Bivvy Bag Upgrade?

[barrs]

Hello all!

I'm seeking advice on alternatives to my British Army bivvy.

I typically aim for at least one bivvy per month, but due to recent storms in the north of Scotland, I haven't had the chance so this weekend was my last opportunity. On Friday I unfortunately I couldn't leave work early, so I ended up walking 5 miles in the dark before reaching my destination. Beforehand, I stuffed my sleeping bag into the bivvy and placed it in my backpack. This made it quite easy to throw out when I reached the forest. I did set up a tarp, as one weather report suggested an hour of downpour, it didn't as it turns out!

The winter sleep setup I used on Friday is quite heavy, but I've used it comfortably down to around -2°C. Lower than that thought I find I need to use the lightweight bag in addition to the medium.

Gear used:

• British Army Bivvy Bag
• British Army Medium-weight bag
• Multimat Adventure 38 Mat
• Alpkit 3.5 Rig Tarp (for heavy rain)

Now, what I've found is that I'm not getting any younger, and the process of shimmying and fussing about getting into the a top entry bivvy is becoming, let say, frustrating at times. Additionally, my bivvy has a draw cord issue I've been unable to fix, adding to the annoyance.

So, I'm looking to upgrade for more comfort. I'm considering a hooped bivvy or one that isn't top-entry. My concern is not adding too much weight, so I want to keep it as light as possible (an upgrade to the sleeping bad and mat should sort this). So far, I'm interested in the Alpkit Elan or Snugpak Stratosphere, the Alpkit Elan seems to be a near exact copy and just as good at half the price. I'm also thinking of something like the Alpkit Hunka XL, which would be 400g lighter, and the hood draw-cord seems better than mine! The Snugpak SF Bivvi Bag also seems good but has the benefit of a center zip, though it's double the cost.

Does anyone have experience with these at all? Or maybe another bivvy that might be a good option? All advise welcome!

 

[Chris]

Snugpak SF can be had for well below RRP here, at £67: https://www.militarykit.com/products/snugpak-special-forces-bivvi-bag-olive

 

[nigelp]

Alpkit Hunka is a good bivvy for the price but you still have to shimmy out of it. Loads of room inside and as you sat lighter. Unlike a hopped style bivvy it is more adaptable because you can just sleep, or sit up in it.

I use a Back country bivvy - not cheap but the top entry and generous size is nice to use.

Depends also if you are looking for something robust that can be thrown about a bit or something more technical.

 

[barrs]

Snugpak SF can be had for well below RRP here, at £67: https://www.militarykit.com/products/snugpak-special-forces-bivvi-bag-olive

Fantastic thank you for that link, it has given me some more food for thought!

I had actually budgeted to around £200 for a more high-end bivvy. Going for this would also allow me to get a sleeping bag upgrade, such as the Snugpak Navigator 3 or even a SF 1 sleeping bag to replace my aging British Army one.

 

[barrs]

Alpkit Hunka is a good bivvy for the price but you still have to shimmy out of it. Loads of room inside and as you sat lighter. Unlike a hopped style bivvy it is more adaptable because you can just sleep, or sit up in it.

I use a Back country bivvy - not cheap but the top entry and generous size is nice to use.

Depends also if you are looking for something robust that can be thrown about a bit or something more technical.

That does look like a decent bivvy. I did give myself a slighter higher end budget so I am going to have a dig into it.

I am looking for one to throw about, it's one of the things kind of putting me off about the hooped one's. The Alpkit Hunka XL does look great, as you say though, I would still have the shimmying issue but for the price you can't really go wrong.

 

[nigelp]

That does look like a decent bivvy I am going to have a dig into it.

I am looking for one to throw about, it's one of the things kind of putting me off about the hooped one's. The Alpkit Hunka XL does look great, as you say though, I would still have the shimmying issue but for the price you can't really go wrong.

The BCB is more for general camping and lightweight trips; I bought it for the odd occasion where the weather would be nice and I could use it with minimal other equipment.
I have an Alpkit Hunka that I am more happy to throw about.

 

[SaraR]

If you keep the mat on the outside, you can just stand in the bag and pull it up around you and then lay down. That’s what I do if I at all can.

 

[Parbajtor]

I’ve got a Highlander Hawk Bivvy bag which I use with a Summit Sleeping bag onesie and one of those next generation cellular compact inflatable mattresses (whose brand name I forgot and CBA2 unpack my kit). I’ve used it motorcycle touring in France and Spain when a tent and camp bed setup is inappropriate or too much faff. It’s the onesie that makes it work.

