Winter Emergency Bivy Sack

[Diplomatic Mike]

Will do David.

If you look at that link i posted for the Blizzard Bags, you'll see they use the same technology on a few different bits of gear. I think UK military had a lot of input in the developement.

The Blizzard Bags are designed to be used more than once. You can use a vacuum cleaner to repack them, though they don't go as small.

[Michael Cockrell]

Would a tarp & bivy be best? Seems overhead shelter is important.

Maybe a tarp & light bivy?

[nanook ofthenorth]

If anyone is looking for a light bivy I have a like new ID Endurance bag cover that I could let go for 50 plus shipping.
The Blizzard bags look good but sweaty and only good for emergencys. – still at that price…

[David Stanhope]

Bivy would prob. be used in conjunction with a snow cave for climbing in the case of an emergency bivouac while above treeline.

[Diplomatic Mike]

I can't give you any more info on the bag, David. They wanted $15 shipping, and $25 for something called a transfer fee. $40 to ship something that costs $8.50!
No thanks.

[David Stanhope]

Mike,

That's too bad that something that weighs only 12oz is so expensive to ship. No matter where you live. I'm surprised the shipping for UPS Ground within the US is $10.83 which is still a little much for such a lightweight item. The ppl. that sold the Blizzard Bag are willing to ship it for free and cut the price total $26. MPI Bag total $19.33. Might go for the Blizzard w/so much positive feedback.

[David Olsen]

Just ordered 6 to give to backcountry skier friends.

When they came they were just space blankets.

Will contact to see if I can return then.

[Kathleen B]

David – I had the same problem. I ordered 2, and 2 of those little 4 oz. space blankets came last week. I emailed them twice and called once and told them about the mistake. They mailed me a return UPS label which I finally got this week and sent them back. The description of what I was buying was definitely for the 12 oz. ones. We'll see how this plays out.

[David Stanhope]

Were those the MPI Bags? If it was the MPI bag/when you receive them what is your take on the bag? I've considered buying the MPI Bag for a climbing gift to others.

Aside from the MPI Bag I'm going to go with the Blizzard bag there seems to be a lot of positive feedback for it.

[Kathleen B]

No, they were not the MPI bags. That's the problem. They sent those little space blankets that come in a small, cardboard box that you can buy at Target and weigh 4 oz. They didn't send the 12oz MPI bags. Once they send me the correct order, I'll let you know what it looks like. Pictures and everything.

[Michael Meiser]

BTW, have you considered using vapor barriers as well?

This gives a tremendous amount of flexibility and may change the way you think about a bivy system.

I recently started experimenting with them for sleeping purposes. Being as I tour I really work up a sweat during the day. This pretty much mandated I carry a second pair of cloathing for night.

However if you use a vapor barrier you needn't worry about wet clothes or condensation in your bag. What's more you don't have to have a breatheable bivy.

You can if you like use a vapor barrier pant and shirt or simply a vapor barrier sleeping bag liner.

The advantage of the vapor barrier pant and shirt is the ability to use it for extra warmth during the day if you need it in an emergency.

BTW, lightweight plastic grocery bags make excellent vapor barriers for socks. Just use you lightest sock inside and a heavier sock outside.

PVC rain pants seem to make a great vapor barrier legging. Since I only wear a single layer pant during the day I just slip them on at the end of the day when I'm cooling off anyway and then slide right into the bag.

Ideally you want to have only one very thin layer between yourself and the vapor barrier, i.e. ultralight merino wool or polypro (works but smelly). The thin inner layer is for comfort. Some production vapor barriers include a comfortable cloath liner.

So, at the end of your day when you're cooling down at some point you quickly take off your outer layers and put the vapor barrier shirt on just a light layer away from your skin.

The vapor barrier alone should get you another 5-15 degrees more out of your bag. What's more using an outer non-breathing bivy… i.e. mylar, should give even more warmth.

[David Stanhope]

Kathleen that stinks they didn't send the right item. Hopefully they can get it right the next time around. Hopefully the item is the correct one that is depicted online on their website.

I have considered using a Mylar or Vapor Barrier liner. I have looked at a few Mylar bag linings. For the price they seem like a good product and they can be used for a sleeping bag not just for an emergency purpose. Thanks for the tip.

[David Olsen]

Well botack called. The emergency bivys have been discontinued. We will see if I get my money back. Had to
make an extra trip to UPS just to return the stuff they sent.

(they sent space blankets instead, just before Christmas so
I couldn't get presents out).

[David Olsen]

Richard-

Did you actually get one of these? Or is Botach a Big Sky
clone?

[Jim W.]

