Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting thinking about bivy sacks (haven't had good luck so far)

Hee hee hee

That’s about the most accurate statement I’ve read on the ‘Fire.

So many hours in a tiny tube with the inability to see well and snow just piles up certainly gives a fella time to think. Especially if the same fella forgets his tarp and had a pack & gun in the tube also. Seemed like a greeeaaaat idea to stay on the mountain to avoid the extra walking…

Not miserable but definitely it’s closest cousin.

Now I use my Kifaru Supertarp way more if I can plan for the overnight stay.

Kuiu mountain star is like 3lbs and some ounces. I'll deal with another pound or two for room and storage.

Not mutually exclusive items.

Gore-Tex Bivy bag and a lightweight fly tarp is a great combination.

- 10'x10'
- Waterproof rip-stop nylon
- 22.4 oz.






GR

I have a LOT of experience using the Army bivy bag (and a poncho shelter). In the snow and rain. I never left home without it. I should have kept the bivy bag when I retired, I'll be ordering one soon.

Yep.

I nowadays prefer a one man issue-type tent.

Bivy's are crap in shi tty weather. Always make sure your bivy is taller than the puddle you're in.

Another piece of solid advice. ^

Paid ~ $100 for both the Gore-Tex Bivy bag and the WP 10'x10' rip-stop nylon fly.

Can be configured as a fly, shelter, or tent.

Also works w/ a hammock.




GR

Snow? Who da fook said anything about snow? I said early July in the coast range. [bleep] people ... I'm looking for some on-topic input, not delusion / fantasy. Temps will either run upper 40s to near 60 with 50 mph wind and rain .. in which case I'm **leaving** or they're going to be mid 60s at night, potential to 110 in the daytime. The reason for the bivy, the reason it's a question, is a slight shift in wind direction can change that 110 forecast to the 60 degrees and rain delivery. The ground, if I camp on the ground, is rock fins .. peridotite ledges. Boulders. Might be room for a bivy, I hope, but sure as hell not room for a damned 4 man teepee. What 'tard even brought that nonsense to the table?

I'm asking for info about bivy sacks that are dry without condensation. I didn't ask about the rest.

The MSS Gore-Tex bivy bag is not only bone dry even under a hose... but breathable, so No condensation.

~ Temp Relief (R value) in skivvies: (Mil rating is based on 4 hrs. sleep, fully clothed in cold weather gear)

- 10° - Gore-Tex bivy bag.
- 20° - ltwt Patrol Sleeping bag.
- 10° - Doubled-over Poncho Liner.

W/ the fly and bivy bag, 2 Patrol bags, and a Poncho liner - can adjust layers to sleep toasty from 70°F down to 20°F, in clear/rain/snow, calm or windy.

For 60°F and raining - the Gore-Tex bivy bag and a poncho liner would do the trick, ~ 3.5 lbs..


The bag system, w/ 2 Patrol bags, and w/o the bulky and heavy Intermediate bag, packs pretty small and weighs less than 7 lbs.

(And the whole system snaps together, so it operates as a unit in any configuration - generally putting the poncho liner, if needed, b/t the sleeping bags and the bivy bag, folded the long way, so it wraps completely over and back under my feet, while contacting the ground inside the bivy bag on either side.)

Add ~ 1.5 lbs. for the fly, and the same for the poncho liner.

Call it (+/-) 10 lbs. all up.




GR

Borah Gear

I use a SEEK outside Tipi Tent and mil issued goretex bivy. I’ve been exposed to all kinds of weird conditions over the years with water in traditional tents (sideways rain, poor pitch etc) and now much prefer a tipi and bivy. In the warmer months I’ll camp under the stars but still never leave home without my bivy.

There are two "flavors" of bivies- waterproof ones (gore-tex, eVent, others) and water resistant ones; the water resistant ones typically breathe better, but are meant to be used with a tarp (unless you are 100% sure it's not going to rain!)

Word of warning- even the water resistant ones, that breathe better, are prone to condensation in humid conditions- that was hammered into me on a backpacking trip through the desert of Joshua Tree, the last place I thought I had to worry about humidity! (effed up site selection night one, did not eff up night two and three :D)

I still use my eVent bivy, but almost exclusively during the winter and in snow shelters.

Solo shelters have gotten so light that it pretty much nixes the advantage of a tarp/bivy. This shelter, replete with a bathtub floor, bug netting and a vestibule, weighs 17 oz with stakes- tough to go back to a bivy/tarp setup.

I would only use one if you knew you could pack up and beat feet if bad weather rolled in. I’d prefer one of two options:
1. Bivy with a super tarp, used if needed.
2. Lightweight summer or three season tent.

If it rains at all you’re going to be miserable. Period. I know you are mostly concerned with dew/humidity, but ill or unprepared is a recipe for disaster.

I will say most of my backpacking experience is based in AK, but some of that was warm & costal weather.

What is the location?

On the right, is that a ridge or is there a plateau on the other side?

Mostly shi-tty weather of all sorts in the North Cascades. Large portions of the PNW are wet, and/or windy. Study.

Quality bivy with good tarp in exceptional, low winds weather, alpine-ish.

I always plan for EXTRA wind.

Some sort of tent is best and worth the weight, etc. in my experience.. Weather can change...fast (as often noted in most regions). I'd overbuild for wind. Usually an effective barrier for insects, ETC.

A tarp mitigates the sound of relentless precip or blowing sand/debris even with an already deployed rainfly. Can be worth the weight.

In arid SW regions, recreation with a tent would be advised.

Alaska...kinda like your own planet.

Obviously there are the areas of the Northern states and East of the Mississippi that others could opine preferences.