Cheap bivi bag

Keen to camp out one night next week whilst away at work, and having little money, I gave in and bought a Mountain Warehouse one for £20.

I plan to pitch the outer of my venerable North Face Westwind instead of a tarp, and use this bivi to protect me from the ground if nothing else.

Some people are saying it’s not really breathable enough to work as a bivi bag – I’ll let you know 🙂

If you have the shelter – don’t use bivy – it’s a waste of time ..

I need something to keep my sleeping bag off the grass, or it’ll get damp and dirty. I don’t have the tent footprint, although I kind of wish I did.

use this bivi to protect me from the ground if nothing else

You could use the inner of your tent for that.

Except it’s really quite heavy.

But I plan to use the tent guys to turn it into an open ended shelter so I can see the view and whatnot. I think it’ll work although not tried it.

There’s a better option

Sleep on your mat, if you want to put something under your mat there are some cheaper options
– black bag cut open
– double glazing film from wickes or similar (it’s the same a polychro – cheap, robust and waterproof)
– cheap tarp (e.g. blue tarp)

These will all be more breathable than a cheap bivy bag

Mat not long enough
Cheap tarp is rustly
Didn’t check out alternative plastic options

I’d have bought pu nylon from eBay and made myself a footprint, but that’s a lot of hassle and I have a lot to get done before we go on holiday (not with the bivi bag mind, a family holiday 🙂 )

If you’re using the outer as an awning so as to feel like you’re more out in the open I’d go with benp1’s cheap tarp suggestion with your mat on top. Way better than being damp inside a cheap bivvi bag.

edit: Oh OK you’ve already ruled that out. Clammy bivvi bag it is then.

Well we’ll see. I may end up sleeping on the bag instead of in it – but it’s a gamble. I have already bought it remember, so will see how it turns out.

Whatever happens you won’t die so have fun!

have you weighed your tent inner in isolation, and the bivi?

Why buy first and then ask? Weirdo. (-:

I didn’t ask. I told you about it, and said I’d report 🙂

have you weighed your tent inner in isolation, and the bivi?

A long time ago – it’s pretty light. Let me go weigh the bivi now.

Edit 295g

I know you don’t want to know, but the mountain warehouse bags really aren’t breathable.
On the plus side, their returns policy is excellent, I had no receipt but told them it wasn’t as described, got my refund (on gift card – but who doesn’t need 20 quids worth of mint cake?)

It says on the label 3000 breathables. Which is pretty low – cheap fabrics are normally 10,000 at least. But how do you prove it wasn’t breathing at a rate of 3,000?

I’ve got the Mountain Warehouse Bag. Haven’t used it yet (use an Army Surplus Cortex Bag) but it doesn’t seem brilliantly breathable

It’s main use will be for my 4yo daughter to kip on the beach, I’m hoping she leaks less water vapour than me.

I’m really starting to question bivvy bags. If rain is possible a tent is a better option If its just dew my sleeping bag handles it fine. Last time I slept out I took no bivvy nag but a Dutch Army Poncho/Tarp which I used in its stuff sack as a pillow. If it had rained I’d have just unpacked the tarp and draped it over myself.

It didn’t rain.

It’s main use will be for my 4yo daughter to kip on the beach, I’m hoping she leaks less water vapour than me.

😆

I remember a friend had one of those mountain warehouse bags a couple years ago on the Welsh ride. Oh how we laughed when he had to pour the water out in the morning. 😆 I kid you not. Must of been a pint of sweat in there .

I would take it back before you use it and buy an x army one, bit heavy but it will breath.

I think you’d get pretty damp with a non breathable tarp draped over you.

Problem I have with tents (and I don’t mind using them generally):

1) You need to spend a fair bit of cash to get a light one, but they are there

2) I find I need a decent stretch of flat smooth ground to pitch one. I absolutely hate being in a tent with a sloping floor, but for some reason lying on the grass with a slope doens’t bother me that much.

Must of been a pint of sweat in there .

Hmm.. that’s decent evidence against the thing. How much of your mate was in the bag?

I didn’t ask. I told you about it, and said I’d report

Good point well made. As you were.

If you’re using your tent as a tarp then just use it as a groundsheet

It’s one night. If your sleeping bag ends up wet in the morning it doesn’t matter.
If you were heading off for a week, it’s a concern but you’re not. You’ll be reet. Get it done.

2) I find I need a decent stretch of flat smooth ground to pitch one. I absolutely hate being in a tent with a sloping floor, but for some reason lying on the grass with a slope doens’t bother me that much.

Good point. I hate a slope in a tent, I usually end up sliding, but a slope in the open is a joy.

As you imply, a suitable place to pitch where pegs go in and the footprint can be accommodated aren’t that common in part of the world. The kind of land available for wild camping is rarely flat. (although it often looks it until I try to find a 7×3 ft spot with no hummocks, thorns or brambles.) Sooner or later it becomes apparent why the land I’ve chosen isn’t cultivated.

