Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting SOL bivys for cold weather survival

I am thinking about adding a SOL Bivy, either the emergency bivy or the escape bivy. any one ever use on in the cold? With all my layers on would I likely make it overnight? Would the condensation just wet out my insulation?

This last weekend I was on a long back country XC ski and I was thinking about surviving a day or so with a broken ankle on one of my trips and as conditions are pretty similar to what many of us might have on a late season hunt I thought I would ask here if anyone has used one. Would it be useful to survive a night thats 20-30F with snow?

Typically I am wearing a whipcord or fleece softshell pants, long sleeve long john top, 100wt fleece top and a nylon anorak. I usually wear a fleece ball cap with ear flaps and fleece windstopper gloves.

I carry a fleece balancava, primaloft jacket , eVent overmitts and a small foam pad I can sit or if careful lay on and a 4x8 silnylon tarp.

I have thought about ditching the tarp and carrying one of the SOL bivy's figuring it would likely be as good a windbreak and might help retain more body heat.

noKnees:

It's hard to beat a Silnylon tarp for an emergency bivvy if you fold it over like a taco and tie a few grommets together. That makes a great bivvy and it has lots of other uses.

Thanks for mentioning the SOL Bivvy. I've seen them on the store shelves and they look flimsy. They might be single-use items. I wonder if they would actually make it through a night intact. However, looks can be deceiving. I'm going to be watching the thread to see what actual uses have to say.

KC

There cheap so I was thinking single use just for emergency use. Add to my pack for cross country back country skiing, hunting the Adirondacks and fall to spring hiking.

I bought the heavier SOL emergency blanket last year thinking it might do double duty as a tarp to keep the boned out meat clean. Shot a large cow and found out the reflective properties of the fabric really work. The meat wouldn't cool at all sitting on the blanket. It suffered enough damage that I won't use it again for that purpose anyway. I think it would be nice to have in a cold emergency situation but can't say exactly how it would perform.

I've used both standard bivies and ponchos for overnighting on cold nights with no bag.
Make sure you have a some sort of foam pad to sleep on. A 5/16's Ensolite will work, but it isn't very comfortable. So perhaps something thicker ?
Extra socks are nice to use. But, above all, carry at least four tear open chemical, 8 hour, hand warmers. Put on both pairs of socks and put one between them. I put one in each side pocket of my pants. And one in my chest pocket.
As long as you are zipped in tight, moisture shouldn't be a problem at least where I've done this. Note, I haven't tried this during a wet, freezing rain.
A warm cap and good, warm gloves are a mustr as well. E

I bought one of the SOL emergency Bivys and am going to give it a test in a couple of days.

Its pretty small, but I doubt I could repack it that small again after use so it will be a $13 test.

I'd be interested to hear how you do your test and your results. Personally, I'd be hesitant to use anything that can be described as "flimsy" (KC's observation) for an emergency shelter. Here's an interesting take on emergency shelters:

http://outdoorsafe.com/2012/05/23/emergency-shelters/

Have used the SOL space blanket and buddy used the bivy in the same conditions. He was not impressed. Condensation was an issue - wetted out his insulation, and he was up stomping around trying to get warm most of the night. Until it started to wet out, he was warm though. The reflective stuff does work, even a space blanket is much better than nothing. SOL makes a breathable bivy, which we both now have, but have not tested.

I'd not give up the tarp. Too versatile and staying dry is key. Have spent several nights under that $8 walmart tarp with all my layers on. I'm not saying it was comfortable, but I'm still here.

I bought one also. It still looks kind of flimsy.

I'm also interested in your observations after actually using an SOL bivvy bag. Please report your test results.

KC

look at their new SOL Escape bivy- definitely not a single use and this bivy actually breathes

I use in conjunction w/ a very light Apex quilt, short section of ccf pad and a small sil tarp- all easily fit in an 30-ish liter day pack or hunting pack

I've spent a few nights out with this kit and while not overly comfy- it's kept me quite alive

from the thread on an unexpected night out