Lightest WP Bivy ???

[DWR D]

Would appreciate info on the lightest WP Bivy Sacks out there… ones that I could spend the night in a rain without a tarp, if necessary…

Preferably ones that have enough room for a 2 1/2 inch air mattress…

thanks

DWR Dave

[Murali C]

DWR – getting worried about hail?:-) Just kidding.

I think the lightest one has to be MLD’s Soul bivy at 12.7 for the large – seam sealed without the hoop.

[Murali C]

This is the eVent one.

[Chris K]

MSR Pro Bivy is I think ~10 ounces or so. It can fit an inflatable but may be tight depending. No zipper, and a really basic fabric, not 3-layer.

[Monte Masterson]

Montbell Breeze Dry-Tec regular/wide weighs 7.6 oz and the long/wide 8.1 oz. I have the LW and it’s very roomy.

https://www.montbell.us/products/disp.php?cat_id=14007&p_id=1121329

[DWR D]

Thanks Monte, but that Montbell Breeze Dry-Tec you suggested is a sleeping bag cover; it is not a Bivy Bag… the sleeping bag cover has no closure to prevent rain from getting inside up around the head and shoulders. With a true WP bivy bag you should be able to sleep out under the stars and if it rains, just close the top/entry and you will stay dry. Can’t do that with just a bag cover… But thanks anyway…

 

[Monte Masterson]

I’ve ridden out hard rains in the Dry Tec. It covers the head kind of like a mummy sleeping bag with hood, and the extra length of the long version allows me to pull it up over my head like a cowling and still have breathing space underneath. Also has drawstring closure. But if I have a little time I usually fashion a rain kilt (or mini tarp) over the head area with some 1.25 mm spectra lines and few titanium skewers (0.2 oz each). It might be a little Spartan, but with its 15D WPB shell the Breeze Dry-Tec is the lightest.

The OR Ascentshell Bivy looks nice and it weighs about 19 oz. Way better under the stars since it’s far more open and easier to enter/exit compared to the OR Helium Bivy (which weighs a few oz less)).

https://www.campsaver.com/outdoor-research-alpine-ascentshell-bivy.html

[dirtbag]

Why not the MLD eVent Sould bivy? You have option of mesh bug net or fully enclosed. I use it, though I have not been caught in full heavy rain with it, I also always carry my small tarp with me if needed..

[dirtbag]

[dirtbag]

thats a large size. I am 5’10 weigh from 195- 205lbs and am approximately 17 % body fat.. give or take. I use a large size neoair X-Therm with it.. in that picture I was using a 0° Enigma down quilt and an MLD FKT quilt over it.. so there is plenty of room in there and I was cozy comfortable all night….

[Kyler B]

I’m not 100% on your intended use of the gear or where you will use it but a SOL escape bivy is very light and good for intermittent use.
there are even lighter models for emergency use.

It’s fairly cheap if you decide that a waterproof bivy is counterproductive for most situations. Or say just need it for a backup on a trip or two that has the risk of extreme weather events and you are unable to find a suitable alternative to mitigate that risk.

there is no bug protection and the face is open. Put your rain coat over your face. I’m guessing if your weathering a storm in a bivy bugs are not your concern.

I don’t know if it has room for your air mattress because I don’t know your sleeping bag loft.

Every WPB bivy I have used condensates under the correct conditions.

[Murali C]

I don’t know. I sold my eVent soul bivy after my recent experience of rain on the JMT. Setting up camp when it is raining or packing up when it is raining when just having a bivy seems very painful. I think nothing beats a tarp and a DCF bathtub when the weather sucks. Tarp + these heavy bivies becomes too heavy. As a backup – sure, it can make sense. But at that point, I would just take a Pocket tarp at 6 oz or Slingfin at 7+ oz in addition to my regular setup.

[dirtbag]

Agreed about using the bivy in rain without a tarp!! Getting in and out, changing clothes, packing up.. definitely be miserable experience in my thoughts. Thats why I ALWAYS have my Borah Gear 5.8×9 tarp with me.. just makes sense.  However,  I do see using just the bivy without the tarp,  and if it happens to rain overnight,  well.. I would be ok with that. How many nights in my hammock or tent have I woke up at 2 am to some rain falling unexpectedly, have to cuss myself and get out there and pitch the tarp or put on the rain fly?? So, for those times I can see the eVent bivy being a HUGE plus..( for me ).  I enjoy being able to hike all day and put in as many miles as possible and near sunset being able to throw my bivy down pretty much wherever i desire..  again.. the debate can go on forever.. its all personal preference,  but I ALWAYS have my small tarp with me, even if its pitched for shade from the sun..

[dirtbag]

seen here the tarp is pitched rather hi, just using it for shade from the blazing sun. Not my eVent bivy there,  just the MLD Superlight Solo bivy..

[Murali C]

Good for you dirtbag! Somehow I like a bathtub under my tarp so that I can spread things out, change comfortably etc.  I really really wanted the bivy/tarp to work – but, feel much better with tarp/bathtub.

