Bivvy advice

Hi Alasdair,

I used Bivy a lot in Ireland back in the 90's and it was always grim if it rained.
I do have a waterproof Bivy for snow holes.

Cheers,

Stephen

How much does your current shelter weigh? I cant imagine your going to save much on weight if the sil version weighs 26 ounces the cuben must weight about 15 ounces. and a smaller tarp and bivy combo will weigh similar for one more if you multiply it by two because there are two of you.

If you are going to be in rainy weather I would stick with what you have.

I plan on sewing a second bivy soon made out of no seeum and sil. A bivy can be easy to sew or harder depending on what kind of features you want and the type of stitching you plan on doing. Im new to it so im just using felled seems and a plain oval pattern with a velcro entry. easy peezy I already sewed one with tyvek and it fits well. I estimate it will weigh about 5 ounces combine that with my Integral designs sil tarp and you have 12 ounces. but I knew I was going to have a lot of rain I would bring another one of my shelters. Something I could zip up out of the elements completely.

+1 on what Josh said.

I have been using a tarp and bivy setup for a number of years now and my MLD bivy is waterproof/eVent.

However, if I were in bad/rainy weather, I would want a tarp or some sort of over head shelter.

Where the bivy shines is when you are in good weather.

You can select campsites that are tiny, such as a tiny granite ledge overlooking a lake.

I do enjoy the open air feel they give me on nights where I don't feel the need to zip completely up…..sleeping under the stars.

In your case, I think the bivy will simply allow you the flexibility to sleep outside without a shelter over you.

Weight wise, it would be a challenge for you to save weight with a bivy and tarp.

-Tony

For light weight and small pack size I can't picture a better option than a waterproof bivy. A bivy + tarp + poles + stakes will undoubtedly be bulkier and heavier.

The tarp plus bivy will be more comfortable in rain, but less versatile for unique camping spots.

I personally like to use an eVent bivy from MLD as my shelter on many occasions. It's low volume, relatively lightweight, and super simple to set up at the end of a long day.

That being said, for expected rainy conditions I bring a double wall tent instead.

I'm thinking of making a Tvyek homewrap bivy that doubles as a complete shelter. How i would do same, is to have a longer, triangular tapered to a point flap on top, with a tie out at that point. This would tie to a hiking pole to keep up off face and uper body. Around the side of that and over the top of the hiking pole, i would have no see um netting sewn on with enough extra that i could tuck around me on the sides and bottom. Theoretically, i would need 1 stake. pack would go at feet area to lift the tyvek off.

Bare bones and uncomfortable for any length of time during rain, storm, etc. If i absolutely had to, i would combine it with my Sea to Summit Ultra Sil poncho tarp. But that's only with really intense rain, storms.

Dunno. It would probably be too hot in much of late spring to early fall weather to use.