bivvy camping
- Thread starter Sawyer
- Start date
-
Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.
i personally dont give much weight to sleeping bag temp ratings, so as a rule of thumb only ever read the stated temp rating as "-7 if fully clothed"
a bivvy adds a couple of degrees extra protection though.
for my head, i prefer a think open face balaclava and then pull the sleeping bag/bivy up over top of head too and pull the cords nice and tight so only my face is exposed
bivvied out like that at -7 in just thermal underwear, but in a sleep system rated to -34. just about comfy, woke when the fire died down
a bivvy adds a couple of degrees extra protection though.
for my head, i prefer a think open face balaclava and then pull the sleeping bag/bivy up over top of head too and pull the cords nice and tight so only my face is exposed
bivvied out like that at -7 in just thermal underwear, but in a sleep system rated to -34. just about comfy, woke when the fire died down
If you are thinking of buying an inflatable sleeping mat try make sure you can fit it inside your bivi-bag. Some mats have a 'square' footprint and many bivi-bags are tapered. You'll be annoyed if the two don't fit together well. This isn't such a problem with short mats, but for winter you'll want a full-length one really. I've been using a Thermarest for over 20 years and am very happy with the value for money. It was not cheap but has lasted very well. As Shortyman says the after sales service is superb if you do have a problem. Modern Thermarests are 'grippy' so sliding off is not such an issue. Do think about what is on the ground underneath you, clear away anything sharp that could punture the mat. Think about where your sharps are and where you are in relation to the fire too! Old style foam mats have poor insulation compared to Thermarests and similar, but they still work with a hole in but your Thermarest won't.
Good point. I only use a 3/4 length one for that reason. In winter I usually try to have a hot water bottle near my feet, and I'll put any slightly damp clothes under my legs to dry off a bit with heat lost from the bottle. In a sleeping bag there's plenty of heat from a hot water bottle.
It's been said many times before on here, so I'll just add it again I boil up some sourced water to purify it, pop it in a bottle and then pop that in my bag as a hot water bottle. then, by morning, I've got fresh water and am not too cold.
I boil up some sourced water to purify it, pop it in a bottle and then pop that in my bag as a hot water bottle. then, by morning, I've got fresh water and am not too cold.
I think you will be more comfortable than you might imagine under a tarp. I actually prefer being under a poncho or a similar shelter sheet to having a tent whenever wild camping (which is what I really am interested in in any case).
I find a synthetic tent can really get wet - I normally seem to wake up with all the condensation from my breath having been trapped on the inside of the material, and if you roll onto or touch the outside in any way then you will let even more wet in from outside. I reckon a canvas tent would be better at this than the modern materials, but are you really going to carry a canvas tent along with all your other kit on foot over mountains on day 3 when it's soaked through? Not fun. And unless the tent is massive and high (and then it's not likely to be very portable either) it can be a complete nause to sort things out inside one too, whereas with a tarp you can just move it higher up the tree trunk and you've got room to sit, crouch or stand under it. A bivvy bag and shelter sheet is a pretty bombproof combination really, you have 2 layers of protection and a lot more options on how to set it up.
The only areas where I think tents have the edge is for security/privacy (but this isn't a problem with wild camping, only in public campsites) and I'm guessing they are better at keeping the heat in and the wind out when in extreme cold conditions (but I haven't been out in these very low temperatures overnight yet). For the UK and the majority of other stuff I'm sure you'll do fine with a bivvy and shelter sheet even in winter, I have
As others have said, use a sleep mat (I prefer the old skool foam rollmat styley, I find the inflatables to be a bit of a faff to pack away quickly, you can't strap them on the outside of your pack, and I'd always be paranoid about puncturing mine anyway), and if you keep the sheet taught and use your rucksack as a windbreak on the 'gable end' of your poncho shelter that is facing the wind you should be pretty snug. As already mentioned, a balaclava if it's really Baltic out - if you bury your head deep inside a bivvy bag with all the closures tightened up you'll not get enough oxygen. Good luck!
I find a synthetic tent can really get wet - I normally seem to wake up with all the condensation from my breath having been trapped on the inside of the material, and if you roll onto or touch the outside in any way then you will let even more wet in from outside. I reckon a canvas tent would be better at this than the modern materials, but are you really going to carry a canvas tent along with all your other kit on foot over mountains on day 3 when it's soaked through? Not fun. And unless the tent is massive and high (and then it's not likely to be very portable either) it can be a complete nause to sort things out inside one too, whereas with a tarp you can just move it higher up the tree trunk and you've got room to sit, crouch or stand under it. A bivvy bag and shelter sheet is a pretty bombproof combination really, you have 2 layers of protection and a lot more options on how to set it up.
The only areas where I think tents have the edge is for security/privacy (but this isn't a problem with wild camping, only in public campsites) and I'm guessing they are better at keeping the heat in and the wind out when in extreme cold conditions (but I haven't been out in these very low temperatures overnight yet). For the UK and the majority of other stuff I'm sure you'll do fine with a bivvy and shelter sheet even in winter, I have
As others have said, use a sleep mat (I prefer the old skool foam rollmat styley, I find the inflatables to be a bit of a faff to pack away quickly, you can't strap them on the outside of your pack, and I'd always be paranoid about puncturing mine anyway), and if you keep the sheet taught and use your rucksack as a windbreak on the 'gable end' of your poncho shelter that is facing the wind you should be pretty snug. As already mentioned, a balaclava if it's really Baltic out - if you bury your head deep inside a bivvy bag with all the closures tightened up you'll not get enough oxygen. Good luck!
check out my pic from the brockwell wood meet this weekend gone, i had an army bag, bivi, tarp, foam mat and inflateble mat, i put the mats down on the outside and have my doss bag inside my bivi bag, all i had on was my socks and boxers, and i was toasty as out......
