Bivy Trouble

[Daniel Fosse]

I got a TiGoat bivy a long time ago and haven’t had a chance to use it until last weekend. Actually I haven’t hiked or camped in 2 years so my whole kit was brand new. I didn’t hike far because, well, all new untested gear equals potential gear failure.
I set up my TiGoat Bivy with full mesh hood under my tarp. I tied the mesh net up by the little loop that was stitched on it. I ran a line from the loop to my ridgeline. It was nice and loose; I just wanted the mesh off my face.
I tend to turn from side to side a lot when I sleep and on the first night I managed to tear that little loop right off of the mesh. Now I have a big hole in my mesh hood.
Anyone ever have this problem?
Any good ideas on fixing the hole? It’s about the size of a dime. I thought I’d just glue it or something.

[Richard Nisley]

Daniel,

I did the same thing to mine after a few nights in the bivy but, it was very easy to repair. I have now used the repaired bivy for two seasons without any problems.

I sewed a nylon loop (used for tying the bivy netting to the tarp) to a piece of 1" square gross grain nylon ribbon. I then put the loop through the hole; the gross grain ribbon was positioned inside of the net so that it overlapped the netting tear; and then glued the gross grain ribbon (McNett Seam Seal) to the net. The 1" square of gross grain distributes the stress so the netting will not tear.

[Daniel Fosse]

Thanks for the tip. I bet fabric glue would work just as well.

[John Brochu]

Not sure about fixing it, but a good way to help prevent this in the future is to use elasticized cord rather than static cord for the connection between your ridgeline and bivy.

[Joe Clement]

This is kind of funny, since I did the exact same thing to my TiGoat bivy last weekend. I emailed them, and they're sending me a repair patch to sew on, although the 1" square glued on sounds good.

[Kendall Clement]

Okay, don't laugh, but Mighty Mend It works great! I've been using that stuff for all kinds of projects for about a year and a half now. It's not right for everything, but try it. If it doesn't work I promise you you'll find all kinds things it's great for.

[Ethan Kunard]

I did that very thing to my Ti-Goat bivy on my first night on the Colorado Trail. Luckily I had a bit of duct tape, expecting for it to hold only a limited time. Truth be told, it held for my next 25 days on the CT and is still holding true today. Who says duct tape can't be a permanent fix anyway?

[Kendall Clement]

Wow! Duct tape is awesome.

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