Need a new Bivi Bag!

[Dan00001]

I was out on the side of a hill for 7 hours yesterday dogsbodying in my (non hooped) bivi and found out it's no longer waterproof (I got soaked). So I need a new bivi bag. It must be very heavy duty. Do I just go for a brand new British army bivi bag for £50~? What is the quality like these days? I would love a Carinthia but new ones are way more than I want to spend.

https://flic.kr/p/2rCHkPY

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[BumblingAlong]

Contencious and disappointing one for me. The current 'new' BA bivvies are a sad replica of the originals.
My first BA Bivvy was fully waterproof and breathable. The newer ones fail

 

[hughtrimble]

Now that is bivvying! I'd always wondered if anyone really used them like that, and you have answered that question with aplomb.

 

[Dan00001]

Contencious and disappointing one for me. The current 'new' BA bivvies are a sad replica of the originals.
My first BA Bivvy was fully waterproof and breathable. The newer ones fail

I thought I had seen others say something similar before! Not sure what to go for, civilian bivis are generally much lighter wait aimed for camping/hiking.

I need heavy duty for bodying. I'm often positioned in places which offer a challenging find for the dog and handler which include being in amongst gorse bushes or, like yesterday, on hills so steep that I have to use vegetation to prop myself up or sort of use my feet to prop myself up on a tuft of grass or dirt etc.

This is the hill I was placed on yesterday, and pictures never do the steepness of a hill any justice.

 

[Dan00001]

Now that is bivvying! I'd always wondered if anyone really used them like that, and you have answered that question with aplomb.

Yes, and there is something absolutely magical about being out in the open elements. Partly getting away from the norm, immersing yourself in nature, the feel and sound of the rain, the cold wind on your face, and partly the both mental and physical challenge of putting yourself in a slightly uncomfortable position.

I would like to stay drier, though. My top half remained dry and warm as I have good clothing, but my bottom half got soaked, but I did have a pair of synthetic insulation trousers on over the top of my walking trousers so I got wet but remained warm, but with temperatures dropping over coming months, I will need to stay drier to stay warm.

Another thing I need to figure out is something to cover me in the bivi. I've tried sleeping bags and find them a nightmare. They get all wrapped up, and with boots on I find it even more difficult. I have a thin wool blanket I've used but I'm thinking either a synthetic insulation quilt or a thicker wool blanket for the winter months. I'm leaning towards a thick wool blanket. I need a scout around the charity shops for that maybe. @Woody girl do you have any tips on what I should look out for, I know you seem to buy wool blankets often.

 

[Pattree]

Now that is bivvying! I'd always wondered if anyone really used them like that, and you have answered that question with aplomb.

Totally agree. That’s why I was surprised when people talked about tarps and bashas.

It is freedom in a bag. Cooking supper and breakfast can be done down the road. The bivi is the simplest, quickest and most discrete sleep system (other than sleeping in the open)

Well done @Dan00001 .
The last few days would have tested any system. The tipi was more like a shower cubicle than a tent. In fact it was my bivi that kept me dry INSIDE the old tent.
If you only got soaked you were doing ok!!!!!

 

[Dan00001]

Totally agree. That’s why I was surprised when people talked about tarps and bashas.

It is freedom in a bag. Cooking supper and breakfast can be done down the road. The bivi is the simplest, quickest and most discrete sleep system (other than sleeping in the open)

Well done @Dan00001 .
The last few days would have tested any system. The tipi was more like a shower cubicle than a tent. In fact it was my bivi that kept me dry INSIDE the old tent.
If you only got soaked you were doing ok!!!!!

Thank you Pattree, I stayed warm but temperatures still way above freezing. My bivi setup is a work in progress. I've just remembered the book of the bivy which I've been meaning to get and read for years, I think I'm going to have a look for it.

 

[Dan00001]

After drying out the bivi, I hung the bivi up in a way that I could create pool of water in a part of the fabric. That was Sunday evening and it's still there now and no water has passed through!

