What bivvy bag would you recommend? I've got an overnight trip in two weeks so it wouldn't hurt having a crack.
I have three, depending on what I am planning:
-AMK SOL Escape bivvi - For when I'm going very light, very fast (ultra racing), or as an emergency, wouldn't generally recommend
- Alpkit Hunka Xl - works great, best balance of breathability/weight/cost But they only ever seem to be available in batches every few weeks/months, so at short notice can be hard to get.
- British army goretex bivvi bag - Brilliant, very breathable, spacious, but very heavy, and quite bulky. But it is the nicest of te three to use.
I am hoping to treat myself to the Exped Event Bivi some time soon.
I quite like bivvying, doesn't seem to wind people up quite as much as if you'd put a tent up We tend to go with tarp and bivy bag thus providing the rainproofness desired by Cudzoziemiec
Agreed. If you arrive late enough, you can roll it out in the dark, sleep, and be up and on the move again by the time the sun comes up. People don't realise you're even there.
This is one of the reasons all my bivvi kit is green or camo.
This is three of us bivviing 50m from the North Downs Way in Kent.
Mine's the middle of the three.
Else where on the NDW, this was mysetup:
The bivvi bag is the AMK SOL one mentioned above (it was a simple over nighter). The sleep matt is a bit too bright, but with a bivv bag over the top you can't see much of it. My new one is mummy shaped, so it doesn't show up as much under the bag.
This camp site looked like this form the direction of the path, 20m or so away:
and the view I woke to is:
Bludger - that last shot was on this year's French Divide, night four. We also did a six day tour in Brittany but stopping on campsites which was "interesting" and drew a few stares and comments. If things get damp you just stop during the day when it's sunny and let things dry out in the sun, perhaps while having lunch
I've done the whole using a bivvi bag on a campsite thing, it tends to get interesting looks... It helps if there is a hedge you can use for one side of your shelter, ala:
Mines the one on the left. My friend had their tent which provided some privacy on one side, the hedge on another, and the angle meant very little view from the left hand end as you look in this picture.
I was sat drinking tea in the morning, and the guy 2 tents over ask "you slept in that?" "yep" "wow"
I don't like using a bivvi on campsites, and will carry a tent (I have the same tent as the one pictured) if I am only going to use campsites, if I leave the inner behind it's about 700g, if I take the whole thing, 1.4kg. But I tend to avoid campsites if I can...
On longer trips I tend to plan a hotel every 3-4 days so I can have a shower, wash kit, charge stuff etc...
What bivvy bag would you recommend? I've got an overnight trip in two weeks so it wouldn't hurt having a crack.
As good as any for the price would be the Alpkit Hunka but if you want to have your sleeping mat* inside the bag then get the XL.
* assuming you've an inflatable mat, probably OK with CCF.
Ah, the perennial sleeping matt in the bag, or not... I've tried both when using the Army bivvi, and it was ok on my back, but if I tried to sleep on my side, It was very tight. I am a side sleeper so it's not really an option, ditto with the alpkit. When I use the bivvi bag I have the sleep mat on the outside, and I then cinch down the drawcord on the entrance so that the only part of my that isn't covered by the bag is my nose and mouth, so that breathing out goes outside the bag. I then roll over, snuggle down, and sleep. If I am expecting flying beasties, I wear a mossie headnet (not needed in winter...).
Cheers bivvyers I really appreciate the tips. Unfortunately in my last tour I had a bad habit of taking ages to leave in the mornings, and then spent the rest of the day in a mild hurry to reach my next stop. The next time I'll focus on doing less daily mileage which should allow time to properly air the bag, especially factoring in some warmshowers stops.
I find the secret to less faff in the morning is having less stuff to faff about. If all you have to do in the morning is pack away sleep matt, sleeping bag, and bivvi bag, it's pretty damn quick. If you take the Josh Ibbott approach, you can roll the three together, and pack them in your saddle bag as one (I find it's more space efficient to pack them individually). I can go from asleep in my bivvi bag, to riding away with everything packed in under 15 mins. Tho doing it in closer to 30 mins is preferred.
In terms of picking a bag, I was looking at a Dutch army gore tex sleeping bag but given the advice on airing it as often as possible perhaps a lighter "civilian" one would be more practical.
The Dutch bag, like most hooped bags to me seem to be the worst of all options, you've got all the weight penalty of a tent, with all the lack of space of a bivvi bag. It seems silly. Also with these I feel it's too easy to breathe into the bag. You also lack the visibility that a traditional bivvi bag gets you. These days light weight tents are so a light they are often lighter than hooped bivvi bags.
The British army goretex bag is a nice compromise between the Dutch tent^Wbag, and the alpkit.
J