I don’t get why people use bug bivies.

A number bite, both literally and figuratively. Those of us with quilts do not have hoods.

It keeps quilt around you, and bugs away from face. Can provide water protection on bottom and sides too.

And most important to some, keeps creepy crawlies out. Some just sleep more relaxed knowing this.

Justin…..Is see you have never experienced BUGS that the netting is designed for. The procedures you talk about are for the "minor irritation" of the back packing season. Check out NO insect protection with a bivie during the months of May and June in Minnesota, Canada or Maine as an example and, you will immediately see why! Even the bugs during the day on the summit of Mt Katahdin can be something to deal with!

If i hadn't used a bivy on my trek through the Swedish forests this summer, i would have had slugs and beetles and knåts (small, super irritating mosquitoes) all over me.

Ah…you haven't lived until you are awakened by dozens of fire ants biting you in places you don't want to be bitten by ANYTHING!

A hood or bug net over my face doesn't keep spiders from burrowing into my quilt.

Ok, creepy crawlies make a lot of sense. I've never had an issue with bugs crawling up in my sleeping bag. I've only ever dealt with mosquitoes and biting flies.

Well, I bought a MLD bug bivy (all net top) a few years ago, but only used it a few times. I find I always end up just using a regular lightweight water resistant bivy with just the head having netting with the rest fabric. The all netting version just is too limiting in its use compared to a regular bivy.

The reason I carry a bivy usually isn't just for the bugs: heat retention, wind protection, bug protection, rain spray protection (under a tarp), water protection (when cowboy camping and getting caught by a passing shower or dew), and as a lightweight sleeping bag when its too hot for my quilt.

I've done the headnet to bed over a hat thing and for some situations that is all you need. But when doing a long distance hike, you can't just bring what you think you'll need like you can on a weekend trip. Having a bivy means when its too hot for my sleeping quilt, I can still be protected from bugs. If I did as you suggest (and I have done just that on occasions), I'd still have to cover up with my quilt and sweat all night. My lightweight bivy allows me to sleep with the equivalent of just a heavy sheet and still be protected from bugs.

When I hiked the PCT, I used my tarp 9 times, my bivy sack 60% of the time, just my quilt the rest of the time. Sometimes I just slept with a headnet and if the nightly temps fell, I took it off after the mosquitos left. Othertimes, I hid inside my bivy depending on temperatures (if it was too hot for quilt or just plain cold or the bugs were insanely bad since it kept them farther from my ears at night as that whining noise they make is annoying). Some nights, I had no bugs, other times, they looked like a swarm of locusts. Though I normally pick a campsite without crawling insects as I look for them before setting up, sometimes they show up anyway. Found a centipede one evening, a bunch of daddy longlegs crawling around me a few nights, and ants another. Bivies are a versatile item for the cowboy camper. My entire sleep system is built around the fact that I will cowboy camp unless its raining as I hate camp chores like setting up a shelter. Its to the point that I push my luck when most people would set a shelter up. But I get away with it more times then not, but the bivy is also extra insurance for when I lose the roll of the dice.

"A large piece of netting set up for a living space makes sense. A bug netting bivy to protect you while you sleep doesn't make any sense to me."

I'd say just the opposite:
To me bug protection is MUCH more important while sleeping than while hiking or while cooking in camp.
I'd much rather be swatting skeeters in camp while cooking, etc. than while trying to sleep. And: a bug bivy is better at that than just a head net in your bag and a tent with netting is better at that than a bug bivy.

Not long ago I was unfortunate enough to be out during a big mosquito hatch. Had a regular bivy with small netting panel at the head and had a head net. (was too warm to be in my down bag at all.) I wore the head net to bed and zipped up the netting panel of the bivy… both nettings tend to collapse down toward your face.. even wearing a ball cap with a bill… didn't sleep a wink with those skeeters buzzing in my face all night… wished I had a tent or a least some way of holding that netting further from my face.

Billy

What they said and…If it's warm enough for mosquitoes and bugs to attack you..why would you want to pull your sleeping bag up over your head??? Omg!! Too hot..forget moisture. .I Would sweat and pass out from the heat!! I use a quilt anyway..no hood. Love using my bivies..would never go back to a tent.. my BearPaw Wilderness bug bivy is the BOMB!!…for 3 seasons. For winter I use katabatic gear bristlecone bivy.. LOVE the bivy life..makes everything that much more simple for me in the outdoors..

I used an A16 Bug Bivy. It kept my face from looking like barfed hamburger. I don't mind the whine when I know they can't get me and I sure slept better.

Zorg, I love your title line! It says all that needs to be said!

It works for some..and it apparently does not work for you.

What's "to get"?

If there was one system of gear that worked for everyone, REI would be a very small company….

Which pulling your head in your sleeping bag would solve, unless it's too hot to do that, or you are using a quilt that's not long enough to that, or you are talking about an elevated bug bivy with head room to unzip your bag and do things in (which is not what I'm talking about).

