[Closed] Bivi, do you?

I'm into it, although need to rethink my kit as its heavier than the moon at the moment.

Like you Rocketdog - bivvi curious. I have got a plastic spork though...

I have got a plastic spork though

is there a bivi equivalent of Glamping? i like my comforts

Did loads of it as part of my old job.

And yeah, love it.

Just been buying new kit to start again..

Can't wait.

I was thinking when I read the article that it's probably not something you can do if you're stuck in the SE - IMO it'd be like camping in the back garden when you were a kid. Surely down here you can't get far enough away from civilisation to make it worthwhile - you need access to "proper countryside" to do that. Or are there really legions of people out bivvying in the Chilterns & Surrey Hills?

I like the idea of doing a bivi....I'm very curious.....and I hope I get around to actually doing a bivi trip 😉

I dont usually read the stw mag, but I will be getting this months... 😉

yes, but only a couple of times. Being a bit scaredy cat is the main stopper for me 🙂

Used to bivi loads before the wife and kids. Still got all the kit mind. Might try to get away one night this summer.

EDIT:

Urban bivi-ing in France a few years back;

[img] [/img]

always used to bivi when fishing.. or travelling.. sometimes for weeks or months at a time.. but it was a different set of kit designed to be moved by car and wheelbarrow..

I'm bivi curious but don't have the lightweight kit..

thepurist - Member
I was thinking when I read the article that it's probably not something you can do if you're stuck in the SE - IMO it'd be like camping in the back garden when you were a kid. Surely down here you can't get far enough away from civilisation to make it worthwhile - you need access to "proper countryside" to do that. Or are there really legions of people out bivvying in the Chilterns & Surrey Hills?

Plenty of good places in the SE, south downs is my favourite, the ridgeway looks like it has some good possibility but only ever ridden that on a short rides never bivied there. Even the north downs can be good with care. It's about choosing your spot carefully so it feels remote, remember even if you camped in a really busy spot at 9 pm at night and 6:30 on the morning it will not be busy! Unless you go into deepest Wales or Scotland you will never be that remote anyway. Just look at a map find a good place to camp and set a route around it.

Bivvi'd a lot on my recent trip to Europe.

Am wanting to do more.

Perhaps we should organize a bivi for virgins trip 😈

Reckon there's more of it goes on than you think 😉

http://www.bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/

In it's purist form it can be a touch marmite but add a few refinements and it's great. A trip doesn't need to be days on end either. Out after work into the hills and back for breakfast is just as valid IMO.

Also Bivi curious, have been buying some bits and pieces, just need to get out of the door and do it now

Houns - Member
Also Bivi curious, have been buying some bits and pieces, just need to get out of the door and do it now

Right.

Let's get something squared away then... Either in Cannock or Delamere..

Or better still, the Lakes/Peak.

Gimmie some dates youre free..

And don't be getting teh Fakes™ 🙂

I am slowly building up some half decent kit, then perhaps I will get around to giving it a go.

Any good bivi spots around Worcestershire ? 😉

Tent for me. I have bivvyed and its a been a cold wet and miserable experience. You don't save significant weight over taking a tent.

Perhaps its because I go into remote corners of Scotland where there is no pub 20 mins away if it rains.

I have an unused bivvy bag to sell if anyone wants it.

Bivi when I have to, or when I feel like travelling light, tent when I have other people with me.

Actually, I really like biviing. It feels freer than having a tent.

not as much as i'd like. due to time constraints.

I've been buying up the kit this season, intend on getting out and giving it a blast in the next few weeks

Predictable TJ, predictable ;o)

We're heading abroad for our next bivvy adventure, we're going Alpine :o)

You missed out tedious 😉

Bivvied last night 🙂

Just got back home and enjoying my first coffee.

On top of Mount Famine- Peak District.
Went up quite late, watched the sun go down whilst enjoying some port and two different cheeses.

Was a bit windy so I snuggled right up to a dry-stone wall. It was great!

