bivi bags

forgive my ignorance but is a bivi bag a waterproof sleeping bag & you dont
have to use another sleeping bag inside it?
im thinking summer night's sleeping in the hills could be a wonderful
experience,going up in the evening,waking up there & walking a full day
afterwards,has anyone spent a night in the hills like this & what was the
experience like?
there's a lightweight bivi bag for £60 in the new cotswolds catalogue,will
that be good enough?

aj said:

forgive my ignorance but is a bivi bag a waterproof sleeping bag & you dont
have to use another sleeping bag inside it?
im thinking summer night's sleeping in the hills could be a wonderful
experience,going up in the evening,waking up there & walking a full day
afterwards,has anyone spent a night in the hills like this & what was the
experience like?
there's a lightweight bivi bag for £60 in the new cotswolds catalogue,will
that be good enough?

A replacement for a tent, not a sleeping bag

aj said:

forgive my ignorance but is a bivi bag a waterproof sleeping bag & you dont
have to use another sleeping bag inside it?

No: you need a bag too.

Quoted message said:

im thinking summer night's sleeping in the hills could be a wonderful
experience,going up in the evening,waking up there & walking a full day
afterwards,has anyone spent a night in the hills like this & what was the
experience like?

Lots of people here have done it, and it can be truly wonderful 🙂 It
can also be cold and wet, of course, and that means it can be
dangerous. You'll need the right kit, but a little bit of research
will make it clear to you what you need. I hope you'll have a go: I'm
sure you won't regret it!

Here's a link to a page about wild camping, with some great trip
reports just to give you an idea of it. Settle down with the beverage
of your choice and enjoy!

http://www.bassplace.freeserve.co.uk/wildcamp/

Also, here's a link to a thread from this NG earlier in the year when
people discussed what they take with them on backpacking trips.
Everybody's needs and wants are different, but it'll give you an idea
of what you're likely to need, and what it might weigh etc. Search
Google Groups for more info.

http://tinyurl.com/57leb

Have fun!

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \

aj said:

forgive my ignorance but is a bivi bag a waterproof sleeping bag & you dont
have to use another sleeping bag inside it?
im thinking summer night's sleeping in the hills could be a wonderful
experience,going up in the evening,waking up there & walking a full day
afterwards,has anyone spent a night in the hills like this & what was the
experience like?
there's a lightweight bivi bag for £60 in the new cotswolds catalogue,will
that be good enough?

as others have said you need a sleep bag inside it.
Its a replacement for a tent not a sleep bag.

If its rains it can be awkward to just get the sleep bag and yourself
in and out, and getting dressed is no fun in bad weather.
midges are a problem too. the movement of air from a stove can help
keep midges away in a tent porch, but when the stove is in the open
they just come at you. If you get a bivy I would recommened getting
one with a mossie net if you are likley to be using it in areas where
mossies will be; that includes areas like Snowdonia and Lakes, not
just Scotland.
I use my bivy bag, but nowhere nearly as much as I thought I would
when I bought it.
Its great advantage is being able to camp just about anywhere, no need
for grass for pags, no need for a nice flatish square. Its suprising
the odd bits of ground you can get yourself to sleep on when in a bivi
bag.
its swings and roundabouts with a bivy bag, there is an oppurtunity
cost involved in using one. Id get a tent before I got a bivy bag,
depends on what you plan to do and what you like and what you hate.
I have had a lot of use out of bivy bags urban camping when travelling
too.

I have found my bivi bag to be much warmer than a tent. Great on cold night
They are also useful as survival bags being actually lighter than those
awful plastic bags.
They take some getting used to though , so borrow if possible and try out.
I endorse all the other comments especially the need for a net.
My Terra Nova can be pegged open like a tent porch but with net.
This is essential in summer when they can be very warm.

PS
Try to avoid what I did. I happily snuggled down under a nice starry sky
but woke the following morning to discover my pitch had been directly over a
huge dog turd.

* The air of uk.rec.walking was filled with the delicate perfume
* of violets, as Zinc Potterman <[email hidden]> descended on a
* shaft of golden sunlight, and announced:

Quoted message said:

They take some getting used to though , so borrow if possible and try out.

They do indeed! I've got a M.E. Diagonal Zip Gortex bivi bag and whilst I don't
recon I'm claustrophobic, it can get pretty stuffy inside and I often find
myself struggling to find the zip so I can get some fresh air. I wish I
hadn't got my particular model, I'm 6ft 4ins and the top of the zip only
comes up as high as my shoulders. Consequently I can't get my head out
easily, and when I do it's uncomfortable beause the angle of the zip is too
near the long axis of the bag. It'd probably be O.K. for shorter people. I'd
also advise getting one with some kind of hoop at the head end - it's very
uncomfortable lying on your back with the bag fabric over your face!