A couple of things I've considered.. the seams taping has seen better days, not sure how much rain would get through the seams in reality, and/or maybe the fabric is getting old and water is passing through in the places where I am laying on i.e the extra pressure exerted from the weight of my body is forcing water through? Any thoughts?

I was talking to a friend over the weekend and she asked why I don't take a tarp to setup. I don't like the idea of taking a big tarp dogsbodying but it gave me the idea of taking my army poncho with me along with my bivi. I think this could be a great combo for sitting on the side of a hill in the rain, what do you think?

 

[Barney Rubble]

After drying out the bivi, I hung the bivi up in a way that I could create pool of water in a part of the fabric. That was Sunday evening and it's still there now and no water has passed through!

A couple of things I've considered.. the seams taping has seen better days, not sure how much rain would get through the seams in reality, and/or maybe the fabric is getting old and water is passing through in the places where I am laying on i.e the extra pressure exerted from the weight of my body is forcing water through? Any thoughts?

I was talking to a friend over the weekend and she asked why I don't take a tarp to setup. I don't like the idea of taking a big tarp dogsbodying but it gave me the idea of taking my army poncho with me along with my bivi. I think this could be a great combo for sitting on the side of a hill in the rain, what do you think?

Poncho's and Bivi's are a match made in heaven, go for it.

I expect your existing bivi probably just needs a bit of TLC. Check the taped seams and repair if necessary and then give it a wash and re-proof with Nikwax Tech Wash and TX Direct.

With that said, I bought a brand new MTP British goretex bivi last year and have used it quite a lot since. It replaced an old Olive green version. I've not noticed any discernible difference in the performance and durability. The Brit bivi bags are still among the best on the market in my opinion.

I'd avoid getting a Carinthia bivy. They're awesome, I absolutely love mine, but I'd be very nervous putting a very expensive bivi in the sort of places that you describe. If you want to get one cheap(er!), then checkout Vinted, that's where I got mine.

As for your other query about what to use inside the bivi. It's got to be a wool blanket. British military blankets are good. Tweedmill make some nice 100% wool blankets out of recycled fibres and they don't cost the earth (made in England too!).

 

[BrewkitAndBasha]

I was out on the side of a hill for 7 hours yesterday dogsbodying in my (non hooped) bivi and found out it's no longer waterproof (I got soaked). So I need a new bivi bag. It must be very heavy duty. Do I just go for a brand new British army bivi bag for £50~? What is the quality like these days? I would love a Carinthia but new ones are way more than I want to spend.

https://flic.kr/p/2rCHkPY

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Perhaps a wash, iron and re-proof would renew the bivvy bag's water-shedding properties a bit?
I suffered the same fate years ago in a genuine Goretex fabric bivvy bag; became absolutely soaked through inside after a night of rain. The outer layer had stopped shedding water so the breathability was zero.
I washed, ironed and proofed the bivvy bag and it worked ok again after that.

 

[Dan00001]

Poncho's and Bivi's are a match made in heaven, go for it.

I expect your existing bivi probably just needs a bit of TLC. Check the taped seams and repair if necessary and then give it a wash and re-proof with Nikwax Tech Wash and TX Direct.

With that said, I bought a brand new MTP British goretex bivi last year and have used it quite a lot since. It replaced an old Olive green version. I've not noticed any discernible difference in the performance and durability. The Brit bivi bags are still among the best on the market in my opinion.

I'd avoid getting a Carinthia bivy. They're awesome, I absolutely love mine, but I'd be very nervous putting a very expensive bivi in the sort of places that you describe. If you want to get one cheap(er!), then checkout Vinted, that's where I got mine.

As for your other query about what to use inside the bivi. It's got to be a wool blanket. British military blankets are good. Tweedmill make some nice 100% wool blankets out of recycled fibres and they don't cost the earth (made in England too!).

That is good to hear re. new army bivi bags, I have heard mixed reviews about them. I don't know whether to but seam tape or if it's more economical to just put that money towards a new one. I'm guessing a new one would make sense. This older one won't go to waste, I will use the material to make stuff out of with my sewing machine.

