shipwreck

I finally used my new Outdoor Research helium bivy the other day. It was a fairly miserable experience, but I am not totally ready to give up. I pulled into a campground very late, and it was very crowded, so all I could manage was a sponge bath, as there was no real privacy. Changed into regular clothes, but there was no shower. It was hot enough that I did not use my bag, just a pad, and crawled in to sleep. It was not raining, but it was very buggy, so zipped the net up with the shell as open as I could get it. Super clammy, though it did breathe well enough that I was not soaked, just generally damp.
Next morning, I turned it inside out, and it smelled like a sock. Wiped it down with some wet wipes, let it dry before packing. Used my hammock the next two nights.

On a longer trip, using a bivy for multiple nights, how do you keep it fresh? Its not always possible to get a real shower while touring, and I do tend to sweat a lot(I am designed for colder weather). As a bit of a clean freak, I found it a little distasteful. I would consider a vapor barrier, but really don't like those.

My thoughts are that this may be something to take on shorter trips, or in the winter when I wont perspire at night. Or as backup on CC trips when camping is an emergency option. Originally I got it to take as a supplement for my preferred hammock, or as a stealth option.

veganbikes

Bivys aren't really meant to be a pleasant thing. It is an emergency shelter for when things get bad. Basically a small weather cocoon. Sure the technology is moving forward with air permeability and space without adding weight or cutting down on packability but it will never be a really pleasant thing. That is unless they can make it fully climate controlled, build up to a 2 person tent size and pack down to a can of soda and weigh less than a pound but that is not realistic.

yote223

I have found that a good old fashioned shot of Lysol spray disinfectant does wonders. I use a bivy on canoe trips in the BWCA. Maybe follow it up with some of their wipes if you want. Get the regular large pump spray bottle and transfer it into a smaller pump-sprayer for travel. It keeps things from getting too "funky" smelling.

wheelinthai

My favourite. Slumberjack calls it bivy, but a hoop tent should be more appropriate

staehpj1

I don't get how a tent would be much better wrt bathing. I typically do so outside the tent or bivy. I find that wearing running shorts I can sponge bathe well in the open. Just reach inside the shorts.

I am not really a fan of hooped bivys like the helium. They weigh more than my tarp bivy combos and I think they are less flexible in use. I prefer to use either a bug bivy or a light regular bivy with a small tarp. Which one I take depends on the expected conditions. If it will be warm and buggy I go for the bug bivy and tarp. Both choices are a little lighter than the helium and more flexible IMO. With the bug bivy, tarp, some cords and stakes it comes in at about 14 oz. and with the regular bivy about 17 oz. The weight difference may not be significant, but the combos offer a lot of options.

If rain isn't likely I don't pitch the tarp but keep it handy and pull it over me for an unexpected rain shower. I cowboy camp on top of the bivy when conditions allow and get in the bivy if it gets chilly and the wind kicks up, the bugs start biting, or if it spits a little rain.

I like the regular bivy better if it is cool enough or if there will be no biting insects. If it will be hot and buggy the bug bivy is much nicer.

FWIW, the items that I use are:
Borah side zip bivy
Ti Goat Ptramigan Bug Bivy
Integral Designs Siltarp 1
MSR Needle Stakes
Some 85 pound test braided dacron lines

BTW, I don't find length of the trip to really be a factor in the choice between bivy and tent. I used a bivy for a coast to coast trip (ST) and was fine other than that I would have rather had the bug bivy along the gulf coast where it was warm and buggy.

All that said, I still might be inclined to use a tent for trips where week long rain is likely.

mdilthey

I use a full eVent bivy, for breathability. I got mine from Borah gear for $200, and they come even cheaper if you go for a silnylon bottom.

I also sleep in a silk sleeping bag liner to protect the inside of my bag from perpsiration. However, there has not been one night this year so far where I live to warrant skipping a sleeping bag.

Doug64

Bivy sacks are generally designed for a "bivy", an emergency, short term shelter. We sometimes carry a bivy sack for 1 day climbing trips and some ski trips if there is a possibility of an unplanned overnight stay.

They work best in colder weather, and IMO are mainly to keep the sleeping bag dry, and are a poor choice for warm weather bike touring, especially if you want any privacy. Even in winter, we seldom carry sleeping bags unless we plan on staying out over-night. We usually carry a small sil-nylon tarp, bivy sack, and insulated jacket and pants, which are more flexible than a sleeping bag and almost as warm and serve well if we get stuck out for the night.

FlippinFlags

Are you still touring with the bivy/tarp set up?

Still using the same bivy's and set ups?

What places have you toured?

staehpj1

Yes I am still using the same setup with the exception of the fact that I did add a bigger tarp (Sea2Summit Escapist M 6'6" x 8'6") as another option for when I think i may I want more coverage. In the last two years I have been less active with my touring since a move to another state, the start of a new business, and the arrival of a new grand child among other things competing for my time.

I have limited my touring to the lower 48, but have covered much of it including a couple coast to coast trips. I have also backpacked in the Sierras as well as in the Appalachians. Some of that was with the bivy and some with small tents.