Regards: Jim Ford

Zinc Potterman said:

I have found my bivi bag to be much warmer than a tent. Great on cold night
They are also useful as survival bags being actually lighter than those
awful plastic bags.
They take some getting used to though , so borrow if possible and try out.
I endorse all the other comments especially the need for a net.
My Terra Nova can be pegged open like a tent porch but with net.
This is essential in summer when they can be very warm.

Yes, they can take some getting used to. Picture the scene, Outer
Hebrides, April time, just come out the pub and there was frost on the
ground. I got back to 'camp site' (aka field near a beach), stripped
down to undies and slipped into the sleeping bag in the bivi, and zipped
up both fully. Within a few minutes I was a snug as bug, and sound
asleep (aka drunken stupour). As you do after a night on the ale I woke
up in the middle of the night needing a pee. The first shock is that
you are completely enclosed, you wave your arms about like a madman
trying to work out how to get out. You then remember that you zipped
yourself in, and start looking for the zip in the last place you left it
- by this time the bladder is screaming, and you begin to realise that
waterproof also means waterproof from the inside as well, and you start
getting even more desperate! The sleeping bag zip is still in the same
place and you manage to get some freedom - your bladder is now quite
painful as you start to picture Niagara Falls in your mind, and quite
possibly in your sleeping bag as well. You start rummaging for the
penknife that is in the bag somewhere, you'll cut your way out of the
bag if necessary, and there it is - the zip! Somehow it had managed to
roll underneath and had ended up between where your shoulder blades were
lying.
The zip opens and in one fluid motion you are standing in a field, stark
b*ll*ck naked as the boxers had managed to slip off at some point in the
struggle, ankle deep in frost, admiring the fantastically clear
star-light night, while doing your very best impression of Niagara Falls
outside your bivi bag rather than in it, sighing with blessed relief!! :-D

So there you have it, don't drink & bivi ;-)

--
Dave McLaughlin

[censored] Sapiens Non Urinat In Ventum

I've just bought an ex-army Gore-tex bivi (hardly used) for £60 to replace a
stolen one.

The plus side to bivis are it's light, you don't need a sleeping bag in
summer (although it can get coldish), you can camp anywhere - even on a
mountain ledge, you can "feel" closer to nature, it's very immediate to
camp and leave (no unpacking and packing up!).

In the past I've bivi'd on mountains, alongside cars (but strangely never
inside a car), next to stone walls and on sloping ground and in woods.

The choice is yours - try it in summer first though!

Jhimmy

Quoted message said:

has anyone spent a night in the hills like this & what was the
experience like?

To find out for yourself without spending £60, just use a £2 survival bag on
a night with a good weather forecast.

Cheers

Blippie
--
Ten minutes of this rain will do more good in half an hour than a fortnight
of ordinary rain in a month.

In article <[email hidden]>, Blippie
<alt.aviation.roswell.wannabe.wannabe.wannabe@?.?.invalid> writes

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

has anyone spent a night in the hills like this & what was the
experience like?

To find out for yourself without spending £60, just use a £2 survival bag on
a night with a good weather forecast.

That will give almost no indication of what a proper bivvy bag is like
to use. When you spend hours inside a survival bag the condensation
build up is most impressive. A proper bivvy bag is breathable and that
makes a huge difference. The only advantage the OP may get from a £2
test is that they will be convinced that they don't want a bivvy bag and
hence save themselves some money ;-)

--

Dominic Sexton
http://www.dscs.demon.co.uk/

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

has anyone spent a night in the hills like this & what was the
experience like?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

To find out for yourself without spending £60, just use a £2 survival bag
on
a night with a good weather forecast.

Quoted message said:

That will give almost no indication of what a proper bivvy bag is like to
use. When you spend hours inside a survival bag the condensation build up
is most impressive. A proper bivvy bag is breathable and that makes a huge
difference. The only advantage the OP may get from a £2 test is that they
will be convinced that they don't want a bivvy bag and hence save
themselves some money ;-)

I was thinking the experience would be:
"Wasn't it nice watching the sunset and rise. I felt lovely and close to
nature, yet somewaht safe. I just didn't like the condensation and the
rustling ..."

Cheers

Blippie
--
Ten minutes of this rain will do more good in half an hour than a fortnight
of ordinary rain in a month.