I'm definitely going to try ponch + bivi and I need to get a good wool blanket.

 

[Dan00001]

Perhaps a wash, iron and re-proof would renew the bivvy bag's water-shedding properties a bit?
I suffered the same fate years ago in a genuine Goretex fabric bivvy bag; became absolutely soaked through inside after a night of rain. The outer layer had stopped shedding water so the breathability was zero.
I washed, ironed and proofed the bivvy bag and it worked ok again after that.

I have wondered if it was simply breathability, but I'm 90% certain water was getting in. The seams need re-doing, I think what I will inevitably end up doing is buying a new one. I do have a second BA bivi of equal age, I'm going to dig that one out and have a look at it, too.

 

[Pattree]

It’s worth remembering that if you are breathing inside your bivi for six hours, that is like filling a spray bottle with 250 -300 ml of water and spraying it over your kit.

Your static water test sort of works but a swirling wind and heavy rain have a habit of finding a way in.

 

[Falstaff]

With the fabric just lying on you I'm surprised that you don't get, or maybe you do, serious condensation on the inside, due purely to the immediate temperature differential thourgh the fabric.
If you can raise it up a little then some air might circulate around it.
I find this works with my Alpkit hooped Bivvy which otherwise has no lower body air circulation and gets condensation. I shove a knapsack down there. A mini tarp or poncho over the top makes a huge difference, both to warmth and dryness. No need to pole it up, putting your rucksack under would be enough, without spoiling your view, and a camo version might make it harder to the dog to find you?

 

[BrewkitAndBasha]

I have wondered if it was simply breathability, but I'm 90% certain water was getting in. The seams need re-doing, I think what I will inevitably end up doing is buying a new one. I do have a second BA bivi of equal age, I'm going to dig that one out and have a look at it, too.

Yep, sometimes the membrane can deteriorate after a long while as well as the seam tape. I have a really good triple-hooped, Goretex bivvy that's over thirty years old but nowadays the water comes right through the membrane above me. Looks like a Vietnam drip coffee. No amount of reproofing seems to help it.

 

[hughtrimble]

Yep, sometimes the membrane can deteriorate after a long while as well as the seam tape. I have a really good triple-hooped, Goretex bivvy that's over thirty years old but nowadays the water comes right through the membrane above me. Looks like a Vietnam drip coffee. No amount of reproofing seems to help it.

Targeted Fabsil sealant on those bits to keep it going?

 

[BrewkitAndBasha]

Targeted Fabsil sealant on those bits to keep it going?

Tried that, spraying, dipping, washing etc. , I think the Goretex membrane is now just shot to bits due to age. The outer fabric looks fine though.
A basha over the top does the job, but renders the hooped bivvy / minimalist shelter concept on a treeless, windswept and rain-drenched mountainside a bit redundant(?) or obsolete. Anyway, no worries now as I tend to do less of that kind of camping these days.

 

[Falstaff]

Tried that, spraying, dipping, washing etc. , I think the Goretex membrane is now just shot to bits due to age. The outer fabric looks fine though.
A basha over the top does the job, but renders the hooped bivvy / minimalist shelter concept on a treeless, windswept and rain-drenched mountainside a bit redundant(?) or obsolete.

Use the hoops as the basha support with a couple of very short poles or branches for the other corners, keep it tight and no problems,( save the hands and knees low entry/exit height).

 

[BrewkitAndBasha]

Use the hoops as the basha support with a couple of very short poles or branches for the other corners, keep it tight and no problems,( save the hands and knees low entry/exit height).

Precisely.

 

[Pattree]

I’ve be wondering how on Earth my sons NATO pup tent can be leaking and wondering whether condensation could account for it.

@Dan00001
Have you got a survival bag - one of those orange heavy duty plastic bags? I think Karimor do/did them.
In theory you could replace the bivi with one of those in a safe location.

You say that the bivi survives a prolonged spray test? This would help you gauge how much water was coming into your bivi from inside. While nothing comes through the plastic from outside, the plastic bag represents just about the worst case scenario for condensation.