I recently ordered some Visaendurance shirts, a weather station/clock, and some mini-LED lights from them. It took them a week or so to ship and they were out of stock on the LED's, but they didn't bill until the shipment date and the products were as expected- all at least 70% off list.

The only problem with my $5.99 Visaendurance shirts is the logo on them- I had better not arrive at a peace rally wearing the "Blackwater" logo. I figure at the price I paid that Blackwater didn't make any profit.

[Brad Groves]

Just came across this thread. FWIW, I have the Pro Tech bag, and it's quite a marvel in many ways. It is incredibly warm; I've slept in just a thin base layer and the Pro Tech into the (upper?) 30s (F) or so. My tent partner wanted to kill me, what with the gigantor potato chip bag crinkling next to him all night. For several nights. But I slept great. The big downside to this is how huge they are once you unseal them and "fluff" them. They just don't pack back down. Did I say BIG? All things considered, though, a great piece of kit. A great thing to add to your pack for a long ski day trip or something. Just make sure you have some extra pack volume for the trip out, or strap it to the outside. (I should try stuffing into a sack to see how small I can get it, I guess…)
Cheers-

[Kathleen B]

"Once they send me the correct order, I'll let you know what it looks like. Pictures and everything."

Well, kids, it's not going to happen. I got an email saying they were going to credit my account. I'd like to try buying the blizzard bag somewhere, but definitely not from Botach.

[David Stanhope]

I just received the Blizzard bag. I can't really comment on it since I have not used it and won't unpack it because it is packed so tightly. It seems like a frozen block not sure if that's because it is so cold from sending it via Fedex or if it is really just a hard block. It seems like a bivy sack would be softer due to the fabric.

[Brad Groves]

It's that hard because it's vacuum-packed so tightly. Let that serve as notice that it probably won't pack down anywhere near that small again! (Consider vacuum-packed coffee: hard as a brick, then you cut it open, and the contents "go soft…")

[David Olsen]

Well, they did credit my card.

[J Her]

Why not just climb with someone else and share the weight of a proper shelter? I would make sure to tell people where I'm going (and when I will be back). If its really backcountry then I would consider bringing a SPOT locator, PLB, or ELT along with my bag and pad.

[Andrew Shapira]

I just checked the Blizzard bag here:

http://www.ps-med.com/blizzard/bag.html

Two questions:

(1) Can one fit a sleeping pad inside? (I have the Pacific Outdoor Equipment Ether Thermo 6 (regular) – very high R-value for the weight.)

(2) The weight at the above URL is 13.8 ounces; earlier in the thread a weight of 12 ounces was quoted. What changed?

I could use some advice about emergency accommodations too. Most of my hikes are day hikes in the back country. I like to plan for being caught out at 8,000 feet on Mt. Rainier or in the North Cascades. In an emergency, I might not necessarily be in a snow cave (although I could be). The scheme for emergencies that I have at this point in my evolution of knowledge and skill level is this: put my Thermo 6 pad inside an emergency shelter or bivy, put whatever warm clothes I usually bring with me (including my Montbell Thermal Wrap), and I might be ok in an unplanned overnight stay.

Right now I carry around a tarp that I got at REI; it's kind of heavy and I'm not sure it'd be all that great in an emergency. I'm interested in ditching the tarp in favor of something better. Maybe that would be some sort of shelter or bivy.

Some options beside the Blizzard blanket that seem interesting:

Bibler Winter Bivy (9 ounces): http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/tentdetail.cfm/BIB175

Equinox Ultralight Bivy Cover: http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/bivydetail.cfm/EQ3000

Mountain Laurel Designs Bivys (more expensive – I wonder what they add over the Bibler Winter Bivy, if anything)

Any thoughts?

[James holden]

why would you have a pad and no bag?

the blizzrd is meant for emergencies … in this case you might have a pad from yr pack's frame, use branches or just use yr climbing rope/pack as ground insulation

the blizzard is fairly large … you can find videos of it on youtube

if you bring a pad you might as well bring a light bag as well

[Kai Larson]

You should consider a bothy bag.

A very good emergency solution that is also useful for non-emergencies (shelter for lunch, etc.)

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Any bivy bag over $100 should be an eVent bag. Nothing else come close to keeping your sleeping bag from accumulating a lot of moisture from your body and breath. And a cheap, light, seam sealed nylon rainsuit can be your VBL suit.

My experience with a Gore-Tex bivy bag in a snow cave was that I got condensation inside the bivy bag each night and it wetted my sleeping bag's nylon top. Surprisingly mthe bag's bottom was only slightly damp. It was a Mt'n. Hardwear -20 F. Polarguard bag that dried quickly in the sun.

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