A farmer appeared first thing on his quad bike; looking for sheep (shearing today)- don't know who was most surprised to see somebody else!

I've tarpaulined, which was ok.
As an alternative I think the Travelodge £19 bivi has a lot going for it.

RD asked the question - I gave my answer.

I bet I have bivvyed more nights than most of you. But because my experiences with the downsides have led me away from bivvying I must not comment?

what cheese for bivi-curious?

As much as I love bivvying, I agree with TJ to some degree. My lightweight tent is only a few grams heavier than the bag, can sit up in it, cook in it, get changed in it, etc. If I was out for more than one night I'd take the tent.

For me the bivvy shines as it does feel more 'earthy'. It is quick to set up and leave, it ain't going to blow down, and it doesn't need a tent size area to squeeze into!

Stanley: Morning, are you shearing?
Farmer: No, get your own.

I bet I have bivvyed more nights than most of you. But because my experiences with the downsides have led me away from bivvying I must not comment?

Oh do stop waving it about will you 😛

I'm bivy curious, I've brought a very small tent which needs the door left open so the condensation doesn't rain down on me, does that count ?

Yea tent can count, as long as it's either, small and cramped, very expensive or crap 😉

I've got both tent (gelert Solo) and Bivi (old MOD one), still not really used them I keep buying stuff but never manage to get out.....! its going to happen for sure in a couple of weeks as the SDW keeps calling for me...

I've not bivvied, but I'd like to give it a go one day.

I'm starting to wonder if a 'virgin' bivvy trip could be in order like UrbanHiker says 😉

Are all the 'virgins' based in the same sort of area?

I'm bivy-curious, also. I need to Just Do It.

so does anyone want a cheap unused bivvybag then?

TandemJeremy - Member

so does anyone want a cheap unused bivvybag then?

Yes, I'll start the bidding at a pound.

email me.

Stu, I'm based in Southampton but can travel If a 'Virgin' trip is on. After not making it to WRT maybe wales could be the place of choice for a mass bivi fest?

Tandem J, What Bag is on offer?

Done a few nights out in a bag, inc the last two Welsh Ride Things (pissing wet this year).

Planning on taking my 10 year old daughter for her first overnight mission this weekend, round Lake Brenig and into the Clocaenog forest.

It's great (if it's dry)

Tuesday night is bivi night

BBQ, wine, cheese down in a remote Dorset sea cove last night.

And stumbled across another bivist with exactly the same plan.

Think of it this way.....

Most people in the UK, for 365 days a year, sleep in a house under roof in total comfort cosseted from the outside world.

To sleep outside, to see the stars, clouds, moon. To experience the sun going down and coming up, to feel the cold, to be acutely aware of the weather is something very good indeed.

To wake up instinctively because you heard an an animal nearby or because the clear sky and stars you fell asleep under is now dropping water onto your face.

I ride my bike on my time it’s my escape from work and the everyday. I can clear my head, relax, see places buy most importantly I enjoy it. To extend this to biving takes the escape, experience and enjoyment a step further.

To sleep out on some remote Welsh hillside is confirmation that I can cope without my laptop and mobile and that I can stick everything I need on my bike and have a comfortable night in places a lot of people wouldn’t / couldn’t cope with. There's a bit of primeval engineering still in us all and it's good to realise and pander to this every once in a while.

In reality I have more things than I need, (although I am a bit of a gear freak / still a man after all) but I am also more stressed. My life is overworked and time poor.

The alarm company on our offices have my mobile so they can ring me 24/7 and I can’t ever switch it off. I have lots and yet I have less.

So as my time is precious and more elusive one of the best ways of liberating myself from this despotism is to go beyond its reach.

This is the attraction of a bivvy bag, to get to the end of a ride, to have nothing to do apart from boil some water, eat some hot food, crawl into a bivvy bag, drink some whisky and sleep.

You can take a tent but it's only half the joy; if comfort was my primary reason I'd stay in a hotel.

So yes I 'bivi' 🙂

:applause:

Very nicely put 😎