Calling all Belgian Army Mk2 Bivy Bag users...

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Gray

Full Member
Sep 18, 2008
2,091
10
Scouser living in Salford South UK
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.
Kingos dont feel anything much lol
 

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

Oh no :( I want a DD 3X3 now....

EDIT: somebody help!!

Mines a silnylon jobbie from Germany. I prefer it to the Dd but the stitch quality is hit n miss.

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MikeLA

Full Member
May 17, 2011
1,955
319
Northumberland
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.

I am 50 and still prefer this well used option including the 2 ft from the ground. It works.

I fully agree a bivi bag is a nice addition but its an addition
 
I just thought I'd leave a little review on this post. I used the Belgian army bivy for three wet nights, one of them included a ground frost in the morning.

The bag breaths well.
Its not waterproof.
The ability to wrap all your sleep gear into a bundle is great.
MUST have a tarp over it when raining.
MUST have a ground sheet under it.
I love the 'flap' which can be thrown over your head and stops you feeling claustrophobic.
Twice I 'slipped out of the end of the tarp' when sleeping on a slope and the bag got wet but nothing came through (the feet are made from different material to the top).
I had no problems with condensation.

Final verdict. With a tarp, this is a brilliant bit of kit. Light, tough and highly functional. I wouldn't trust it on it's own in wet conditions though.

Would I use it again? Yes. If stolen/lost would I buy it again? Possibly but I might explore some more options.
 

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