“I think you’d get pretty damp with a non breathable tarp draped over you.”

I reckon air would circulate quite well, but it doesn’t really matter, I only bivvy one nighters so I’ll have checked the forecast and the worst to be expected would be an unexpected shower, I doubt I’d be hunkered down for hours.

Alfred Wainwright had worse kit and he managed.

Yes but I don’t want to ‘manage’ I want to be as comfortable as I can for as little weight and money as possible.

If your sleeping bag ends up wet in the morning it doesn’t matter.

It does if it’s down and useless in the middle of a freezing night, then it takes days to dry out later.

As you imply, a suitable place to pitch where pegs go in and the footprint can be accommodated aren’t that common in part of the world.

I have yet to establish if my tent outer can be pitched well enough on rough ground. Or even if it can be pitched with the front open.

Thinking now I might not be able to do this next week so I think I will revert to plan A, buy some nylon from ebay and stitch something up. Might go for the bathtub concept

“Yes but I don’t want to ‘manage’ I want to be as comfortable as I can for as little weight and money as possible.”

Yeah, I was referring to myself, other people will have their own priorities.

Mylar/space blankets are good for groundsheets – Poundland are doing 2m x 1m groundsheets – Put your mat on top of one of those – buy a 3m x 3m tarp from building supplies – that’s less than a tenner for whole kit – so long as tarp shelter has sufficient coverage there is no need to worry about sleeping bag getting rained on .. Return the bivy ..

I’ve thought for ages about getting a bivvy, but liking the sound of doing without it given a tarp set up.

Anyone use their bike frame/wheel as a point for the tarp? Seen pics here and there (on Alpkit I think) but interested in the best way to set it up for the night.

Anyone use their bike frame/wheel as a point for the tarp? Seen pics here and there (on Alpkit I think) but interested in the best way to set it up for the night.

Its a nice idea , it works in a pinch i used to do it…..how ever it wil be a cold day in hell before i willingly leave my poles at home now. Noisy flappy (as tensioning it is a night mare round a wheel) too low etc etc .

My top tip for a footprint for a bivy bag or generally is a yoga mat; they are thin closed cell foam and are available from just about every charity shop within a 5 mile radius of me. Heavy compared to a self-inflating sleeping mat, but work like a charm. Stick it under your bivy bag or under the floor of your tent.

Edit: I still have my super top of the range bivy bag for sale in the Classifieds… 😉

If it were any other time – if I weren’t facing a parking ticket, wasn’t about to go on holiday, and hadn’t already overspent on holiday stuff, I’d take your arm off because I’d love a hooped bivy like that.

Meh, it will probably sit here for ages, I can’t usually be bothered with E-Bay, so I’ll remind you again in a while and you can haggle me down to something silly.

We’ve both got the Alpkit XL’s.
No real issues, tbh, been very good.
Pretty breathable.

Tend to take a full length mat, sleeping bag and bivvy.

Not got a tarp, but have a lightweight, eyeleted groundsheet I rarely bother to set up.

If the forecast is really wet, tbh I just stay at home.
🙂

Right – the MW one went back to MW.

Now I’m on eBay buying fabric I can use to sew up a bathtub groundsheet, for week after next instead of next week.

Meh, it will probably sit here for ages, I can’t usually be bothered with E-Bay, so I’ll remind you again in a while and you can haggle me down to something silly.

Someone even worse at negotiating than me 🙂

It’s exactly what I want though (and a fair price generally) so I will save with an eye on it – ta 🙂

Bike as a tarp point works well. I don’t bother taking wheels off, I just wrap it around the seat

Only starting using poles when my bikepacking bags were getting a soaking overnight. With poles I can drag the bike under the tarp to stop the rain soaking into the bags. Poles also offer more flexibility and, for a big bloke like me, make it easier to get in and out of the tarp

Also, those hooped bivis work great in certain conditions, when it’s raining hard it’s tough to get in/out without soaking everything and it’s a fairly claustrophobic place to be

when it’s raining hard it’s tough to get in/out without soaking everything and it’s a fairly claustrophobic place to be

Better than being in a non-hooped bivi when it’s raining hard though eh?

True, but most folks would, in that situation, take a tarp with them

Hooped bivis are typically used as tiny 1 man tents/coffins, so they’re heavier than normal bivis. Combining with a tarp makes for a heavier solution that normal

(Obvs this is a generalisation)

True, but most folks would, in that situation, take a tarp with them

As would I.

If I were on a one day adventure trip, or if rain wasn’t forecast, I’d be tempted to take just the bivi without a tarp. But I’d have the option of zipping up if rain came unexpectedly.

I’d be more interested in the mozzie net aspect.

Actually no – they’re way too heavy. You don’t want one, none of you do 😉