Calling all Belgian Army Mk2 Bivy Bag users...

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Hi Folks - I'm about to tackle the coast to coast next week with a friend of mine. We are trying to travel light and I've just bought a Belgian Army Mk 2 Bivy Bag (seyntex version 1988 (I think the label says).

I'm taking a DD tarp as well with a solo sheet for nights when I think it will rain hard, I'm also going to give it a spray with some waterproof spray.

My question is 'has anyone actually used this bivy bag?' - i'm not planning on lying in snow or streams, but I don't want to wake up soaked (from inside or out).

Is it any good or have I bought a large sock?
 

Dave-the-rave

Settler
Feb 14, 2013
638
1
minsk
If you try waterproofing it it might afford some degree of protection from drips etc. Fill it with water first and get an idea of the base first. Mine leaked like a sieve on the bottom. It was breathable only because it was porous...like a sock. :)

Thing about tarps and bivvi bags is...I served 8 years in the Infantry in the days before this kinda thing was issued. We used 58 pattern ponchos as the tarp, set very low to the ground, and 58 pattern feather sleeping bags. We had no bivvy bags and roll mats were just coming around by the mid eighties. I don't ever remember getting my bag wet and that was with two people under one poncho with a second as a groundsheet.

I use an Army goretex bivvy bag now but I consider it a bit of a luxury. Don't get me wrong I like it. They can help by keeping wind chill off the sleeping bag and will keep the bag dry for sure but not strictly essential. If it's not raining I usually keep mine down at my feet and only pull it up if I'm feeling a bit cold in the early hours.

All that said the reason the old poncho worked as a basha is because we pitched them so low. The higher the tarp the more likely to get the bag wet. Now at 50 I don't want to be crawling into a tarp set 2 feet from the ground which is why I like a tarp big enough to have some height but still have the bottom edge low to the ground.
 
Cheers Dave - I've washed it last night and it's got a few pin ***** holes near the neck, but they are right next to the opening so no biggy. I've a D tarp and I tent to favour the 'wedge' setup (pinned flat at one end with a ridged entry at the other. I also splashed out on a solo ground sheet.

Historically I've never bothered with a bivy but only because I've been doing one or two nights. This will be 9 days straight so 'dry sleep' is important.

Thanks so much for the input - I've seen mixed reviews about them but very few by people who have actually used them anywhere other than their lounge floor.
 

Chiseller

Bushcrafter through and through
Oct 5, 2011
6,176
3
West Riding
If the ground is at damp you should be fine....wet .....just gaff a tape some polyethylene sheet to the base of your bag.

With the tarp.....learn to configure it like this .....
a2u2yduv.jpg


You don't need trees and it will give you room for kit and to get changed.

Enjoy your trip ::thumbup:

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
 

mousey

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jun 15, 2010
2,210
254
42
NE Scotland
I've fallen out with my bivi. If it is raining it is hard to get in and out of one without getting wet. If the conditions are right [which is most of the time] you'll get condensation so get wet anyway. I ended up leaving it mostly off so if it did start to rain I could pull it up. Since then I've given up on a bivi and use a tarp - I mostly hammock now so a wet ground doesn't bother me.
 

Chiseller

Bushcrafter through and through
Oct 5, 2011
6,176
3
West Riding
Last edited:

Chiseller

Bushcrafter through and through
Oct 5, 2011
6,176
3
West Riding
Can't seem to embed it .....yup....I'm better at making a tarp tent than embedding videos arrrrrgh

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
 

Melonfish

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 8, 2009
2,460
1
Warrington, UK
I used one in the snow a few winters ago, i treated it to some tech wash before i went and it was perfect.

a2ezuge2.jpg


2a3e8yva.jpg


asyry9u9.jpg

yeah but kingo's don't feel the cold (according to my old man)

Got to say i'm a ground dweller, DD 3 X 3 and the OD mil bivvy, never really had issues, heck i've just dived right into the bivvy before now sans tarp and slept like a baby, got woken up at earlyby some light rain now and again but if kept clean and treated the bivvy should shrug off the majority, nowadays i only use it for wind/final protection, the tarp really does all the work.
 

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