 

[Paul_B]

Years ago I got the rab survival zone. I got it very cheap. A year or so later alpkit copied it and my mate got one in a competition. It was smaller when laid out under a shared tarp. Despite the manufacturers sizes I think he rab one was as big as the hunka xl but slightly better fabric. Mine was cheaper than the hunka too!

I then decided I wanted something with a tougher base and slightly bigger to allow a mat inside. I got a very good deal for a £65 rab storm from rock and run. An outdoors forum had a heads up bargain thread that I heard about it. Now I first thought the top fabric wasn't as good as the SZ but turns out it is. It has a side strip to give more height for wriggle room or thicker mat inside. The base is a tougher fabric than all in one fabric bevvies. It is however at a bigger SRRP. I think it was £110 when I got mine 33% off but now it's something like £125. It is breathable on the top fabric, has a top and side zip plus mesh side option if you zip up fully.

As well as the rab storm there's a cheaper version that's basically the same and a lightweight one that's more expensive. Rab make good kit imho so might be worth looking at.

 

[MikeLA]

I found the alpkit hunka bivi XL still too tight. Went back to using the issue one. How about the US Army version

 

[Barney Rubble]

This is quite the quandry because I think you already have a really good setup there and is not dissimilar to what I use.

The British army bivi remains one of the better options. The opening is very generous in it's proportions and I've usually found it fairly easy to get in and out of (pains me to admit it, but I'm a rather rotund 40something!).

I'd consider the Snugpak SF bivi. It has the zip, it's incredibly light. But I don't imagine that you'd find it as spacious as the British Army bivi and I'm certain that it won't breath as well.

Another option might be one of the Rab bivi bags. I'm not sure if they still make it, but the Ascent bivi always looked very good, was made from the excellent E-vent fabric and always got good reviews.

My hooped bivi recommendation would be the Dutch army hooped bivi, you can get a supergrade example for c£150. I adore mine and it's my go-to in challenging weather conditions. It will perform very well, breath very well, has stacks of room for you and your kit and is easy to get in and out of. It just has one significant downfall which is that it's a heavy old beast at approx 1.5kg.

The Alpkit Elan and Snugpak Stratosphere are options that I'd consider too. The Stratosphere would win it for me because the hoop stands a few centimetres higher than the Elan. The thing that puts me off these is the fabric, they don't breath as well and, while they have good ventilation options, condensation is the common theme arising from the multiple reviews that I've seen/read. That's never been an issue for me in the Dutch/British goretex bivi bags.

One wildcard for you to consider is the Defcon 5 hooped bivi. This is very similar in design to the Elan/Stratosphere. But it is made from goretex. It is made in Italy by a defence contractor (I believe it is issued to Italian military). And, at 160ish euros, it's comparable in price to the Snugpak Stratosphere but made from much better materials (YKK zippers too).

 

[Paul_B]

Not what you're looking for but I once got loaned a jack wolfskin tent that was more like a hooped bivvy. It worked out OK for a February wildcamp doing the Lairig ghru pass. One hopped pole and the ability to open the outer fly sheet and roll it up to the hoop leaving just the mesh inner to keep the midgahideen away! Only had lying down space for me but at 2.4m inner it swallowed my 2m carcass without too much difficulty.

No idea if it's still available but I think the hooped bivvy thing, based on my experience of this tent, might be a decent option if the current setup feels restrictive or difficult to get into at times.

 

[barrs]

Thanks for much for all the replies so far, they have been all super helpful!

Another option might be one of the Rab bivi bags. I'm not sure if they still make it, but the Ascent bivi always looked very good, was made from the excellent E-vent fabric and always got good reviews.

I have seen a few reviews and suggestions now for Rab bivvy bags, the ascent does seem to be a good one and can be had for around £130 by the looks of it.

My hooped bivi recommendation would be the Dutch army hooped bivi, you can get a supergrade example for c£150. I adore mine and it's my go-to in challenging weather conditions. It will perform very well, breath very well, has stacks of room for you and your kit and is easy to get in and out of. It just has one significant downfall which is that it's a heavy old beast at approx 1.5kg.

