Bivvy bag: does anyone have experience of using any of these?

[Chris N]

I'd choose a lightweight hike tent almost every time these days.  My North Face Tadpole weigs 1.7 Kg all in, and is big enough to change and sit up in, and you can cook in the bell end.

mini-hijack: is that the DL version of the Tadpole?  I've recently seen the standard one for £135 and wondered if it was worth the money.

[alan]

Similarly the Saunders Jetpacker looks like a halfway house between a bivvy & a light weight touring tent & it's considerably less £ than a Terra Nova Jupiter.  

[nobby]

I think that you need to decide what you want the shelter for.
If it's for camping in places where you shouldn't be then silhouette is a prime consideration and the lower down you are the less you stand out against the background.
If you have permission to camp then a tent is a better choice. You'll have more space. I prefer side entry tents and have a Hilleberg Akto for moving on, and a Vango 200+ for fixed camps. In future, I'll be carrying the Jupiter and a Tarp for stealth camps as well as one of the tents. The Jupiter and tarp probably weigh as much as the Akto but do a different job. I've become a lot less concerned about weight as time has gone on and comfort has become my priority.

If you'd like to try an ex army one I'd be happy to lend you one. I have a grade 1 and another with more patches and scars than Frankenstein. I'll sell them eventually; probably unneeded now I have the Jupiter. The scarred one I'd be happy to swap for a couple of medium, or bigger, Exped dry bags if you're tempted


ps http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html  check out his Aug 18th entry for a look at his kit

[andrew_s]

I used to bivvy quite a bit, initially with an orange plastic bag, and later with a simple goretex bag. I didn't worry about midges or slugs, and mostly slept with the top unzipped and my head out, just zipping up if it started to rain. I didn't have any problem with leakage, even after finding my feet in the water when the river decided to overflow into the A65 pedestrian underpass at Clapham. These days I use an Akto.

One thing that you will need for more than occasional use is some form of additional shelter, such as a small tarp. If you suss out a bivvy spot, go to the pub, then find it's chucking it down when you come out to sleep, what do you do? Getting your kit unpacked and you out of your clothes and into a sleeping bag inside a bivvy bag without getting your kit pretty wet isn't terribly practical when the only shelter is the waterproof jacket you are wearing. The reverse, waking up to torrential rain, is not as bad but still difficult if you've just hopped over a drystone wall or something.

An alternative to a tent or bivvy, for lowland use at least, is a Hennessey Hammock. I sleep front/side rather than back, so I've not tried one, thought you are meant to be able to lie flat.

With a tent like a Laser Comp coming in at the 1kg mark, there aren't really any weight advantages whatever you use. It's more a case of available and discreet sleeping spots.

PS
I believe that Teethgrinder knows all about being bitten by slugs