matter how good your bag is, some moisture gets out from your skin or breath and condenses on the inside of the bag and you do get damp esp after more than one night out.
May be different in drier climates perhaps.
In my view, they are a 2nd choice to a tent UNLESS you know you'll get a fine settled spell of good weather, not that common in the UK and rare in Scotland.


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