The reason I was put off by the dutch army hooped version, was apparently there are two versions one by Carinthia which is the better one and can fetch a pretty penny. The other being Fecsa where the zips are prone to failure, not sure if this an actual problem with them but it was enough for me to it put me off. The weight though.. I could just lose 1.5kg around my own waist to make up the shortfall!

 

[Barney Rubble]

The reason I was put off by the dutch army hooped version, was apparently there are two versions one by Carinthia which is the better one and can fetch a pretty penny. The other being Fecsa where the zips are prone to failure, not sure if this an actual problem with them but it was enough for me to it put me off. The weight though.. I could just lose 1.5kg around my own waist to make up the shortfall!

You're quite right about the dutch hooped bivvies. The Carinthia made examples are the sought after models and can be costly. They're made with Gore-tex and YKK zippers. The FECSA examples don't follow the same standard. They use a virtually identical fabric, albeit not branded as gore-tex and the zippers are not YKK. I bought mine from surplus and outdoors as an un-issued example, it cost me £150 in early 2020 (just before lockdown!), I've used it multiple times and it has been absolutely fine and remains in perfect working order.

It's the horizontal zipper at the head end which seems to be most prone to failure. I think the problem here is largely down to the user and the way that I've seen some people set-up the bivvy. Some folk peg out the foot end so that the bivvy is very taut when zipped up. This puts a lot of strain on the zippers and can lead to failure. I've never bothered pegging out the foot end (just the four peg points at the head end) and have thus far had no issues.

It's for that reason that I'd recommend getting an un-issued/supergrade FECSA example. If however they do fail, then I've seen that some folk have modded them by upgrading to YKK zippers.

 

[Paul_B]

You'd be lucky to find a rab ascent these days. It's not a current model, indeed rab has given the name ascent to a sleeping bag range now. That makes me think production of the bivvy stopped many years ago. Interestingly, the climbers shop in Ambleside shows up when searching for it as selling at £99! That's down from srrp at the time of £220. They don't have any and it says inactive against it. Same with other stores.

I think eVent products have disappeared. I suspect it's because of the nasty chemicals used in production. It's why wl gore dropped shakedry and other versions of their PTFE membrane fabrics.

 

[barrs]

You're quite right about the dutch hooped bivvies. The Carinthia made examples are the sought after models and can be costly. They're made with Gore-tex and YKK zippers. The FECSA examples don't follow the same standard. They use a virtually identical fabric, albeit not branded as gore-tex and the zippers are not YKK. I bought mine from surplus and outdoors as an un-issued example, it cost me £150 in early 2020 (just before lockdown!), I've used it multiple times and it has been absolutely fine and remains in perfect working order.

It's the horizontal zipper at the head end which seems to be most prone to failure. I think the problem here is largely down to the user and the way that I've seen some people set-up the bivvy. Some folk peg out the foot end so that the bivvy is very taut when zipped up. This puts a lot of strain on the zippers and can lead to failure. I've never bothered pegging out the foot end (just the four peg points at the head end) and have thus far had no issues.

It's for that reason that I'd recommend getting an un-issued/supergrade FECSA example. If however they do fail, then I've seen that some folk have modded them by upgrading to YKK zippers.

Fantastic, thank you very much for the info - much appreciated!

 

[Danceswithhelicopters]

You'd be lucky to find a rab ascent these days. It's not a current model, indeed rab has given the name ascent to a sleeping bag range now. That makes me think production of the bivvy stopped many years ago. Interestingly, the climbers shop in Ambleside shows up when searching for it as selling at £99! That's down from srrp at the time of £220. They don't have any and it says inactive against it. Same with other stores.

I think eVent products have disappeared. I suspect it's because of the nasty chemicals used in production. It's why wl gore dropped shakedry and other versions of their PTFE membrane fabrics.

That's interesting regarding Event. I had some Event lined boots and found them to be markedly drier than Goretex.

 

[The Frightful]

May be a daft suggestion but id be tempted to get it, or a new unissued one tailored to put a full length HD YKK zip on the top right down the middle or side with a goretex flap and velcro to encase the zip and sort the draw string issue at the same time ?

 

[FerlasDave]

Have you considered the US army “sleeping bag cover”? I use one myself and I have to say it’s really great. Just be sure to get a genuine US one that is made of true MVP fabric, (which is just a copy of goretex) as the cheap versions are made with the breathability of a wheelie bin! You may have to do some trawling to find one without the rest of the sleeping kit but there’s plenty on eBay US.