How to Sleep in a Bivy w/o Dying?

Dave,

Thanks for the link to the other thread.

Sounds like we are on the same line of thinking….bivy and tarp for fair weather.

If I am expecting to go into a rainy trip, I would take my Contrail and a rain jacket.

Maybe as I get more experience with the bivy and tarp, I will be able to have the skills to use it year round.

This past Sept, I went on the High Sierra Trail to the top of Mt. Whitney. 70 miles in 4 days carrying a 36 lb pack. (I carried 6 days of food, but we finished a lot faster than expected).

I kept thinking that here I am carrying 20 oz of rain gear that I really would never use….I started thinking about using a poncho tarp and bivy then.

Anyway, I wanted to ask you…What is polycro?

Is it like tyvek? I know that Henry Shire sells tyvek ground sheets for floorless tarp tents.

I have the 2.0 Silnylon floor of my MLD Soul Side Zip Bivy, but I have not given much thought to using a ground sheet. Might be nice to keep things like my pack clean. Few rocks to hold it down and from blowing away.

Also, do you stake your Bivy down with just the stake or do you use a short guyline attached to the bivy and then stake down the guyline?

I have found that if I stake down the bivy with just a stake, I lose a fair amount of head room inside the bivy due to the "pull" on the bivy fabric.

-Tony

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Dave,

LOL!

You and I did the same thing….Gear Geeks Unite!

On Saturday I came home from work and found that my Bivy and Poncho Tarp arrived.

I vacuumed the living room floor and promptly put my pad and sleeping bag in it and sealed myself in.

My wife and 4.5 yr old daughter thought that I was nuts, but they kept watching tv as I laid in the middle of the room.

Thanks for the link on the ground sheet and the info on how you have setup your bivy.

You will like the poncho tarp from MLD…well made and I like how easy the hood rolls up and snaps shut.

Wearing it, I feel like I should be on the corner pan handling for loose change with a sign that says, "Bear ate my food and destroyed my light weight gear….spare some change?"

Function over fashion, right?

Definitely recommend using guy lines with the Poncho Tarp.

My attempts to setup the Poncho Tarp with out them to look like the photos on Ron's website….er, less than successful.

No surprise when you give an untrained worker monkey a few stakes, a pair of hiking poles, and poncho and say, "Make me a shelter."

Does anyone know of a book or website that has basic info on tarp pitching?

For the life of me, looking at Ron's website, it looks like he is only using one line at the "end" of the tarp to loop around a hiking pole and the hiking pole must be staked down pretty tight to keep the pole standing upright all by itself.

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=32&products_id=53&osCsid=00c74c8033f40f2019ea72af2beceeff

Bottom right photo.

-Tony

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Dave,

I really appreciate all of the information that you have given me.

Ron from MDL was nice enough to email me back regarding how he pitched the poncho tarp in the picture from his website:

Hi Tony,
>
> The short length of cord is not needed.
> Yes, there is a lot of pull on the loop to get the
> rear closed.
>
> Start by staking the rear corners to the ground with
> the hem between them a bit tight. Then tie up the
> rear to the pole to form the rear triangle- it will
> not be purely vertical but more at an angle. The
> lower
> the angle the less tension and the better it will
> work. It's more of a modified closed end Vs a fully
> vertical rear panel- it mainly used the stretch of
> the
> silnylon to work.
>
> It does take a little practice. Good luck,
>
> Peace,
> Ron

On a side note: How often do you get a chance to get your questions answered by the owner of the company that makes your gear? Thank Ron for the great service!

-Tony

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