I'm having another crack at the WHW next week and I'd like to have some lightweight shelter if I need it. I have one of those cheap Argos tents which is great but more weight than I'd prefer to carry. The Alpkit Hunka is sold out which is a shame as it's £30 price tag is pretty much my budget. Anything else out there like it? Any ghetto solutions?
Mountain Warehouse are selling some lightweight bivis at the moment. IN fact, I need to run into the local branch to see if they have one.
Unless you make your own from an offcut of breathable roofing membrane, you'll just have to use whatever you can get your hands on for £30...especially if you've only a week to get one!
Put a wanted ad on here and Bear Bones Bikepacking. Someone might even lend you a one seeing as what you're aiming to do. Good luck.
When I did the WHW in a day, I carried a Blizzard bag but didn't need to use it. Far lighter than the lightest bivi solution if you're carrying it just in case as opposed to for a definite use.
That said, there's a Terra Nova survival bivi that looks interesting. 340g and about £40. I've got the old Moonlite one (before it got a zip hood) and have used it many times in all conditions with no issues.
Not perhaps as lightweight as some of the others but what about an MOD or NATO one? They're full gore-tex and not much more than your budget. I've got a US version - not tried it yet....but I would imagine the gore-tex breath-ability is a worthy trade off for the extra weight.
Oli.
[url= http://www.karrimor.com/karrimor-x-lite-bivi-bag-781084 ]Karrimor x lite bivi[/url]
Excellent responses, cheers stwers. Alasdair have you seen the terra nova at £40 recently? I only found it at £60 when I had quick look before heading to work this morning.
Got my MW one this afternoon. £16.99....
I have one of the Rab eVent bivis, it's really good but it still weighs 600g. If you need to you can find some vague shelter to get a few hours sleep. There's a bothy (probably full of neds) near the top of loch lomond, a shelter thingy at Rowerdeannan, A bus stop in Drymen, a bus stop in Tyndrum. loads of benches if it's not pissing down. Just wing it. your @rse will thank for every bit of kit left behind.
Take the outer only / no poles of your current tent, a handful of pegs and guy lines to improvise your own bivvy at no cost?
Kunstler,
[url= http://www.sportsdirect.com/terra-nova-nova-survival-bivi-41-781202 ]£37 for the Terra Nova survival Bivi[/url]
I recently picked up a Terra Nova Discovery Bivi for £60 (from £200) from Go Outdoors.
What do you think of the MW bivi Colin?
The Karrimor x-lite bivvy bag which you can sometimes find in Sports Direct is a decent buy for I think around £20-25. In fact, it seems to be based on the Alpkit Hunka bivvy bag as I've seen that and there was no obvious difference, either in fit or the materials they're made with. The Karrimor has so far been surprisingly breathable and very packable at about 300g. I can't say the same for the Mountain Warehouse bivvy. I bought one on sale as it seemed more spacious and had a slightly tougher shell but it wasn't breathable at all and was dripping with condensation by the morning. Admittedly the conditions weren't great but I would say its claim to being breathable is a con. I took it back and they gave me a refund.
Thread revival (was there a spambot), so no use to the OP, but just wondering why a bivvy bag rather than a bothy bag if it's for emergency use? A bothy is likely to be more useful in an emergency. A quick search found these which seem to be bargains (the cheapest one claims to be lighter than the £90 Terra Nova Superlite one - in fact despite already owning a bothy I'm very tempted for the weight saving). http://jdscomponents.co.uk/
They won't be breathable. A bivi is preferable if you're going to have to sleep just through tiredness, whereas a bothy really is an emergency shelter for seeing out poor weather. Chances are, if you're riding a long route like the WHW you're more likely to have to pause for a snooze than use your shelter for emergency purposes.
