I’ve got a stag doo coming up in a couple of weeks and for some bizarre reason it apparently involves bivvying under a tarp in a field like a drunken tramp, rather than my preferred option of a plush hotel room, eyeballs deep in coke and hookers.

So.. can anyone recommend a decent but not outrageously expensive bivvy bag that will avoid me dying of drunken hypothermia?

Note: My only experience of bivvying was in one of those thick orange polythene survival bags a couple of decades ago with the Scouts. It was waterproof but also sweaty, sticky, claustrophobic and horrible. I’m hoping technology has moved on a little.

I’m currently looking at stuff like this:

Mountain Warehouse Bivvy Bag (£20 reduced from £40)
http://amzn.eu/75H0Zm8

British Army Goretex Bivvy Bag (USED) £40
http://amzn.eu/cWSszIg

If you are under a tarp then you only really need something to keep the breeze at bay and allow for you touching the underside of the tarp and getting condensation onto your bag.

Just about anything will do, the only decision is about size: if you have your sleeping mat, sleeping bag and yourself inside the bag, is there enough room? A standard sized bivy bag is big enough for my summer kit but I need a bigger (read wider) for autumn and winter kit. Something along the size of the Alpkit Hunka is fine for summer but I need the Hunka XL at other times.

Alpkit Hunka XL for me. Nice but then I haven’t tried anything else.

Hunkas seem to be sold out on the Alpkit site. Does anywhere else stock them?

If you’re happy to have your sleeping mat outside of your bivvy bag (I always do) and you can keep your head out rather than breathing into your bag (e.g. under a tarp) then the cheap MW one will do the job for a night. They occasionally sell them at £9.99 so not a bad emergency option either.

Hunkas are Alpkit’s own. Not sure if they are made in the UK by Alpkit or bought in. If the latter then someone else may offer them. Worth checking the classifieds here and on the bearbones forum.

Take the army one. they’re indestructible, roomy and breathe well. If its a hot night you can just use it under your bag….

I’ve been using an old DPM one for about 5 years now.

I’ll sell ye a hunka XL, used once, 30 quid posted.

Do you even need one if you have a sleeping bag and a tarp?

Do you even need one if you have a sleeping bag and a tarp?

See my first post for possible reasons.

nobeer – I’d be interested in that bivvi bag if you still have it

I’ll dig it out tonight and drop you an email BBSB.

brit army one, as above, simple and reliable

only thing worth spending more on is the Dutch army hooped one

Though theres an element of me wants to take a big sheet of pertex-pile and put a layer of gore-tex on the outside to make a great big poncho-sized buffalo ‘taco roll’ sleeping bag – would be too big and bulky for anything but car camping though

I’ve used the army one under a tarp, in a storm, it was excellent. Only downfall, and it applies to most bivvies, is that the face area is open. I woke with a slug on my forehead!

You based around Newcastle? Can loan you a hunka if a weekend I`m not out myself.

I woke with a slug on my forehead!

Yeah.. the Dutch army one with the possibility of closing off the face area and having a bug hood does have some appeal because of that..

Pricier though.

Can loan you a hunka if a weekend I`m not out myself.

Thanks for the offer. That’s very decent of you. But it’s a stag doo so I wouldn’t want to borrow anything as the possibility of puke or pranks is fairly high!

GrahamS – Member
my preferred option of a plush hotel room, eyeballs deep in coke and hookers.

Just as well, as you would appear to be doing it wrong, most would prefer to be baw deep! 😆

I’m married – I can only look 😉

Anyone got any experience of this GEERTOP one?

http://amzn.eu/j1DrFfp

Has a hoop design with optional leg room, has a bug net, seems like a reasonable weight (980g), and it’s only £46

Not Gore-Tex though and the reviews are a little mixed.

GrahamS – Member
I’m married – I can only look

unlucky! 😆

980g is nuts, not really much point that, you’ll still need a sleeping bag and a roll mat. For one night take a cheapo festival dome tent, you’ll get a really light one about 1.5kg.