Rowan

staehpj1 is also one of the longest members of BF and is highly respected for both the bicycling tours he has done, and the advice he can offer on riding and equipment.

stardognine

I know exactly what you mean, about things seeming clammy. I use one of the better military Gore-Tex bivies, and often have to cover my head, due to bugs. 🙄 I can breathe, but at a limited capacity. Like you only get 80 or 90% of the air you need. That together with the clamminess, makes me prefer my face out, but the bugs make it a real struggle. 😜

J.Higgins 

I'm thinking a bug-bivy with a tarp, and a bag liner would be fine for dealing with summer clamminess. I have not tried this yet, but I've considered getting this setup and experimenting. I've got a nice tent, which is a Big Agnes Fly Creek Platinum, and despite all my efforts, I still wake up feeling like a cold piece of steak in the morning. Air movement vs the dew point vs ambient temp are key factors to comfort.

shipwreck

Guess you have been here a while when you see a zombie thread that you started...

For what its worth, I still have the OR bivy, and have successfully used it in extreme cold weather camping, like sub zero stuff. Its been in some extremely heavy rain/snow without a tarp, and performed well. The Hoop is good at keeping an overnight snow load off of the head. I also slept in it during an unscheduled eight hour overnight layover in the Denver International. Found that in very dry conditions it works well even when hot. Used it in the Mojave desert last year, and it was great.

Good excuse for a follow up on some gear after multiple uses. Just use it in the right conditions, so that you don't ferment in it overnight, and its fine.

stardognine

(Beavis voice) Heh, he said ferment. 😁
I used to stop in & browse, at OR's factory outlet store, in Seattle. That was before I ever tried touring, and I didn't fully appreciate their gear yet. I have some killer mittens made by them. 😎

TGT1

I used an earlier version of the OR Advanced bivy for ten years or so until the urethane lining on the floor started to fail. they replaced it with the current military model for free. The two pole system keeps the fabric off your face in warm buggy conditions, but western higher altitudes tend to have drier, cooler nights. East of the 111th you might be better with a one man, mostly bug screen tent.

The new model has a foot vent and more room. My only gripe is that in freezing conditions there really isn't enough room to keep the boots inside, (not a consideration on a bike tour)

Happy Feet

I have an Integral Design gortex bivy and like the hoop over the head. It helps to keep the mesh off the face so the mossies can't bite your nose or eye brows through it while you sleep. With it I can sleep with the top pulled back for ventilation but keep the mesh for bugs.

Steve B.

3speed

DeadGrandpa

If money is not a limiting consideration, I would recommend a tent from Z-Packs, made of cuben fiber. I have a Hexamid Duplex, a 2 person tent weighing about a pound and a half. The tent has a bathtub floor, lots of bug netting and is absolutely waterproof. The carbon tent poles cost extra, as do the tent stakes, but that gives you the option of aluminum or titanium stakes and maybe hiking poles for tent poles, if you're hiking instead of biking. The duplex is cozy for two, a palace for one, and single person tents are also available.

I've heard that Six Moons Designs also have ultra lightweight tents, but I have no experience with those.

Happy Feet

In my case the initial reason for purchase was alpine climbing. For cycling it was a choice between a 2 person tent or bivy which I like if it's summer weather and I'm traveling light. In that case I don't have much stuff regardless. I put my shoes in beside me and use my clothes/jacket in a bag as a pillow. Food hangs in a tree or bear box and the rest is just some tools & stuff in the frame bag.

While you can't change perse in a bivy you can do a pretty good strip down by shucking your old trews and slipping on the new ones while sitting up to your waist in the bivy. Looks funny but modesty is mostly preserved. The key is pre planning to have your clothes sorted and close by.

These days though, the bivy has been super ceded by a 1 person North Face tent that measures 3'x7' and only weighs a tad over 2 pounds.

I like that tent so if I were to buy a bivy again for UL trips I would prolly get a SOL type emergency bivy instead and just a small piece of mossie netting to drape over the opening. I have Chouinard thinsulite overbag for summer use that is pretty small as well.

FlippinFlags

With your experience what is the optimum tarp size for all conditions?

FlippinFlags

Yes I've been looking into them and a few other companies cuben fiber tens... or go with a bug/full bivy and cuben fiber tarp set up.

FlippinFlags

I'd do a bug/full bivy for airflow.. and the reason that over a tent is for stealth, easier to set up and take down.. weight.. I don't plan to use it in freezing or snow areas.

FlippinFlags

How warm of temps for the enclosed bivy? I don't see how one would be comfortable in warmer temps unless it was at least half bug mesh for airflow?

shipwreck

Yeah. on a warm night. In a river valley crawling with water moccasins and copper heads, and ticks, and mosquitoes, I decided on arriving at a camping area well after dark to have a flop in the bivy I was carrying in addition to a hammock and tarp rather than an open lean to or ride fifty or so miles out of my way for that no brainer motel. Cause lets never try new stuff on a three day trip, right?

Honestly, a few years ago I put to much detail into a question that basically was about how people who do tour using bivys keep them clean. Never used one before, tried it, and have since experienced that learning curve thing that lets me enjoy using it.