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If you attach a length of shock cord then it can loop over the head of the mat and stay in place all night.
Tends not to be quite as successful on "mummy" shaped mats, hence me stashing the pillow in the hood of my sleeping bag. I appreciate this doesn't work for those that like to have the hood around their head though.
I sewed a fleece pocket in the hood of my bag, but not right at the top, so I can slip the pillow in, but can still cinch the hood up if I feel the need.
I sleep absolutely fine camping. If you don't you need the kit that suits.
I don't sleep so well in a bivvy mind you. I get too tangled up in it as i fight demons all night.
Nothing beats camping for me.300+ nights in the last 3 years. Peace and beauty and simplicity
With you 100% there tj.
If it's just me (rather than having to try and press unwilling family members into it) i would much rather go camping with minimal gear than sleep in a hotel or hostel at pretty much any time of the year.
Just so long as the weather isn't too wild!
Quickly reading through that it I can only find Andalucia in mainland Spain that bans a bivi as in lying down and going to sleep with no more than a sleeping bag
I think Andalusia is also weird as it’s prohibited but they’ve not going to fine you but just move you on.
Whereas some have scary fines.
TBH they should give you a prize if you can actually put a tent up down here, I doubt you could hammer a peg in and if you could it’s probably somewhere you don’t want to be a Rambla or swamp or someone’s plowed field 🙂
Agreed, a piss bottle is crucial to save getting out of the tent in the night! Looks like you need to hydrate more though
TBH I thought it was a nice double malt 😉 , gotta be worth the weight of carrying it.
- First rule of outdoors life is the whole worlds a wiz spot.
- Second rule ,as soon as you’ve got him out the whole worlds going to be walking by.
I tend to sleep really well outside or in a tent. I think positive associations help. On one trip i didn’t sleek inside for 6 months
I’m in the process of returning to bike packing after kids. So sorting out kit basically from scratch. I’m working on kits that’s light but good enough. Here are a few thoughts
The pipe dream 200 is not much down in a sewn through construction. No way I’d be warm enough. 2 seasons is generous as a description. My bag is 250g of down but with baffles. That’s fine for summer and shoulder season’s
A mummy may doesn’t work for me. I’ve ended up with an exped full length, full width, in 6 foot 4. That’s comfy for me as a side sleeper
I put a fleece round the end of the mat with an cushion in the fleece. Then anything i can find been the air cushion and mat
The worst thing about a bivvy bag, is needing a pee in the night, or finding a slug on the face! 😫
Sleep wise, I'm not sure I've actually had a good night's sleep in a bivvy, nor a tent come to think about it. I don't know how the long distance road cyclists manage to get any sleep at all with their tales of sleeping in ditches and bus stops, maybe I'm just a big softy 😂
These are the three camping spots I've stayed at this summer, I've not used the bivvy bag at all this year. I do like my bivvy bag for stealth, but a tent is always more favourable to me.
I was perusing the tube last night, and found a reasonable number of "bivi" content makers who happily admitted they didnt get any sleep, (but still enjoyed it), but as far as i could tell they were all geting tangled up, and not getting along with the "Mummy" format of the bivi bag and sleeping bag, due to being side sleepers.
Quilts seem to solve this to some extent.
but a bivi bag remains a mummification.
How come you cant get big square bivi bags, for side sleepers.
You can buy (what purports to be) goretex off the roll on ebay, i wonder if making a dead simple rectangular envelope (single duvet cover size), combined with a quilt, would be a more comfortable option when combined with a quilt. Sure a bit of a weight penalty, but potentially worth it.
You could put loops on the corners and peg it down, to stop it from getting twisted up, form a simple box hood arrangement if needs be.
anyone made there own bivi gear?
Might as well have a lightweight tent at that point.
Ideas/advice?
Lightweight tent, decent mat/bag. Bivis are great for cold, dry, high mountain scenarios, less lovely in damp, UK conditions ime. Messing about trying to keep your kit dry, being snacked on by midges etc all suck. Fine for emergencies, racing etc, but I'll happily trade a few hundred extra grammes for better sleep.
I appreciate the attractions of the 'out there' adventure feel of a bivi bag, but while I have a couple of bivis, I rarely use them. Hooped ones are marginally better, but I still prefer an ultra-lightweight tent YMMV
My biggest issue with bivvying is making up to find i have slept through everything including the bloody sunrise i meant to take photos of.
How come you cant get big square bivi bags, for side sleepers.
Take a look at the robens mountain bivvy. It's roomy and easy to get in/out. My one is way lighter than list also.
im bivi bag curious, but can't you replicate the 'sleeping in the stars' experience just be opening the doors wide open on your tent? provided it has big enough doors
Yes, but you only get a small part of the sky, fingerbang. All the tents I've used have the sleeping area pretty well covered even with the door open. I don't see the problem with side sleeping so long as you don't have the mat in the bag. I rarely find sleeping a problem, I've usually made a significant effort before the bivi and crash out dead to the world.
in a tent with the door open, youre much more open to drafts and damp. A bivi bag is close to the sleeping bag, so keeps the breeze and drizzle off better. You also get a 360 degree sky, rather than just a little window.
you also dont need to put up a tent, which i realise takes a few minutes witha good tent, but theres something about just rolling out a bag and lying down. I dont really class a tent as "sleeping outside".
This is all based around bivvying for pleasure, so only really when you know the weather is going to be nice.
as soon there is a reasonable risk of rain, i would choose a tent.
with a bivi bag, if you get caught out in the rain, or a heavy dew, youre not totally scuppered, but it wouldnt be much fun.
Don't get hung up on the bivi bag thing. They're just an option. If you don't like them, don't sleep in them.
These days there's very little difference in weight, the only thing is that a bivi/tarp combo does work out a bit cheaper, but you can still get UL stuff for cheap. Like my Alpkit Tarpstar, 1kg for £180. Probably marginally larger than a tarp/bivi combo.
I don't see the problem with side sleeping so long as you don't have the mat in the bag.
And I'd suggest the opposite. I put my mat inside my bivvy bag. That gives it a "solid" base. I can then twist and turn in my sleeping bag and the base stays put. I guess it might be more of an issue for larger folk/smaller bivvy bags?
I'm a luddite and have been using a side-opening US Army goretex bag for quite a while. Is/are there any good wide, side-opening civilian alternatives?
Snugpak Stratosphere works for me. Condensation varies from nowt to apocalyptic depending on atmospherics. I wouldn't use it with a down bag. Side sleeping is no problem.
