Considering buying a bivy sack. I normally use my MSR hubba bubba 2 person tent. It is very comfortable, has alot of gear storage and has been a very solid tent. It is fairly light.

I'm hunting an area this fall that is 3-4 miles from the truck and considering throwing my sleeping bag, pad, and a bit of food in the pack and spend 2-3 days in there instead of hiking in/out every day. My fall back is to go in a day early and set my tent up and hunt from there. But shaving a few lbs is never a bad idea.

I'm looking at the Outdoor Research Alpine bivy. Most reviews indicate it's bullet proof. What are you all using?

I have and like the one you mention. Have used it on several outings and it’s been quite good. I’ve used it for three years.

Is it the older Goretex version or the newer Ascentshell?

The OR stuff is good. Plenty of offerings: Black Diamond, etc.

I have a North Face Assault bivy. Very basic, envelope-style.

Mostly a back up item for me.

I have an older Outdoor Research Bivy, it’s small, works well for times when you want to check a place that’s farther than can be comfortably hiked in a day. If I’m exhausted the tight quarters don’t bother me. I prefer to keep it for only overnight use, more than that I go bigger.

Mine is the Goretex model I believe, bought about three years ago.

Have you slept in a bivy before? If not can you borrow one before you buy? Despite the practical advantages they aren't for everyone .. possibly including me. I found that a flat / non-hooped bivy triggers a kind of claustrophobia I didn't know I had. I freak the "f" out when that mesh lays down on my face and I perceive air restriction. OTOH I use a hooped bug bivy in summer and fall with no issue so the trick is finding the sweet spot in between. I haven't yet. My notion is a bivy with a hoop over my head and preferably over the foot .. ideally with a ridgeline .. and optional unzip at the foot for air flow would be pretty ideal. The only one I've found that fits the description is heavier than I want.

If you don't have any issues with breathing in one then TiGoat makes some pretty nice stuff. Raven Omni would be my first choice.

Tom

I've considered the hoop in bivy's and can say, it will be a hopped version. Both the OR bivy's I've looked at had the hoop. No bueno on netting on my face.

I've also considered weather and have almost talked myself out of a bivy. The 4 season hoop versions weigh 16-30 oz. My tent only weighs 3.5 lbs. Plus in a bivy, there is no area for boots and other "stuff". I'm wondering what you do with wet gear in a bivy. Wear it dry I'm guessing. I'm leaning toward going g in the evening before, set up my tent and using it to base from instead of being 100% mobile.

The bivy sack does not work for me, sold it and bought a three season bivy tent. With a rain fly it weighs 3.2 lbs.

Couple years back I did 5 days in a bivy. It rained every day, and was really not all that fun. I kept my gear under a tarp, but still... get wet getting in, get wet getting out, put on your rain gear and stand around...

We were socked in virtually the entire time, and I was losing my mind. Not that a tent would have been much better, but at least you could move around a bit. I like the bivy for emergency overnight, and maybe a 2 night max planned stay. Don't think I'll ever break my 5 day record.

With the ability to buy two person tents that are in the 2lb-3lb weight range, a bivy doesn't make my list.

Kuiu mountain star is 3lbs 5oz. Two person, two vestibule, mansion for one.

If you have two people split it up between the two of you...

Bill:

Over the years, I've tried a variety of options. I own an OR Bivy sack without a hoop. I bought, tried out, and sent back a Eureka hoop type bivvy tent. But I think I have arrived at the conclusion that, if one is going to go minimalist, then the best option is a simple single-wall wedge dome, like this one.
Wedge Dome Tent



I have a funny story regarding when I used this type of tent. I had backpacked into Upper Sand Creek Lake in the Sangre De Cristos. I setup the tent on a little grassy knoll. It looked real inviting but had no trees or Bushes for wind protection. In the middle of the night, one of those infamous wind storms that frequent the Sangres, hit that little tent. For most of the night, the tent was pushed down onto my face by the wind. But the little tent popped right back up, in the morning, when the wind subsided. I don't own it any more. I wonder what happened to that little tent? It was cheap. Probably self destructed?

Bivys work great in good weather. They suck in any sort of precipitation unless you pitch a tarp over them. Maybe a bivy plus tarp is lighter than a tent, maybe not. Without the tarp over your bivy, you can't change in or out of wet clothes. I have a nice one but use it pretty sparingly. Given the choice between a tarp plus a sleeping bag and a bivy plus a sleeping bag I'll bring the tarp every time.

