Choosing Bivy Bag Color

i have a green coloured bivvy
one of my reasons for having a bivvy is the capacity to stealth camp when desired. I tried with a bright orange one and it was a head slapping moment when i realized how well I could be seen by others. it also took me hours on it's maiden voyage for me to find a site that could hide me and my big stupid looking orange bag.
as time passes the appreciation that bright colors can be an environmental blight has sunk in for me. I actually think common silnylon grey is one of the most suitable colors i have personal experience of for fitting in with natural surroundings. at least where I've traveled. this is one of the qualities I really appreciate in the tarptents I have used.
I'd also hope not to be relying on my bivvy color for safety/getting out of trouble.
baz

I have two bivies. The first is an old REI Cyclops that's red, yellow and blue. The second is an Integral Designs, Unishelter Exp eVENT, in bright yellow. I don't try to stealth camp, though I tend to camp away from the "crowd"… and I'm always able to find my campsite after being gone all day fishing, etc.

ID Unishelter in the Desolation Wilderness

I have seen arguments for dark colors because they supposedly dry faster when in the sun.

My Rab bivvy is a rather awful shade of purple, not through choice but because the supplier couldn't guarantee what colours the new stock would be. In practice this is not really a problem, since it's dark enough not to stand out as the light fades, but a green or brown would probably have been my preference. Ultimately the colour doesn't especially bother me, although new hiking partners generally raise an eyebrow.

Love the dark olive color of my integral designs bivy, the nice thing is that it's a nice pale yellowish color inside the bivy, adds to the mood?

nm

Tomorrow I head out on a trip on which I hope to bag two fourteeners. I will make my base camps in rocky, treeless basins that don't have many distinguishing features. I'm taking my orange Lightsabre bivy, instead of a green or gray tent, so I'll have a better chance of spotting it if I happen to descend from the summit in twilight or with the sun at an unfavorable angle.

I have a 2007 Mountain Laurel Designs Soul Side Zip with the yellow eVent top and silnylon 2.0 bottom in green.

There was an option for a black eVent top, I went with yellow for high visability for emergency situations where I wanted to be found.

I thought that black would dry out faster and hide the dirt better.

Another benefit of having a brightly colored bivy is that after a dayhike, it is very easy to find the campsite in the brush.

I guess if I wanted to stealth camp, I would pitch my poncho tarp as an A frame to hide my bivy.

-Tony

One of the reasons I chose UL is so my gear could go with me wherever I went. It is light and so subdued colors are prefered. I don't camp far enough away from people to not be seen if I want to stealth camp. So I prefer something earthy. My current Bivy bag is actually Gortex and camoflaged. If you really need to find me follow the snorring.

If I climbed or other activities involving danger or the possibility that I might get hurt I would probably want a brighter color.

I can think of several reasons why bivy color might matter:

1. ability to stealth camp
2. not polluting someone else's visual
3. being able to find it back
4. aesthetic beauty

For 1 and 2, a green or grey is apparently preferable. For 3, a yellow, orange, or red would be better. For 4 it depends entirely on personal preference (and fashion?)!

My overall personal choice would be green, but alas I don't even have a green bivy.

Also, it seems that there is at least one assumption that is going unstated here – that being that the bivy is visible to others. To wit, most people are talking about standalone stormproof bivies, such as those made out of eVENT.

The topic of color would be somewhat less significant if used under a tarp or other shelter, and even less significant if used in a snow cave!

I currently own three bivies:

1. ID eVENT Unishelter Exp – yellow, fully stormproof, I always use it standalone, I sometimes wish it were green to blend in, but at least I can find it back easily at the end of a dayhike.

2. ID eVENT Bugaboo – yellow, mostly stormproof, I usually use it with at least a partial coverage tarp or poncho-tarp, similar issues on wishing for green, but okay with yellow.

3. TiGoat Ptarmigan – grey (thankfully NOT their new purple!), only water resistant, I always use it with a full coverage tarp, color is nicely subdued, but frankly color doesn't matter since the tarp is all that others see.

I suspect that most people around here who are using bivies are NOT using the heavier stormproof variety, so perhaps that's why you haven't had more responses.