Bivvi bag set up

[Markemark21]

Hey all,
I normally go out with hammock and tarp set up. But now my wife
Really wants to come out on my next trip and we was thinking of building
A more permeant shelter up.
We want to sleep on the ground or raised and wanted to know how you guys do it.
Either with a sleep mat pre wrapped up with the whole unit or with out?
If you guys have any pics or suggestions for the most compact set up
That would great
Cheers Mark

 

[nigeltm]

I put the mat and liner inside the sleeping bag and that in the bivi bag. Roll it all up and into a compression sack. Small, light and very quick to set up. A couple of years ago I got up to the side of Crybin in the Brecon Beacons at around 11:30pm with a couple of mates. Dry relatively warm night with a fresh breeze. Within 2 minutes I'd thrown down and pegged out the bivi bag (Terra Nova Jupiter), inflated the Thermarest mat and was crawling in to my sleeping bag and getting changed to sleep. My mate was still trying to figure out how to put up his super duper lightweight one man tent in the dark with a blustery wind.

I love hammocking and tents are good for multi day camps in one place but you cant beat the convenience of a properly packed bivi.

I hope to get out in the next week or so (it's been soooo long!) and will try and get some pics.

 

[IC_Rafe]

Don't overthink it, For sleeping use the mat inside if it fits (can be a problem with some small tight bivies). For transport: keep them separate, works best imo.

Best still to use a tarp too imo. Closed up a bivy isn't very nice, you have at best a small tent then, in which you can't do anything, and most bivies are breathable (goretex, event etc), but in the case of a goretex bivy, i already get some condensation in normal circumstances and breathing inside it would only make that worse, a lot worse .

 

[Nice65]

I've just had a couple of nights out in an Alpkit Hunka XL, watching the Perseid showers. It was my first experience with bivi bags.

I was going to just lay on the ground, despite a very heavy dew. But when I shone my torch on the grass, there were literally hundreds of slugs out from the untamed flowerbeds we call our garden. There really is no way I'm having them slime about on me, and spiders, frogs etc can also "do one" and go. I do not want anything apart from a Jack Russell in my sleeping system. I got one of my carp fisher chairs (no I don't carp fish, it's obsessive and kit heavy), from the garage and slept on that. Put my glasses on the ground under it and they were covered in slime in the morning.

Both nights, in the Alpkit, I was warm through the night, but my bag was steamy in the morning, quite damp. I'm done with bivi bags after two nights. Might suit lightweight cyclists and hikers, but not for me.

Are you walking in a long way? Or can you get kit in easily?

 

[Idleknight]

Why not use the hammock and a bivvy?
I recently took out my 8 year old daughter and put her in my hammock and slept underneath in the bivvy. Now she has seen the bivvy being used a few times, she will be interested in trying it herself.

I have a hunka XL, its big enough to have the mat on the inside, but I tend to move in my sleep, so keep the mat on the ground. I suggest trying the setup in the house or garden to see what works for you.