I have my eye on getting a hooped bivi bag for stealth camping, i don't have a huge budget around £100, and i'm not overly concerned about weight, currently i'm looking at the Alpkit Elan, seems to tick the boxes for me, but before i pull the trigger i was just wondering if there was something else i should consider. Thanks.
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something else i should consider.
A big tarp, and no bivvy bag? Lighter, more room, can get changed inside it etc?
I bought an alpkit elan in the sale earlier in the year. Used once, it's good. A nice halfway house between a tent and a bivvy. Will be useful on still midgey mornings and dispensing with tarp if the weather looks a bit iffy.
After I bought it I read some reviews. Snugpak have a very similar one that I believe is slightly heavier but slightly tougher and slightly bigger and slightly more expensive. At least that's what I remember from the review anyway
Crikey, that's heavier than my lunar solo tent!.
And more than half the price
https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/838815193422654/
£30?
And more than half the price
Less than half the price. 😉
I've got the Snugpak version. Must be 10 years old and still waterproof. Nothing better for stealth camping and can be set up in the dark, in close cover and also usefully when blind drunk!
Combined with a 50 quid decathlon ultralight air mat and a cheap no name pertex / primaloft summer bag (i dont do cheap down) it makes a very versatile system for anything from bikepacking to sleeping in mates gardens to the odd trespass in a private wood!
I've got the Elan. Used it 3 or 4 times in the last few weeks and got pissed on (not literally) on 2 of those occasions. Was bone dry inside.
Easy to put up, lots of room inside (I'm 5'9" and a side sleeper), the poles are short enough that they'll pack into my frame bag, meaning the bivi itself can pack smaller, or I can roll my matt into it and it'll still fit in it's bag.
The side zip is good and makes getting in and out easy. I tend to leave the face open unless it's properly raining and then still leave a gap for ventilation. Not had any condensation issues yet.
The only thing i'd wish it did was to be able to open up the front completely so that you could lie on your front and look out.
Couple of friends have the OR Helium, which is half the weight, has the front opening, but is twice the price.
Do you pack a tarp as well as the hooped bivi? Could you pack a really small tarp just to sit under?
Anyone got this OEX one?
https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/15987150/oex-salamanda-bivi-bag-15987150/
There's no weight published but it looks decent if maybe a bit heavy.
Thanks for the replies, think i'm going to go with my original choice of the Alpkit Elan, definitely want a hooped bivi rather than tent, even if there are some half decent 1 man tents for a reasonable amount of money. Really seems to be a choice between the Alpkit or Snugpak with my budget.
Check over on Bearbones - pretty sure there's a user or two of the Elan there.
My friend bought an OR hooped bivi a few years ago. Lovely bit of kit and pretty expensive.
I tried it out in his hall way and after 5 minutes I felt uncomfortable, slightly claustrophobic and had to get out. It was OK on its own but when I added a sleeping mat and sleeping bag there was hardly any space left.
We did one trip away in it and then he sold it on here.
The great thing about a tent is you can get dressed in one when it's raining!
I don't really get the idea of a hopped bivi bag. Not as light as bivi and tarp or as good as a tent. Some middle ground that doesn't work for me.
By the time you've added a tarp you might as well get this, just 300g heavier for £30 more. Far more practical.
https://alpkit.com/products/soloist
Loads of places that you won't want to pitch a tent but would be good with a bivi. Quicker to set-up than both a tent and tarp.
Lots of places where a tent would be better too.
in defence of the hooped bivi as one of the OR Helium owners mentioned above...
the OP mentioned 'stealth' which is where a hooped bivi wins over a tarp or a tent in having a more minimal presence than either of them, very useful if you're riding then cheeky camping wherever you can find. it won't need the supports required of a tarp or the larger ground footprint and pegability of a tent, and be far less visible if you've sneaked into a corner of the countryside
coming from a normal bivi bag it's a gamechanger, the extra space for you head and ability to sleep sideways and not get all twisted up in a cocoon certainly helps with a better night's sleep. after several years and too many restless bivi hours the first go in my OR Helium was a delight, warmer too
I used to think like Damascus above, but I've spent much of the last year out in an ex-army Dutch bivi bag that weighs more than either the Alpkit or Snugpak hooped bivis. Currently averaging two bivis a week and, once you stop thinking of bivi bags as a lightweight alternative to a tent, but rather as being something different, allowing you to utilise often poor ground in a more discrete way than a tent, then hooped bivis start making sense.
This has particularly been true over the last 12 months when I have not wanted to be tarnished by association with the Covid fly camping fraternity.
I hadn't intended buying one just yet but I'm getting twitchy about general shortages of outdoors kit I'll need to be replacing in the next six months, so I've ordered a Snugpak Stratosphere. Not entirely convinced by the lack of breathable fabric, and anticipate still using my old siltarp to provide space/shelter for cooking and gear storage. We'll see. The last two weeks:
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the OP mentioned ‘stealth’ which is where a hooped bivi wins over a tarp or a tent in having a more minimal presence than either of them
Yes, good point, I guess it depends where abouts you are. Where I live or camp I've not really found it an issue. Arrive late, set off early but maybe more an issue elsewhere.
I have an amazing hooped bivy from Terra Nova. It’s the Jupiter Lite, out of your budget probably and like Hens teeth. But it is fantastic in really bad weather and I find it really roomy.
Thing is, shelters like the Jupiter Lite and OR Helium are a different fish to the Elan and Stratosphere - more difficult to get in and out of, for one thing, due to the lack of side zip. I really wouldn't want to be in one of them in bad weather without an additional small tarp.
Well I’ve been up in Dartmoor in storm conditions in mine. Was fine. The tarp would have lasted 5 minutes.
I could just about be tempted by one of these
Big Agnes also make a hooped bivi that looks good though pricy but like that OR one they then decide that as it's so stealthy you might lose it so they only make it in really bright colours so it can be seen from space