It's worked well enough for me in the sierras where it's cool at night.

Ok, so I get bug bivies for hot weather but for cooler weather it just seems like there are lighter options to protect your face from mosquitoes.

On a multi-day trip, there might be both cool and hot weather. If you're forced to camp where ticks are abundant, then a bug bivy is still needed because ticks are active in cooler weather too. Also, it includes a groundsheet which is probably needed anyway, so why not just take the bivy. It's difficult to know if you'll need it until you get to the campsite. It's not a necessity of course, but good sleep is important.

Do not fence me in a bivy… 90% of my nights out, most any time… I know this not exactly what your talking about, but it works for me and bugs…

The worst nights for bugs, warm and muggy ones, having ANYTHING on your face can be miserably hot.

"I don't get why anyone uses…." STOP! Check if your question pertains to everyone, or just your location.

"Ok, so I get bug bivies for hot weather but for cooler weather it just seems like there are lighter options to protect your face from mosquitoes."

Well, my Borah Gear cuben fiber bivy only weighs 4.5oz. and allows me to carry a lighterweight quilt and gives me other advantages (as I mentioned earlier), I don't see much of a weight penalty. Not that I disagree with the idea that in some situations and conditions just using my 0.4oz headnet works just as well. But that doesn't apply all the time or everywhere. If you think it does, you might want to get out more and explore more areas because you might be missing a lot of great backpacking. Then again, it might just be that you are more willing to put up with a situation that many of us think of as suffering too much.

I do think having this discussion is a good one. There are many ways of accomplishing the same thing, and talking about what we do differently is a great way to stir the pot and get some new ideas on areas we were blind to.

People have already given a lot of good insights on why to bother with a bug bivy and/or a bivy at all. I think Sean does a good job of explaining the benefits of using a bivy, but I would chime in on your point about cooler weather.

I would agree with you that in very cold weather, then yeah the bivy can stay at home. In the winter I don't bring it, but for fall, spring, and summer it is one of my favorite pieces of gear. As you may have seen, I have a modified Borah bivy with a vapor vent of nano-net down the middle. To me, the only downside of using a bivy was condensation. My modification fixed that issue, and I still get some added benefits of having a mostly fabric top bivy, e.g. wind/draft protection, rain spray protection when under a tarp, slight bump in warmth, harder to poke holes in solid fabric than net, etc.

You will get some of these same benefits using a all net top bug bivy in cool temps too. There will still be some wind/rain protection, for instance. Also, some people that are active sleepers like that a bivy keeps them from rolling off their pad and such, though I don't have that problem. All net but bivies are also generally lighter than solid top bivies, unless you go Cuben bottom.

But I laud your honesty and for taking the initiative to start this discussion. I once started a whole "I don't get it" thread, and the first thing I discussed that I "didn't get" was rain mitts. Then half a year ago or so when I switched from using a rain jacket to a poncho, and spent several days hiking in the rain–yeah, I "got it." So I ordered some of those new Zpacks black rain mitts, and also looking forward to using them in the winter to snow-proof my hands.

Most of my bug experience is in the sierras (which isn't that extensive). At low elevation places around here it's too dry for mosquitoes and not too many ticks.
In the sierras it's gets cool quickly at night, but not always cool enough for the bugs to go away. No issues flipping my sleeping bag upside down. A bug netting that I can hang out and eat in makes sense, but a bug bivy I can only use zipped up sleeping doesn't.
For hot/buggy conditions a bug bivy makes sense… which I rarely encounter.

It was only a question, not trying to criticize other people here. I know there must be a reason for people using bug bivies which is why I asked, I didn't "get it" when I asked.

Last summer – the worst for bugs in Alaska I've seen in 16 years (a 70 year old who homesteaded since age 3 had seen one year that was worse) – and we went backpacking with the kids. Thankfully, we brought headnets and long shirts and pants for everyone. But not gloves. Often, there were 5 on the back of each hand. In conditions like that, in warm weather, any barrier is worth the weight.

Justin…
"For hot/buggy conditions a bug bivy makes sense… which I rarely encounter."

I have decades of experience in all seasons in the Sierra.
hot/buggy conditions can and do happen in the Sierra… even up high at times…
though, I'm sure, they occur less than some other places.

Billy

"A bug netting that I can hang out and eat in makes sense, but a bug bivy I can only use zipped up sleeping doesn't."

Right there is a big difference between us. During the day, I might stop at a nice place and hang out for awhile (say swimming or just enjoying the scenery). But I don't hang out in camp. I only camp to sleep, so I only need bug protection in bed.

In the sierra nevada, to avoid bear problems in camp, I often stop before camp and have dinner. Just using a head net is enough when I'm sitting around eating. But that's because I wear long sleeves and pants treated with permithrin so the bugs only have access to my hands and face. The headnet takes care of the rest. Even in northern Yosemite in spring which has the worst bugs of the Sierra Nevada (just ask any PCT thru-hiker), that works for me. A little DEET now and then doesn't hurt though.