we had snow over night and it must have been down to -3 or 4, i was fine, as above NEVER do your bivi bag up tight you WILL run out of air, i did it years ago when in Canada -30 in a snow hole, woke up going mental trying to breath...........
if you want the top closed i just fold mine over my head to help trap the heat from your breath in, works a treat and i have never had any problems with condensation either...........
you should be fine with your kit, just use loads of leaves and firn or branches/bows to insulate against the cold ground...........
hope this helps.......
chris.
we had snow over night and it must have been down to -3 or 4, i was fine, as above NEVER do your bivi bag up tight you WILL run out of air, i did it years ago when in Canada -30 in a snow hole, woke up going mental trying to breath...........
if you want the top closed i just fold mine over my head to help trap the heat from your breath in, works a treat and i have never had any problems with condensation either...........
you should be fine with your kit, just use loads of leaves and firn or branches/bows to insulate against the cold ground...........
hope this helps.......
chris.
Kinda Skipp the bivvy bag is more of a man made matrial, like gore-tex and other breathable & waterproof type stuff. I think the Aussie swag bags are more heavy-duty canvas and the like as i remember.
from what ive read so far not many people have commented on the type of bivvi used....? i have a snugpak bivvi and from what ive used of it is great, it weighs 340g and packs up to the size of a big orange.
its fully waterproof and breathable, the only future problem i see is that the material is so thin it may be broken by a branch if you roll off your mat.. i havnt had this problem but can imagine that any puncture force would break it with your full weight! at the end of the day its british made (silsden, North yorkshire) and id rather be wet than buy some china import.
Snugpak for life!
its fully waterproof and breathable, the only future problem i see is that the material is so thin it may be broken by a branch if you roll off your mat.. i havnt had this problem but can imagine that any puncture force would break it with your full weight! at the end of the day its british made (silsden, North yorkshire) and id rather be wet than buy some china import.
Snugpak for life!
Last edited:
"Kinda Skipp the bivvy bag is more of a man made matrial, like gore-tex and other breathable & waterproof type stuff. I think the Aussie swag bags are more heavy-duty canvas and the like as i remember. "
That's more or less the difference in the outer 'skin' Treetops, but the vast majority of todays swags incorporate a decent, (think 2-3 inch thick), foam mattress as well. Means that you don't have to worry about sleeping on the kind of abrasive and/or thorn-ridden surfaces that would simply shred or puncture a modern bivi/inflatable combination. The down side of course is the added bulk and weight, although if you're using a 4x4, as most people do in the Aussie wilderness areas, that's not really an issue.
PS: Could somebody please explain to me how I do those 'quotes in a box' rather than simply cutting & pasting previous posts, as I have done with Treetop's post above?
That's more or less the difference in the outer 'skin' Treetops, but the vast majority of todays swags incorporate a decent, (think 2-3 inch thick), foam mattress as well. Means that you don't have to worry about sleeping on the kind of abrasive and/or thorn-ridden surfaces that would simply shred or puncture a modern bivi/inflatable combination. The down side of course is the added bulk and weight, although if you're using a 4x4, as most people do in the Aussie wilderness areas, that's not really an issue.
PS: Could somebody please explain to me how I do those 'quotes in a box' rather than simply cutting & pasting previous posts, as I have done with Treetop's post above?
Not at 3am on a 2500m mountain you wouldn't... If kit works does it fundamentally matter where it's manufactured.??
Last edited:
Start by using the reply with quote tab located in the post you want to quote.. Located bottom right,
Have fun..
I have spent many nights under a basha in mid wales in a small area known as Sennybridge. It gets quite harsh up there but I've always been comfortable. Like it has been said on here you use what ever is available as a windbreak a bergan, tree logs or just dig yourself a shallow shell scrape to get you low enough below the wind. As for when you wake up I have my buffalo to put on to keep me warm. Enjoy it.
SW
SW
you look at the post you want to quote then in the bottom righthand side it say "reply with quote" click that and it will do the rest...
In general when you write anything on this site you're writing in what's known as a "markup language". That just means that the forum software recognizes certain structures in the text and does (sometimes weird) things as a result. This can depend on personal settings that you can choose for your forum account. For example with the normal settings, if you type a colon followed by a closing parenthesis, the forum software recognizes that as a markup command and draws a smiley face instead of the punctuation.
If you want to quote somebody, instead of using punctuation marks like inverted commas you can use what are known in the markup language as 'tags'. It gets just a little bit tricky now.
If you write the word QUOTE enclosed in SQUARE brackets, that's an 'opening quote tag'. Then write your quote, whatever it is. Then write the word /QUOTE again in square brackets (the same as before, but the word is preceded by a forward slash character). That's the 'closing quote tag'. That completes the quote, and the forum software will do the rest.
This is done for you automatically when you use things like the 'reply with quote' button. It's also slightly more complicated because the opening quote tag can contain extra information like who you're quoting and exactly what post it was.
You can do this for as many quotes as you like, and even have quotes within quotes, as long as the opening and closing quote tags are (a) correctly written and (b) properly nested -- which means that for every opening quote there's a closing quote in the right place.
There's a part of the site where you can play to test all this out without annoying anyone.
So what’s the big difference between my old army foam roll matt and one of these new fangled inflatable ones that everyone goes on about?
The inflatable mats are more comfortable because they give more support. On the other hand, they are also more fuss. Comes down to personal preference as usual.
resnikov
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I do have an inflatable mat myself and while its never happend to mine I have heard of others getting a hole in them so they are no good at that point whilst out camping. Ok you can patch them, but thats more kit to carry.