[dirtbag]

Here is the Borah Solo bivy 5.8×9, with all guylines ( which I have fairly long lengths, and all stakes in the DCF sack.. weighing 11.6 ounces.  The MLD eVent bivy is right around 12 ounces, large size.  So maybe not the lightest option out there, but definitely close and if you actually like to using bivies.. then I would say go for it.

[dirtbag]

Murali C..  thats the point! It all comes down to personal preference.. some people want the least weight possible,  some people dont mind a little extra weight, some people dont care about weight at all.. some like comfort of a fully enclosed tent, some just an open tarp, some a Pyramid style.. bivy no bivy, cowboy camp in the open commando style, bug net.. bottom line though, I would never really want just the bivy.. pack a small tarp if not for your protection.. at least your Sanity!!  I also dont pack much with me, so I dont have anything to strew about and unless its raining and the ground is soggy wet, i wouldn’t even need anything under the bivy.. just use my pad slid slightly off the side.. if the ground is dry.. nothing to worry about then, I have all the space needed. As for changing my clothes, well.. I just get changed standing up next to it.. Like I do at home in my bed room next to my bed. I never actually change my clothes while laying in my bed, lol.

[dirtbag]

Here is an example of what I was saying.  First.. the ground was soggy and wet, so I used poly ground sheet under the bivy.. kept my stove to the side but not much else to have about.. everything else is in bivy with me ( not much ).  Pitched the tarp because slight chance of rain/snow overnight.. and that was NOT my eVent bivy there.. sure enough I woke up in the middle of the night and it was snowing!  Now had I just been using the eVent bivy and no tarp.. in that situation,  I would not have been upset, it would have been just fine..

[Murali C]

Yeah – I think I would never use a A frame tarp as I feel it is not protected from the elements when rain/wind changes direction etc. So I am always impressed with folks who can pull that off. I use a Zpacks Pocket tarp or a Altaplex tarp both of which have doors and are fully enclosed.

I also use a polycryo – but somehow I don’t like to see all the wet/dirty junk:-) Instead I prefer to use a bathtub over the polycryo. Just getting the sleeping bag, inflating your pad, your pajamas and changing, electronics etc on something feels better than sitting on the bivy and doing all of this and then doing some acrobatics to get the pad/sleeping bag inside was painful to me. Of course, if weather is great – no issues – you can do all of this outside the tarp. If weather sucks, then you have to all of this while sitting on bivy or polycryo…seems more comfortable doing it on a DCF bathtub floor..

[Dustin V]

The first/only time I slept in just a WP bivy, it was an old REI Cyclops, which has a jacket-like hood and a zipper arrangement so you can sit up and put both hands out. Functionally, it was very interesting, but it was a brick so I sold it.

Since then, I’ve mostly used a breathable bivy and pyramid tarp, but if I were to move back into a WP bivy I’d pick one with a head hoop and foot tie-out for ventilation and to help keep rain from sucking away warmth.

[Brad W]

WP bivy that could ride out a storm? You will be so wet inside from condensation that you will have wished you had brought a tarp.

[dirtbag]

In defense to riding out a storm in a bivy.. I always carried my bivy with me. Even when I hung in my hammock, in winter the eVent bivy came along as safely measure.  Sure enough one time,  on Hunter Mt. In the Catskills a snow storm whipped through and completely shredded my “new” Hammock Gear DCF tarp. Totally shredded it of its ridgeline and in pieces.  No way I could use it at all!! Thankfully I was camped close to a lean to.. and also Thankfully I had my eVent bivy.. I was able to ride out a nasty snow storm safely in the bivy in the lean to!!

So even if I am packing my winter tent, solomid, tarp, whatever it may be, the bivy for me is a no brainer! It will NEVER fail me in snow or rain storm.. if my shelter gets destroyed somehow.. the bivy is my last line of defense.  Yes it will surely be a miserable night, maybe even condensation.. but it will be my key to surviving that night no doubt…

On that.. no I would NOT go out with just the bivy intending ro ride out a storm!!

[dirtbag]

EDIT:  the last set of pictures I posted were with the MLD eVent  bivy.  I stated it was not, but now as I looked back at that trip, it was..

[Thom]

Using a splash bivy I have experienced condensation problems on the east coast. Use a hexamid and do a anti hail dance before climbing in the bed. Ha ha

thom

[Murali C]

ha ha!

I still have lots of life in my 0.5 osy DCF tarp. So, what I have decided to do is just carry half a yard of 0.5 osy DCF fabric and lots of DCF tape in the event of such damage.

But, for me this event will be pretty rare as I never setup my tarp/tent to avoid rains/hail during the day. My Columbia Outdry jacket works great – never wets out. If I do get caught in a hail storm after I have put up my tarp, I will loosen the tarp, lower the pole – get rid of the tautness. And maybe even get out and use my 1 osy DCF bathtub groundsheet as a cover for my tarp (tarp and groundsheet are not connected).

At the next convenient point, I may go for a 0.75 osy DCF tarp or tent when the 0.5 osy tarp dies….

I think carrying the extra half yard of 0.5 osy DCF sheet is a low weight solution which should help you weather the next few days till you get to a town etc. I feel it is better than carrying a bivy which is lot more weight but of course much more superior modular solution.

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