Bivys

Bryant, here’s my take on what you might need.

First off, I live and hike in New England – heavy rains at times, sometimes for days on end (witness the recent flooding, 15″ of rain in 24hrs and 17 of the last 21 days have been nearly 100% overcast and had at least some rain), very humid, and very heavy bug pressure at times. It’s just not quite as hot as where you live.

So, i believe you will want a full zip bivy, backed by full bug netting in order to deal with the bugs, rain, heat, and humidity. A mountaineering style bivy with cross-chest zipper and minimal bug netting just won’t cut it, IMHO, particularly for late spring through early fall. Now, i’ve never been to Ole Miss, so i’m just guessing here based upon what are perhaps similar, but not as hot conditions where i live and hike.

The Lightsabre is nice, particularly it’s weight (for what you get), full zip backed by bug netting, and the nice head room for reading, etc. You can opt to NOT use a tarp if rain isn’t in the forecast or it’s expected to be short duration even if on the heavy side (like when i lived in Florida over 30yrs ago), or pitch the tarp over it for extended heavy rain. I don’t trust my Lightsabre alone in all night rains.

Another option, also in Epic fabric, is a custom made bivy with enhancements. Ron Bell at Mtn Laurel Designs (henceforth MLD in this post) made one for me. It’s his Soul bivy in Epic fabric, but with full 50″ zip running from left shoulder down to the right knee (i use only right-zip bags, hence the zipper configuration), backed by full bug netting on separate zipper track, and, in my case shortened to a very generous 70″ to save weight and still fit my 66″ long sleeping bags. It retains the overface flexible wire. It weighs only 10.0oz on my old analog scale gram/ounce scale.

The MLD bivy precise custom modifications made some time ago was a “first” for Mr.Bell, but it looked immaculate, just like he had made a thousand identical to it before, but it was a first. Simply amazing the level of skill and craftsmanship in this bivy.

If MLD is too back logged to deliver within your required timeframe, try Oware or TiGoat and they may be ammenable to doing custom work. They both seem very accomodating in my experience (IME).

Off the shelf, the only other bivies that i’m familar with having all of the requirements (full-zip and bug netting at the very least) that i believe you would want and need, are heavier options, using fully WPB fabric and wouldn’t require a tarp to keep you dry, but you might want one for heating water during the rain as the bivies lack a vestibule, of course. Here are some options ID (Integral Designs) Salathe, ID Unishelter, Bibler Bipod and Tripod bivies (the Tripod is heaviest and perhaps more designed for use in during possible snowfall), SD (Sierra Designs) Zagori, and Chinook Summit (not full-zip, but has some nice ventilation capability). If you need to zip these up some night though, you will have some serious condensation.

Another nice feature of these bivies is the small footprint. You can pitch them almost anywhere.

There are other bivies available that i’m familar with (either by personal use, or by reading), but they lack full bug netting (which implies a full-zip also) for those hot, humid nights, and so, unless i’m mistaken as to your needs and preferences, they might not suffice. If you think that they do, you may post back with contact info and i can email you as i have a couple of bivies in barely used condition that are lighter than the off-the-shelf full zip/full bug netting bivies that i would be willing to sell to you – very inexpensively. However, again, based upon my experience and guessing that your conditions are similar, but hotter, i don’t think they would suffice for you.

Another option which i actually prefer when it’s expected to be rain for the entire weekend or extended weekend (or longer, but i’m not usually out longer due to time and work schedule constraints), and it’s also going to be hot, and have heavy bug pressure is a so-called “tarptent”. One from either Ron Moak at Six Moon Designs (SMD), or Henry Shires TarpTent (HS). So, the Lunar Solo ‘e’ or Europa from SMD (model years ’05 and ’06 more than adequately address all previous model year deficiencies noted in some web-based reviews/articles), or the Squall from HS (or his new Rainbow which i haven’t used yet, but everyone who has is raving about it). I particularly like the LSe (Lunar Solo ‘e’ – a BackpackingLight LIghtitude Award winner) for lightweight (~26.5oz), solo use in extended, heavy rains and heavy bug pressure before and after the rain. To me, this is preferable to a bivy. Why? Under a small poncho-tarp with wind-blown rain, especially if the wind swirls or changes direction somewhat, the last thing i want to do on a 80+ degree night with very high humidity, is zip up the bivy fabric over full-bug mesh bivy to prevent wind-blown rain entry, and turn it into a steam bath. The LSe, under these conditions, IME, gives me better ventilation than a zipped-up bivy. A bivy, even with full bug netting exposed is often hotter than the LSe, IME. It’s amazing how netting impedes small cooling breezes and how humid a bivy can become with little or no breeze on a hot, humid night. I find the LSe less objectionable under these conditions. I’m guessing that you will experience a fair number of these hot, humid nights with little breeze, but a lot of bugs.

Anyways, this post is gettin’ a bit on the long side. I hope that this info is applicable to your situation and therefore somewhat useful and that i haven’t just wasted your time reading it.

Please let me know if you have any other questions that i may attempt to address.

Thanks!!!
The Soul bivy looks like just what the doctor ordered. I really don’t need a bivy any time soon, so the long backorder dosen’t inconvenience me at all. I currently use a Eureka Zeus EXO 2 single wall tent, but I’m trying to lighten up my pack a little and a poncho tarp / bivy combination would be well under half the weight of the tent and drier. Condensation in the zeus is terrible! :-)

Bryant

Bryant, keep in mind that the standard Soul bivy only has a cross-chest zipper with a small bug netting window. The custom Soul bivy Ron Bell made for me has the 50″ zip and full bug netting – it is sort of an amalgam of the Soul bivy and the Superlight bivy and retains the Soul’s overface wire.