Ideas for Umbrella/bivy combo

When I was on the JMT I met up with a guy who used this type of system.

He had an ID bivy and used the umbrella to cover his head. He had the umbrella tied down so that it wouldn't blow away in the wind.

Personally, I think a basic tarp system would be better. Lighter, more room etc…..

I sometimes take a small 6 oz bumbershoot with me when hiking in the spring when full-on sun can change to showers in a matter of minutes. But I never thought of using it to shelter my bivy…interesting! I'm wondering how I would anchor it so I wouldn't knock it over as I roll around at night. My foul weather bivy has a built-in rain jacket type hood with a bill and has given sterling performance in all types of storms; however, it's no longer made. You might want to check out the various bivys that look more like mini solo tents. mountaingear.com has several. Happy trails!

I've used an umbrella for years when hiking, originally a Smith & Sons model with a solid hazel shaft (doubling as a walking stick) but these days usually a smaller and lighter – but, alas, less stylish – GoLite Dome. Although I don't have any thoughts about using it solely with a bivvy bag I have been thinking about sewing a "tent" of bug netting to drape over it and then over the top half of my sleeping bag (or bivvy, if it's very cold or stormy) underneath my tarp. The canopy should provide a bit of wind protection and keep the mesh off my face; doubtless I'll need to peg it down, though.

The idea was prompted by trying to eat during a swarm of midges… and being foiled by my head net! Using the umbrella to create a bigger circle of mesh might allow eating underneath it, as well as being usable for protection at night. I'll let you know how it goes if I can get hold of some decent mesh.

When my partner and I are both hiking, we have two umbrellas between us. In bad weather we lodge them at the edges of our Double Rainbow rain porch to keep blowing rain from coming in. Also very handy in the middle of the night if nature calls and it's raining, or for cooking etc…Not to mention the sun protection!

Haven't attempted the bivy thing though. I think you would need some sort of guylines to anchor it, or it would certainly blow around.

I bought the LightTrek with the chrome top a month or so ago and took it on my first trip. I also brought my SilCape poncho because I wasn't sure how the umbrella would do. While it was nice for shade, I couldn't use it in the rain – it was blowing extremely hard! It makes me wonder whether or not I could rely on an umbrella as replacing my poncho or rainjacket. If I can't rely on it, then I am bringing 10 extra ounces for some nice shade.

It also would make me leery to rely on it as part of my shelter system unless I really found a good way to secure it in high winds.

Yeah, it only works for us becuase we place them on the lee side of the tent. No good in high winds. Having said that, we both use our umbrellas more for shade than anything else. The sun is very intense in these parts…

Bivys for summer? Umbrellas?

I'd say a light tarp would be FAR superior – and lighter than the weight of a bivy and an umbrella.

I've seen a backpacker get really soaked trying to enter and exit a bivy in the pouring rain in Yosemite last summer.

Bivys are for winter and snow caves or for the military B/C they are quick to deploy and soldier-proof.
("Soldier" here means an adolescent or barely beyond that can screw up a steel ball with a rubber mallet.)

It's horses for courses.

A bivy is good for terrains where you cannot pitch a tent or want to be be very discrete.

A tarp is good for all round use and in summer I'll take a tarp but probably not pitch it all that often.

A bivy is a really poor experience if you have rough weather and are unable to do anything but lie there and feel the rain.