Bivy (MLD or Katabatic)

Condensation will be the problem on clear nights in the open with either one.  I have the MLD.  I would also look at Borah Gear and they will do a custom on as well with more insect netting down the middle of the top which will give you the best of both worlds.

Katabatics haven’t been in stock for about the last 6 months, so I’d go with MLD.

I cannot speak to the Katabatic bivies. MLD bivies are exceptionally well made. I got the option with the largest area of mosquito netting. My bivy is only fully zipped up  in the presence of mosquitoes or when it is very cold and windy.  The mosquitoes usually dissipate an hour or two after sunset at which time I unzip the bivy.

Unless you get an eVent bivy, IMO the bivy itself provides limited splash protection. You still need coverage from the tarp, and careful site selection.

If you are worried about condensation from your own respiration/persipiration, you use the zipper to open up the bivy.  A few years ago, Ryan Jordan wrote a long essay for BPL on the use of the water resistant bivy under a tarp in wet/cold weather. You should be able to find it via google.

I have katabatic bristlecone bivy and I like it. I also have Borah gear bugnet bivy, and I love that even more! Under a Grace solo tarp or just for cowboy camping.. No condensation!!

Thanks for the advice/recommendations/opinions. Years ago while living in the PNW I used a MLD SL with Full Head Net under a Grace Solo and being familiar with MLDs quality was leaning that way….but the positive reviews regarding the overall quality of all of Katabatic Gear products brought their Bristlecone Bivy into the mix. With the SL Bivy/Tarp combo I never really experienced severe condensation in the PNW…..but now living in SoCal and after reading Mr Wisner’s recent post will probably contact Borah Gear to inquire about the additional center strip of mesh or simply go with a light weight in tent (TT ProTrail, TT Aeon, ect…)

Thanks again and Cheers

@ CG

I do not think adding mesh to a bivy would mitigate what happened to Mr Wisner. It sounded to me like he was sleeping in an microclimate cold depression where a lot of water condensed quickly on the outside of his gear.  There are places in the California coastal range such as Henry Coe State Park where you can get wet like this even in a tent.

I’ve used (in order) a ’07 Titanium Goat bivy (lost), ’09 MLD Superbivy silnylon floor with the half moon opening (still have), ’12 Borah cuben floor bivy with full headnet (zipper failure and small holes in cuben floor), and currently use another ’17 MLD Superbivy cuben fiber floor with the full headnet. MLD quality is excellent and a bit better than the others I mentioned, though all do good enough work. I was willing to pay a bit extra for the MLD as the quality is a bit better, but the others are good value for the money if your wallet is feeling tight. Can’t comment on Bristlecone as I don’t know anyone with it. I find the full head net version more versatile for most of my camping. It helps with reducing condensation as you mentioned and allows for more venting of heat when the weather is a bit warmer. For really windy conditions, I stuff my wind or rain jacket in the netting behind my head to essentially reduce the open netting when required which does almost the same thing as having a smaller opening to begin with.

The smaller head netting only is better in cold weather when I want more heat retention. Even though I still have my original MLD Superbivy with the half moon opening, I rarely ever use it as I found the jacket method described above is almost as good.