ray mears bedroll

[Celt_Ginger]

Ray uses a toilet. Does that mean we all have to abandon using the loo because it's uncool to do anything Ray does?

 

[Nonimouse]

I use a Burke and Wills Swag when vehicle dependant - quick, comfortable and simple, Didn't cost too much either

 

[Steve27752]

This is all well and good and is only good if you are using a vehical but if your tabbing it then they are very big. I myself have been using for a few years now just a termarest in an army gortex bivibag with the sleeping bag all rolled up, lightweight and easy to strap to a bergan. Get to your location take off unroll and put up your basha job done and costs less than an aussie swag. All you need for an extra comfy life is to add a hammock, what more can be said.

Swampy

Great minds think alike

 

[rik_uk3]

Hex, bug nest, thermarest, sleeping bag

 

[ex Member swampy99]

Ray uses a toilet. Does that mean we all have to abandon using the loo because it's uncool to do anything Ray does?

No. it's just that there are some people out there that get kit only because Ray, or Bear or whoever is the latest TV bushcraft Guru at the moment has used. I myself have done it and I will stand up and say "I am swampy and I have got a parabolic mirror for fire lighting because i had seen Ray us it and thought it was nice and gucci" done nothing but make wood smolder.

I open this up to the forum to come clean who has bought kit because it looked shiney?

 

[crazydave]

swags are just a canvas bedroll designed to protect the occupant, take your existing kit mat bivvy bag doss bag set up and roll it up and you get a swag.

the newer stuff is more tent like as poeple have lost the knack of sleeping out in the open or are afraid of bugs, just like adding a mossie net to a hammock or a cobra bivvy bag.

if you tend to get to site and throw a tarp up before setting out on the ground then its a practical way of just getting on with it instead of fighting with stuff sacs. just roll the whole lot up to go home or strap to a bag, bike etc.. I used to chaperone dof e and scout expeditions by mountain bike and worked like this as you stop unroll and get your head down till the kids turn up.

the earlier world of survival series had mearsy using standard swags but i guess he's got older now, the next one he gets will have ensuite.

 

[Minotaur]

Really like the idea of something like that.

Be very interesting to see what something like that would be like made out off more modern materials.

Some of them look a lot like the Coleman Raid tent.

 

[saddle_tramp]

I saw a hooped bivvy a while back with a full length side opening. cant remember make or model, it was camouflage, so guess it was one of the military suppliers, i guess that would be your modern day equivilent. with a thermarest inside it.

As has been said already, i think these things are for carrying in vehicles or strapping to quads.

just looking on ebay, i found this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Burke-Wills-D...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

and tho it doesnt say the weight, the postage is a bit of a giveaway

 

[Aussiepom]

We use swags all the time down here in Oz. Go bush anywhere or look on the back of utes in any country town and you'll see people using swags. The really telling factor is that if you look at what the professionals are using - ie the guys that work in the bush day-to-day, they all use swags. The vast majority of people use the very simple ones, but some use the ones that have poles at head (and sometimes foot).

For the simple versions, set up and pack away time really is a matter of seconds, even in the dark or when you've had a few beers.

Typically made of heavy duty ripstop canvas, they will shrug off the type of abuse that will leave a bivi bag in shreds - very useful in a country that can be very dry, hard and stony. As for comfort, I'm a hammock user myself, but a swags come a very close second - any respectable brand will have something like a 4 inch foam pad at the base.

Down side is that they are bulky and heavy, typically in the 7 - 9 kg region, so I would second what Swampy said - they are only for vehicular access use, or at least very short hikes.

 

[Nonimouse]

http://theaussieshop.co.uk/images/waratah_1.jpg is what I have - but not from this supplier

another picture http://www.wildearth.com.au/images/products/waratahdes.jpg

 

[Minotaur]

I saw a hooped bivvy a while back with a full length side opening. cant remember make or model, it was camouflage, so guess it was one of the military suppliers, i guess that would be your modern day equivilent. with a thermarest inside it.

As has been said already, i think these things are for carrying in vehicles or strapping to quads.

just looking on ebay, i found this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Burke-Wills-D...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

and tho it doesnt say the weight, the postage is a bit of a giveaway

Have seen Hikers using hooped bivis.

Really like the light weight hiker principles, so think with a little thinking you could end up with a very useful, and light shelter.

Add a tarp to it, and you get the best of both worlds.

My thoughts so far, go like this ....

A hopped bivi, that fits a thermarest, and no change of size, so you can store you pack at the feet end. Think this would need to much holding up, so would need to be bigger, so can hold kit.

You can zip it completely open for with tarp use, or just have net, or even a stick held up side.

Practical points, would need pegging points at each corner, and at least two guys.

You could even have a canvas top, with modern everything else.