Dutch Army Bivi Bags- thoughts

[widu13]

What's the general consensus here, good or bad?

For me:

Pluses: Large size, thick material. kip mat holders (look a bit narrow tho), central opening (to go with my ex mob doss bag)
Minuses: Poss poor coverage of overlap on central opening at the shoulders, velcro fastening instead of velcro AND zip.

Anyone got one, what do you think?

 

[andy_e]

Add a zip yourself - it makes it so much better, I did to mine.

 

[Treeclipper]

I love mine, keeps me toasty & dry. I tested it during the heavy rain last week again & only had to turn on my side so the face opening was away from the rain. Mine came with the zip added (which I thought was standard but have been informed its not).
I'm a bit bulky round the middle & I still have a lot of room, hehe helps that I'm also a short ar$e.

I've not tried any other bivi bags as this was my 1st , but I'll stick with it.

Tree

 

[Greg]

I bought mine with a zip aswell, I personally find it better than the British Army one, there is more room in it, it has more features and I don't know if it is just me but I think it has a better build quality.
Well worth it especially if you get one with a zip already built in to save you having to do it yourself!

 

[hiraeth]

Kitmonster (no connection etc) stock them with zips already fitted

 

[Mastino]

Excellent bit of kit and the narrow kip mat holders are designed for the issue mat. The mat is close foam and excellent, see:http://www.asmc.de/de/Schlafsaecke-Decken/Isomatten-Planen/Hollaendische-Isomatte-gebraucht-p.html

Of course you need to put a zip in it.

 

[Northsky]

Where can I get one of these bags from ?

 

[Aragorn]

Add a zip yourself - it makes it so much better, I did to mine.

are you talking about the dutch bag andy, how did you go about fitting the zip and waterproofing it, i have a british bag myself and have thought about adding a zip, i take it the dutch ones without zip still have the velcro flap though, think ive just answered my own question.

 

[andy_e]

are you talking about the dutch bag andy, how did you go about fitting the zip and waterproofing it, i have a british bag myself and have thought about adding a zip, i take it the dutch ones without zip still have the velcro flap though, think ive just answered my own question.

I asked Geuf on another thread what was the best way to attach the zip and he said just to sew it on to the inside edges of the opening. Because the stitching is under the storm flap I didn't see the need to waterproof it...

.. I bought an 90cm 8mm zip from PointNorth, I tacked the zip where it had to go and then just ran it through the sewing machine, 10 minutes work.

 

[Tiley]

Where can I get one of these bags from ?

I'm interested in one too. Where can we get 'em?

 

[widu13]

Either with the zip for £45 here:

http://ukkitmonster.com/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=500

or without the zip for £35 here:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/dutch-army-o-...ryZ36077QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Personally I think it needs a zip.

 

[w00dsmoke]

i have a british bag myself and have thought about adding a zip, :

I met a canoest who joined two uk cammo bivi bags together side by side to make a double bivi bag for he and his gf for when ski touring in Norway.

He had an experimental goretex bivi bag, which was goretex with an insulation layer of thin foam attached, which was very similar to the uk army olive bag. He added a zip and storm flap to that, but behind the zip he inserted a huge wedge of goretex, which increased the bags size considerably for entering before zipping up.

It's all easily done. You can buy seam tape that you can iron on to waterproof any seams or if you can't be bothered with the hassle just use ordinary clear silicon, shoo goo, seam sealer.

 

[Celt_Ginger]

Why not use a YKK water repelant zipper which are not very expensive and sew it into the bag yourself. under the stormflap it will not let anything in at all.

 

[littlebiglane]

I have been talking with someone (a well respected outfit) recently who may be getting in New or Supergrade Dutch bags soon and will be getting some of the stock modded with ultra-high quality zips. If anyone is interested then say so and I'll indicate to them the level of interest.

LBL

 

[Tiley]

I'd be very interested in a new one, if possible, preferably with a zip.

 

[Aragorn]

I met a canoest who joined two uk cammo bivi bags together side by side to make a double bivi bag for he and his gf for when ski touring in Norway.

He had an experimental goretex bivi bag, which was goretex with an insulation layer of thin foam attached, which was very similar to the uk army olive bag. He added a zip and storm flap to that, but behind the zip he inserted a huge wedge of goretex, which increased the bags size considerably for entering before zipping up.

It's all easily done. You can buy seam tape that you can iron on to waterproof any seams or if you can't be bothered with the hassle just use ordinary clear silicon, shoo goo, seam sealer.

i have been weighing it up and fitting a zip shouldn't be that hard as the main seam runs along the top of the sack, if i could get a strip of material to make a storm flap out of, sew that on and waterproof the stitching inside, i think it should work, but where to get the material for the flap, any ideas of what to use ?

 

[andy_e]

i have been weighing it up and fitting a zip shouldn't be that hard as the main seam runs along the top of the sack, if i could get a strip of material to make a storm flap out of, sew that on and waterproof the stitching inside, i think it should work, but where to get the material for the flap, any ideas of what to use ?

Should work fine if you tape or otherwise seal your stitching. If you can get a hold of an old Gore-tex jacket that's outlived it's usefulness you might be able to scavenge a decent bit of fabric, or there's plenty of online retailers selling MVP/3-layer/Gore-tex material. Doesn't have to be as big as the one on the Dutch bag.

Edit: Or use waterproof zips, seal your stitching and forego the storm-flap: http://www.shelby.fi/catalog/default.php?cPath=31_53

 

[Nagual]

Heres a question for those in the know - How heavy is the dutch bag? and how small does it compress down to? Yeah okay that was three questions what can I say I can't count.....



Nag.

 

[andy_e]

I'd say it's about 800g maybe a bit more, if you rolled it tightly you might get it to take up about 3L.

 

[Nagual]

I'd say it's about 800g maybe a bit more, if you rolled it tightly you might get it to take up about 3L.

Vielen Danke