KC - I saw it last time I was in Kansas. There was a witch riding a bike behind it.......

I have both Seek Outside DST tarp and the Seek Outside Eolus. I used to use a OR bivy but it leaves much to be desired. The Seek tents/tarps weigh pretty close to the weight of many bivy. I do carry a lighweight Bora Gear bivy (5 ounces) for use under these floorless shelters when I know its going to be really wet.

If I were to replace either it would be with a Seek Outside Silex. Both the Silex and Eolus provide much better coverage than a tarp.

I have an old MLD eVENT bivy that see's limited use anymore (mostly winter in snow shelters) with the advent of cuben shelters. The MLD bivy weighs 12 oz (the OR Alpine bivy you mentioned is 2 lbs!), my solo cuben tent weighs 18 oz with stakes- replete with bathtub floor, decent vestibule, bug netting and plenty of room to stretch out- doesn't make much sense for a bivy with these features for roughly the same weight (or less than some bivies).

The only advantage I see with a bivy is the size of the footprint; if you were planning on camping in very craggy/rocky areas (maybe mtn goat hunting???) then it might make sense. My shelter has a pretty small footprint and hasn't been a problem finding a place to set it up.

What is your cuban tent?

I agree, I think the best use for bivy is steep country.
Finding a level spot to set up even a small tent can be a challenge.

I hate constantly sliding off my pad, keeps me awake far too much.

Hunting up around Stanley,Id. in some not too far from home places, [when I lived in Meridian,ID.] I planned on taking a small shovel and digging out some level spots, but never did.

it's Tarptent Aeon Li.

A couple of years ago on a early season elk hunt, I was sitting above a spring (the only water probably in 3-ish square miles); I made camp on a small ledge (steep enough on the one side, I slide a log next to me so I wouldn't inadvertently go over the edge)- tent wouldn't have worked in that spot, the bivy was just right though. I was able to glass until nightfall, get up in the dark and eat breakfast able to watch the spring laying in my bag/bivy. Of course the forecast was very favorable for that trip; bad weather in a bivy is really bad

I'll give the Aeon L a look.

I have a HS Tarptent, Contrail, it's my favorite 'mildish' weather tent.
I had a spot down in the Owyhee Desert sw,Idaho where I could glass a natural spring that attracted lots of critters. Only water around the area.
I found two low-rise boulders that held me in a hammock, just high enough to be off the ground. That and a small 8x6' tarp for shade was a great spot, killed a few coyotes from the spot. Nice and level unlike yours.

Thanks for the info.,

I think it's about 28oz. .

Contrail is solid shelter, my buddy has one

Yeah. Had a Contrail, have a ProTrail. I'd love to have something that good in a side-opener. Wasn't a thing when I was younger but now that I'm older and stiffer, getting in and out of the big end of a tapered tent, then getting turned around to get feet to the small end is more of a pain in the ass than I'd have imagined. After a real long, hard day of hiking that little maneuver can be the final straw for throwing a hamstring cramp. F-u-c-k .. I hate cramps.

^ all my shelters are now side opening, even my winter tent

What is your opinion on using the Tarptent Aeon Li for late Oct, early Nov elk hunts?

I've had mine out in some pretty rough weather, but I don't think I'd choose it if snow is in the forecast. I've had it out in light snow and it's done fine. I've had it in some pretty windy conditions as well, but there are definitely more bomber tents out there for "bad" weather.

I purchased a used Tarptent Stratospire Li last year and that's the shelter I'd probably grab for late October (in Montana anyways). Has more room, double walled, double vestibules and stands up to rougher weather better. Still pretty svelte at under 2 lbs.

Kifaru Paratarp works well.

https://www.precisionoptics.net/Kifaru_Para_Tarp_Coyote_Brown_PHTP101_p/phtp101.htm

https://www.rokslide.com/forums/threads/wts-kifaru-paratarp.46008/

I remember a thread about the Paratarp, Kifaru had a vestibule for it, you used sewing pins the pins with heads on them to hold stuff in place.

A guy used the set-up in some sporty winds, had quite a few nice little holes from the pins every few inches. He wasn't happy with the vestibule pinned on deal.