Tiger, give up the day job and write for the mag
If any bivvy virgins are looking for a trip you're more than welcome.
http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=34
And yes Matt, nice without being flowery 😀
See ... there's lots to go at 😉
I don't even know what bivi'ing is, looks like just a new word for touring? If so I don't really have much of an interest in it. Wouldn't mind doing lejog at some point but apart from that..
I prefer me tent. Weighs a kilo, packs small. Very useful when weather changes and monsoon conditions occur.
The bit I have found jolly exciting recently is "wild camping".
where and when to pitch, weird noises in the night!
have bivvy'd for years in propper mountaineering situations. I find the whole bike out and bivvy for a night and feel all "bear ghrylls" then ride back home a bit curious really, it's akin to making a den in the bottom of your garden.
As long as you have fun though, that's the main thing
Tazzy it's just like building a den at the bottom of the garden ... that's what's so good 😀
😆
oh I will be popping some rather special bivvi kit in the classifieds as I'm having a bit of a clear out so if folks want prototype mountain equipment down bags with integral air sleep mats that pack down tiny and weigh naff all keep you eyes out.
One of my spare Bivvi bags will up as well
Managed to do my second bivvy trip with the missus and some friends on the South Downs last weekend...yes, we southerners do Bivvying too 🙂 Tarp, Bivvy bag (Alpkit Hunka), sleeping mat (slim airic) stove and spork all work well, Just need to sort out a lighter more packable sleeping bag for Autumn/Spring.
Nothing really beats getting up in the morning, having a coffee and bacon butty and riding or hiking off some hills to home just as everyone else is riding on to them.
Lots of trips out. Really good way of extending a ride.
Kit lists, bike setups, reviews, make your own gear etc.
Love the 'making a den' analogy, it's so true.
Started last year and totally love it. Although Tiger's description may be little more eloquent.
It's nice to wake up to this some morning's
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yes i bivi used to bivi all the time as a kid and about to set out in two weeks time for my first bike bivi
I spend so many nights bivvying, and so much time cycling in general, that I don't post half as often as most of the respondees on this thread 🙂
Not been bivvying but am planning an overnighter this weekend with my 1 man tent. Typical, the weather looks like its deteriorating though. Dry bags bought today and gear strapped to the bike, well looking forward to some me time 😉
I use a tent, can't imaging that bivying in Scotland is much fun, with a choice of either getting eaten alive by midges, or wrapped up in some claustrophobic cocoon of netting and bivibag. In torrential rain.
My tent is lightweight (1.3kg), has room to sit up in, doesn't seem to get any condensation, is very quick to put up (4 mins), and is versatile, spacious, comfortable, tough... http://www.tarptent.com/scarp1.html
Can see the attraction of bivis, but for me it is all about getting out there, not particularly what gear you use to sleep in / on / under.
I've bivied in Scotland, which is rubbish unless you like rain and midges and misery and regret. And Spain. Which is awesome.
Hey Hoojum, LoL that was a great overnighter, remember rocking up there at dusk and jus seeing the line o trees into Friston Forest. Didn't spot the Danger Steep Drop sign, 30 feet from camp till morning though! LOL just aswell I pissed in your lid that night, I couldda gone over the edge 😉
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now that's a bivvi
Makes more sense this way up
[url= http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6128/5934768839_3cf2fd23ae_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/25846484@N04/5934768839/ ]Image1[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/25846484@N04/ ]TandemJeremy[/url], on Flickr
😀
Another "tent-not-bivi" person here. My adventures tend to be in the Scottish Highlands where staying warm and dry can be a matter of life and death.
I tent and bivi, love both. One of my best bivis was in snarling weather in the hebrides, tent flattened and no way out. Bivi under a tarp kept the 2 of us, plus dog cozy for days.
We would have been in trouble without that tarp
After a few years of bad-boys' 'summer holidays' (boot camps for borderline juvenile delinquents / future borstal fodder), I was able to treat my friends and myself to loads of three day bivvy experiences, usually involving some stolen plastic sheeting, some chopped down heather / bracken for a matress and a few bungees for support (physical, not emotional).
Yes, a tent gets you out there and close to nature, the elements, but nothing beats the buzz of building your own home (or den) and then listening to the rain failing to get in.
A Gelert Solo costs £35 though, weighs less than a length of heavy-duty plastic sheeting these days, and will probably last longer too. Still though, if you haven't done the bivvy thing already, I can highly recommend it!
I have a few tents a couple of bivis, but for maximum comfort a hammock if definitely the best. Although you are limited to where you can pitch up.
www.bikeandbivi.co.uk
Really liking these bivi threads. Good to see a new set of sites emerging as a result. I have been on the bear packing and bike and bivi. The latter seems to be really taking off.
Scottish bivvier here, I use bivvy and a tarp but for longer trips would take the tent.
Cupra - what tent do you use?
Conditions dictate a lot, but I would love to see TJ's tent that's doesn't weight much more than my 300g bivi bag. I suspect he means a bivi and tarp weigh nearly the same as a tent.
My tent is just under a kilo and I shudder to think how much it would cost to get ride of 700g from my bike instead of from my sleeping kit.
It's all a matter of style and taste. If you go light and simple (e.g. no gears, bivi, stove) then you can save money while still having a bike that rides like a bike. For me, that's great: I can go out and ride, then sleep where I drop.
Field and Trek seem to be having a small tarp clear out
http://www.fieldandtrek.com/terra-nova-competition-tarp-1-783187
I have just taken one of these tarps and made it into two micro tarps, details here -
http://www.bikeandbivi.co.uk/php/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=205
Alpkit XTra dry bags are in stock today
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.
So if you've bivvied so much Jeremy, why is the bag unused?. And if you had a bivi bag previously, why buy another if it was so sh1t?.
I'm not looking for an arguement, like most people are with you, just curious.
http://www.sportsdirect.com/terra-nova-competition-tarp-1-783187
same tarp, same price as the one unsponsored found.
In answer to nobeerinthefridge
I bivvyed a lot years ago. I got rid of the kit after a particularly unpleasant 3 weeks of constant wet.
I bought two bags to take to italy this year for a walking trip for the two of us but we didn't end up using them at all. I thought we might want to sleep out but I didn't want to carry full camping kit. I shall keep one for myself for the occasional trip and to carry for emergencies. The other I want to sell - cheap as a very cheap thing.
Bivvyings fine if you are near civilisation and / or the weather is good. get away from civilisation and get bad weather its miserable at best.
I reckon 2 dry nights is as much as I'd want, 1 wet one and I'm heading home
Duuur! Haven't you read the book of the bivy?
No wonder it was unpleasant.
I do a lot of multiday trekking by bike and foot where going home if it rains is not an option.
for the time being those days are gone for me, however in about two years time they'll start again 🙂
So any of you avid bivviers bivi with your hounds, if so do you use these [url= http://www.muddypaws.co.uk/muddy-paws-coats-harnesses-dog-backpacks/ruffwear-palisades-pack/prod_293.html ]Linky[/url]
been thinking about one for my hound for a while, he's a big mutt so was thinking he could carry his own food and water and maybe some extra goodies for me, couple of cans of cider and a extra hip flask 8)
My mate used to have his dog carrying panniers when he went camping
Saw a dog with a set of panniers a couple of days ago in Northumberland. It was also sporting a nice set of dog trainers!
Bivi? I don't do discomfort!
I used to bivi quite a lot about 15 years ago mostly in the Brecons (still have the same bivi bag ) then bought a cocoon hammock about 12 years ago and used that instead for a few good years much more comfy.
Just started getting back into it after a long lay off......can't wait to do ..still get exited every time.... 😆