980g for a bivy bag 😯 my entire ITT bivy kit weighs that (tarp, pole, pegs bivy bag, sleeping mat, sleeping bag)

Go with the Mountain Hardware one at the top of the thread, for £20 it’s a no brainer. (This is assuming that the tarp is provided of course)

980g for a bivy bag my entire ITT bivy kit weighs that

Oh. I thought 980g for hoops and a mosy net was pretty good for £46. 🙁

The Dutch Army hooped one is apparently 1650g

And those simple British Army bivy bags recommended above weigh 800g apparently.

Even that Alpkit Hunka XL is 500g.

What are you using?

Are you carrying it far?

Are you carrying it far?

Not this trip, but I have half a mind that (provided it doesn’t cost a huge amount more) I might as well get something I could take for some microadventures on the bike sometime.

For your intended usage I wouldn’t be taking my ITT stuff! Then again it costs considerably more than £46.

The only thing I’d be concerned with on the MH bag is lack of mozzie net (can’t tell from the shot) but a midge hood should cope with that.

GrahamS – Member
980g for a bivy bag my entire ITT bivy kit weighs that
Oh. I thought 980g for hoops and a mosy net was pretty good for £46.

The Dutch Army hooped one is apparently 1650g

And those simple British Army bivy bags recommended above weigh 800g apparently.

Even that Alpkit Hunka XL is 500g.

What are you using?
Now you’re getting to the folly of bivvying! for a small weight penalty you can just take a tent! (If you’re willing to spend money, you’ll get tents lighter than 980g)

ps if you get a festival tent make sure it’s midgy proof, some of them use fishnet tights as their mesh!

Not this trip, but I have half a mind that (provided it doesn’t cost a huge amount more) I might as well get something I could take for some microadventures on the bike sometime.

The alternative is to get a couple of cheap, robust but heavy and comfortable camping kits and cache them.

I used to have a couple of these in Northumberland and it made for a fantastic night out, and much better not having to carry loads of stuff, I just knew where I needed to get to by dark

ninfan – Member

The alternative is to get a couple of cheap, robust but heavy and comfortable camping kits and cache them.decent idea that, never occurred to me.

GrahamS – Member

Are you carrying it far?

Not this trip, but I have half a mind that (provided it doesn’t cost a huge amount more) I might as well get something I could take for some microadventures on the bike sometime.[/quote]
In that case I’d still go with the MW bag. You may well want to upgrade to something more breathable in the future but it’s light, compact and perfectly suitable for a brief overnighter or something to keep in a daypack for use in an emergency. As Bob says, use a midge hood too (I guess you may already have one and if not it’ll not go to waste in future).

No worries, offers there if change mind.

Oh. I thought 980g for hoops and a mosy net was pretty good for £46.

Tssk, in weirdo lightweight world, £46 is the starting price for a titanium mug or an ultra-lightweight length of cord. You can spend almost 500 quid on a tarp if you’re mad enough. You’ll have to spend more, much more, if you want to hang with the lightweight in-crowd…

Anyway, unless you’re going to be carrying it, the weight doesn’t really matter. I’d just get that MW one.

decent idea that, never occurred to me.

If it helps – I’ve found that old Stells/sheep folds in forests make a good base for doing this.

You can spend a fortune on Gucci kit.

Take the army one. they’re indestructible, roomy and breathe well. If its a hot night you can just use it under your bag….

^^^^ This all the way. I generally stick my self-inflating mat in it and sleep like a babe through all weathers.

What do you do about rain and midges on your face?

Tarp and midge hood?

OP hasn’t specified a location. So midges may not be an issue.

As for rain, just turn on your side and use the hood. He’s under a tarp anyway so should be fine.

Ah Graham, you ARE the OP. My bad. Advice still stands.

If you want protection from midges without relying on Avon, you need a hooped bivvi with a mosquito net. But then you may as well just use an ultralight one-man tent.

The whole point of tarps and bivvis is travelling light and being at one with nature. And nature being at one with you… 😀

GrahamS – Member
What do you do about rain and midges on your face?

tent! 😆

RAB Ascent bivvy bag. You don’t need a hoop.

Outdoor Research Helium is a good example of one with a hoop.