I was off on a motorcycle trip with a friend last weekend, headed down out of the mountains for some flat land. Camped above Stonyford, CA in a OHV CG Friday night, then at a State Park by Manchester, CA on the coast Saturday night. I'd forgotten that dew starts settling in early, so my ZPacks bivy was wet on the top by 9 or so when we went to bed, with the temp 50F, 53F in the morning. No sweat. However, by 3 or so, I felt some falling precip on my face, as I had the bug netting pulled back. Oh, oh. Well, let's sweat this out, can't be too early, will be time to get up soon. Only a little more moisture by the time I got up at 5:35AM. The bivy was soaked about my chest down. I was dry, very little moisture around my head surprisingly. Great. Not sure how much was body vapor, but the inside had running condensation. I did not have to drain water out of the bivy, not that much, I just shook it a little before packing. We had not planned on staying on the coast, but plans changed and I was only prepared for dry conditions, so I did not bring my new tarp. This is one of the original 30F Enigma's that Tim from Enlightened Equipment made back in Oct. I could feel no wet spots in the down and after it was stuffed for 7 hours, when I took it out of the stuff sack upon arriving at home, it appeared to have still not soaked any water up. Pretty good test I thought, looks like a great, stand alone quilt. Maybe Tim needs to make bivies out of the fabric? :) The ZPacks bivy is water-resistant, breathable Pertex Quantum GL nylon top. *Not advertised as other than water-resistant.*
Duane
