Is high quality homemade bivy worth it?

if you make it from owfinc.com 2nd you can do it for under $5yd for both sil and uncoated 1.1oz. The noseeum is around $3yd. It will be a tad heavier, i think it should seriously be a tad, but much cheaper and if you don't like it it wasn't such a cash hog.

also Silnylong from Noah Lamport could be under $3yd for 2nds.

I always use 2nds and have never found anything wrong with them at all.

also, can't order partial yds at thru-hiker (i don't think)

Definitely nothing wrong with the seconds silnylon. I used it for a poncho and have had no problems with it. It appears thru-hiker doesn't have it in stock right now, but OWF has it for $4.90 a yard.

And like Tim said, I don't think you car order partial yards from thru-hiker. I've never ordered from OWF, so I can't comment on them.(Edit: just noticed they only sell by the yard as well)

As for being worth it, I take a lot of pride in my homemade quilt and jackets (poncho-tarp not so much). The cost savings is nice if you have plenty of time, patience, and space. During the school year, I'm rather short on all three, so I don't make as much gear as I would like. Those are the times I don't mind paying a little more for something of higher quality than I could produce to receive it in much less time.

If you haven't sewn before, definitely have some one to teach you. I learned a lot watching my mom do the harder stuff while I did the shorter seams. And practice with the scraps a lot too.

Have fun!

Adam

I used 2nds on mine … here's what I bought:

3 yards 2nd sil at $5 a yard — $15.00
1 yard Momentum — $13.59
The rest was the same …. about 15 bucks.

That takes it to around $50 with shipping.

Then I cut the Bivy down from 8 ft to 7 ft long. The Sil comes up a bit at the foot, but that's not a bad thing.

Another one I built I used 3 yards of 2nd's sil and then just extended the Nanoseeum down by using whatever I needed of the 2 yards of nanoseeum netting. This one was about $35.

You can also use cheaper DWR coated nylon in place of the momentum ….

There are less expensive options if you'd like.

Of course … just ordering the TI Goat bivy is a no brainer …. order it and you're done.

I did the same price analysis. Why go that route when the Equinox Bivy is like $60 and 6.5 oz? Hard to beat. Also I happened upon some tyvek for cheap and have been messing around with that. It works. Plus a good practice material.

Just a heads-up. OWFINC will let you order partial yards. I've ordered all my material from them. They are fast and friendly and have been happy to answer questions and make suggestions/reccomendations when I've asked.

I am in the process of making a Meteor Bivy ala Six Moon designs. I got my stuff from owf inc as I always do and it was very cheap. 2nds sil, 1.1 dwr, and no seeum. I expect about a 7 oz finish weight. rerun your numbers with their prices and see the difference. Construction is going very smoothly and is one of the easier large projects I have done. I am very busy with other things, but I will probably end up with under 3 hours work on it. The reason I am doing this instead of getting the equinox is due to the extra breathability compared to standard bivies, but more rain protection than a bug net like the MLD one.