3-4 season shelter. Golite poncho?

Hi Tommy, can you really use a poncho for winter use there in TN?
Is this for mild weather only, or will you be ready for a winter storm? I can't imagine trying to ride out heavy cold winds, blowing snow, ice, and spindrift, and rivers of running ground water on a open tarp covered by a poncho. You HH types are hard core! :)
I dont know your weather limits, but yes, I'd recommend the bivy you mentioned. But with all these components I would imagine you are getting close to the weight of an enclosed freestanding tent. The 2 lb 10 oz HiLight, for example.

I am in East TN about 20 mins north of the GSMNP. I spend most of my winter time down in a little section called Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock wilderness. The Absolute coldest I have had to deal with up their was +7 with about a 15-20mph wind and snow. we were at around 5000 ft elevation on the top of a ridge. I have learned since then how to choose a camp site. lol I tend to sleep warm and for years used a 40 degree square bag year round(ah to be young and foolish again)

I figure with a Bivy I should be good down into the teens, which is the most common High eleveation temps here.
I don't really look at it as hardcore as much as the region is not as cold.

Tommy

Wow, you are right… bivy's are heavier than I thought they were. I have a little 2 man tent that is only 2lbs 14oz. I could carry that instead of a bivy…lol.

what about those thermo-lite 2.0 bivvy's? 6.5oz
I have a buddy that uses it as a summer bag for climbing, but I wonder how it would do with the rest of the sleep system?

Tommy

I have used a Thermo-Lite (1.0) bivy off and on for a year. It works nicely atop a sleeping bag, as far as a basic non-breathable bivy goes. Don't use it on long trips as it will wet your bag out. I have used down to 0*f a Blizzard Bag (11.5oz) and a Nunatak Alpinist (20oz). The blizzard bag also wets out, but boy is it tosty! I've slept next to naked in it alone down to the 50's and was hot enough to need to vent it.

Sadly enough my long trips now are 3nights 4 days. and that is it… would it work for that?

Tommy

Sure, as long as you have a chance to air out your sleeping bag in between nights – sun helps. Also, if it's a clear night, don't use it (except maybe as a ground sheet). Of course you loose any saved heat..

I may give that a try then… like I said, it was for next winter… we are into the 70's here and it is great weather for getting out for a few days.

Tommy

If you are going to use a tarp (poncho), then you don't need a bombproof Goretex bivy, you only need a water resistant *very breathable* bivy. It will act as a groundsheet, and protect your bag from splash back and some running water on the ground. It'll also add a fair amount of warmth to the sleep system.

Mountain Laurel Designs makes some nice bivys, as do BPL and Equinox. I ended up making my own so I could get exactly what I wanted. Using silnylon on the floor and Momentum 90 on the top, mine has a large noseeum mesh panel over the upper body, and weighs 8 oz with its stuff sack.

I used it every night on our section hike of the AT last month, with no condensation issues at all. (My hiking partner was using a new bivy made from silnylon with an Epic top, and the inside was completely soaked after the first night. He was camped under his tarp maybe 20 feet from me, and his head was outside the bivy all night.)

If you can sew at all, a bivy is a pretty good project. There are several long threads in the MYOG section here on BPL.

–Ken