Transition to Tarp/Bivy

Now I kind of like bivies but I don’t really buy the ease-of-setup-for-cowboy-camping-argument. If there is actual bug pressure, you have to come up with some trekking-pole or tree-construction to keep the netting off your face. So you spend two minutes doing that instead of spending pretty much the same amount of time of setting up the innernet seperately. No real difference imho.

Sure, if there are no bugs, you can just throw the bivy on the ground and you’re done. But in that case you can also do actual cowboy camping. All you need is a groundsheet and if you don’t carry a piece of polycro you can simply lie down on top of your not-set-up innernet.

Another (claimed) advantage of bivies is condensation protection if you’re sleeping under the stars. However my personal experience is that I get about as much condensation inside the bivy as I do on the parts of my sleeping bag that stick out it. So no real difference there. I prefer sleeping under tree-cover for that reason btw.

What it comes down to in the end are wind- and splash-protection vs living space, I guess.

Now, I still like my (Tigoat Ptarmigan) bivy and I’ll continue bringing it unless the bugs are bad but the differences in setup time or versatility for different tent- or cowboy-camping scenarios seem pretty miniscule to me if I’m honest. What it comes down to in the end probably is the question if you want actual bug-free living space (get an inner, then), if you need the bivy for draft- or wind-protection.

I guess my reason for bringing the bivy is the fact that I find the idea of more nature-immersed cowboycamping intrinsically sexy and the bivy offers the perfect amount of a “barrier” for me. I like being able to quickly zip up the bivy in mid-slumber if a particularly insomniac mosquito finds my camp and I don’t really mind the lack of bug-free living space on most trips. But does this every happen? Rarely. Ultimately, I guess you’ll be fine with either solution.

“Now I kind of like bivies but I don’t really buy the ease-of-setup-for-cowboy-camping-argument. If there is actual bug pressure, you have to come up with some trekking-pole or tree-construction to keep the netting off your face.”

I’m a cowboy camper by default and have been since 2007 which is the whole reason I normally carry a bivy and my shelter choice is based around having it.  If I’m not convinced it’s going to rain, I don’t setup my tarp and have pushed my luck more than I probably should have numerous times.  Mainly because when it comes to camp chores, I’m lazy and don’t want to do more than the bare minimum.

I have only a handful of times in the last 10 years bothered to setup the face net of my bivy to hang off a branch or my trekking poles. Way too much work.  And guess what, you don’t need to.  You don’t need much space between the netting and your face.  Just enough the little buggers can’t reach you through the netting.  Easiest method is just to wear your hat with a brim to bed; side sleepers turn it sideways as appropriate.  Often just bunching up something like your wind jacket or the extra length of your warm hat around you forehead area is more than enough to create the minimum distance needed. I’ve spent countless springs in the Sierra Nevada with the mosquitoes hoards to prove it.

Here’s my BPW 1.5 tarp with the MLD Bug Bivy 2 in the White Mountains. It poured hard and even with the ricochet of the tent platform I stayed completely dry. 

I’m with Miner on this topic. I often don’t bother suspending the netting on my bivy. I find that a jacket or rolled up pack above/next to my head and the puffiness of my quilt is enough to keep the netting suspended above my face.

My bivy has maybe 18 or 24” of really thin shockcord, a mitten clip and a tiny cordlock that I use when under a tarp. I have 6 or 8’ of very thin line in the front pocket of my pack or FAK that I can throw over a branch. I’ve never found that to take much time at all. Suspending via trekking poles is a massive PITA to me but I’ve not thought much about how to best accomplish that task.

Unfortunately circumstances has conspired against me getting out much over the last 1.5 years but I don’t like being in shelters so my gear has been migrating towards smaller and easier camping setups. I’d rather bring thin leather gloves and a headnet and sit on a windy ridge than get into my tent. I’m hoping 2019 allows me to spend more time outdoors and I’m curious to see if I stick with the bivy setup (with cat cut tarp) or use a mid+inner. I’ve got both setups and I’m now teaching high school so I’ve got the whole summer off… I should have plenty of time outdoors!

My son and I bivy’d once on San Jacinto.  Temps were warm and bugs moderate.  We had a location with trees, and strung up a “ridgeline” to lift up the netting, but knew we didn’t need a tarp.  My son used an MLD bug bivy, and I had a Borah Gear side zipper ultralight.  I’ve since found a used EE Recon Bivy for better wind protection than the bug bivy.  I have yet to try the EE in the field.

We did a week in the Sierra and wished we brought bivies or hammocks.  The tents were fine for the afternoon thunderstorms, and we had no problems with bugs with those setups (of course), but the afternoon storms always cleared and yet the tents were soaked with condensation each morning.  This slowed down our departures to let the tents dry out, and we were thinking how much quicker and easier it would have been with a tarp and bivy.

The grass is always greener.  Maybe on another Sierra trip we wouldn’t have had the same choices for sites with trees for the tarp, or maybe bugs would be worse, or the thunderstorms more windy.  Still, I know many who go without closed tents praise the benefits of being more immersed in the wilderness.