Bivi trip was good. Will post more pics later, but here’s one from first thing this morning

Sunrise by ianbarrington, on Flickr

Oh, Page 39 too 😀

mucho jealous looks gorgous

That looks bloody early in the morning 😉

Awesome trip last night thanks Ian and Flatfish great fun.

Stuart that pic was around 7am, Ian found us a superb bivvy spot at altitude 😉

Tents! NOOOOOOOoooooo! So wrong! Were you expecting torrential rain & swarms of locusts or something? 😉

Seriously though, looks like you guys had a great time. I’m looking forwards to my Easter bank holiday weekend bivi tomorrow 🙂

Hey no tents there!

IanB’s tarp in front and Flatfish’s Rig7 tarp with a pole to hold up the one end as no trees where we were to lash a line to. 😀

We had a great time and the ride home was sublime this morning.

OK, here’s a quick picture summary of our short Brecon Beacons trip:

Riding up 5 mile climb:

IMG_0076 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

Is that a Wildcat Handlebar harness?

IMG_0079 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

Climbing the Gap:

DSCN0559 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

My compact and bijou Integral Siltarp:

IMG_0083 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

The Flat One’s behemoth of a tarp, the Alpkit Rig 7:

IMG_0084 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

Sunrise:

IMG_0092 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

Keeping up to date with the the bivi thread:

DSCN0573 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

More about this later…:

DSCN0579 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

Breakfast:

IMG_0099 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

Packing up:

IMG_0106 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

Leaving camp:

DSCN0581 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

Home-ward bound:

DSCN0583 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

Sweet (cheeky) descent:

DSCN0584 by ianbarrington, on Flickr

Ian

great pics as ever Ian cheers for showing us the way and making us breakfast rolls this morning – top lad 😀

No problem Pete – it was a pleasure 🙂

I’m still not jelous 😉

I was jealous of the 29ers my 26er looked so twee 😉

Looks like a great time was had by all – where was the bivi site?

It was near Brecon 😉

I ‘d just about work d that one out!

My guess is on the ridge running above and east of the gap?

check your text 😉

Can i just ask, all these photo’s of improvised tarp solutions seem to show one person getting fully under a tarp and still using a waterproof bivvy… then their mate doing the same. For all the talk of saving weight it seems none of you have though up the obvious solution of sharing one tarp, heads under, feet out.

fair comment but we were trying out tarp set ups in readiness for the WRT.

In answer to your query yes we could have shared a tarp between the 3 of us but someone was just thinking of himself 8)

all these photo’s of improvised tarp solutions seem to show one person getting fully under a tarp … then their mate doing the same. ……..sharing one tarp, heads under, feet out.

Crikey, if I go to sleep outside in the wilds (or in the UK 😉 ) the last thing I want to do is snuggle up with two or three other people I’m not a parent or partner to. I’ve got a young family and have to do that often enough at home. When I go out on a bivi I want some space.

getting fully under a tarp and still using a waterproof bivvy…

I’m not bothering taking a bivi bag out tomorrow. I’ll just use a sleeping bag like the good old days before I wasted tons of money on superfluous bivi kit 😉

There was some discussion last night as to whether we should put the tarps up at all, though I was glad to shelter from the cool evening breeze under mine in the end. For reference, we were over 600m height.

As valleydaddy says, it was a bit of a kit test in advance of WRT with the aim of becoming a bit more practiced in being self sufficient, albeit with some company.

Another thing to note is that for longer trips the drier you can keep waterproof breathable fabric the better it performs. The last time I slept out during a wet night with the lower part of my bag out of a very small tarp my sleeping bag was soaked due to condensation as it couldn’t breathe efficiently through the film of water. For trips of longer than a couple of nights an exposed bivvy bag isn’t really practical especially with very lightweight down sleeping bags.

You could argue that a full on goretex/event hooped bivvy bag used with a shared tarp would work but then the bivvybag on its own is heavier than many of the lightweight solo set ups shown here.

The last time I slept out during a wet night with the lower part of my bag out of a very small tarp my sleeping bag was soaked due to condensation…

I’m finding that, rain or shine, the foot end of my sleeping bag nearly always suffers from condensation in my bivi bag (Rab Survival Zone)

For trips of longer than a couple of nights an exposed bivvy bag isn’t really practical especially with very lightweight down sleeping bags….

…You could argue that a full on goretex/event hooped bivvy bag used with a shared tarp would work but then the bivvybag on its own is heavier than many of the lightweight solo set ups shown here.

If your using a tarp them a bivi bag isn’t necessary, except perhaps to draftproof your sleeping bag if it’s extra windy.

In fact, even without a tarp, a bivi bag’s only needed if it’s wet, or there’s a cold wind, or as an external ‘liner’ to add an extra layer of insulation to a not-quite-adequate sleeping bag. You can carry a bivi bag on a multiday trip but you’re not obliged to use it every night unless conditions dictate.

That’s very true Slugwash. We do seem to think that if we’ve no tent then we must have a bivvy bag. The last few nights around here a sleeping bag and mat would be all that’s needed.

Just packing my new bag for tonight.
Slugwash is gonna be really jealous.

In my experience it doesn’t matter what fancy kit you use, you will never negate bag dampness, but using a fleece liner as an outer certainly helps.

Hi all new here,

1st off just gotta say this is one of the BEST blog feeds going on at the moment 😀 Loads of good information and links, well done and keep up the good work.

So iam a keen camper and enjoy cycling so my girlfreind signed me up for the WRT for my birthday 😆 and after reading all 39 pages so far think iam nearly there with my kit but thought id show you my prototype all in 1 cooking system.

550ml Aluminum pot with screw lid = 72g
Pot cozy with lid = 23g
Aluminum wind shield = 23g
Soda can stove (max fuel capacity 2 oz) = 11g
primer pan = 7g
2 oz Fuel bottle empty = 16g
Aluminum folding spork = 20g
Silicon lip guard for drinking hot food right out of the pot= 6g
Plastic prep mat = 11g
Foam Holding Pad for eating hot food right out of the pot = 4g
Total weight 191g
You could make this lighter by removing some items or cutting a few bits down on size!

@ matty2fatty – nice bit of work there fella 😀

Make sure the lids not screwed on whilst cooking or it’ll explode 😯

ppssssssssssssssssss KERBOOOM 😯

Thanks, usually just rest the lid on top of the pot, but could put a few holes in the top but seems a shame as can also use it to carry cold/hot water with as well, ahh and can also use it as a hot water bottle !!!

ahh and can also use it as a hot water bottle !!!

Hopefully you won’t need that function on the WRT 😉

But holes would allow you to drain stuff.
WRT will be warm enough that you’ll not need a hot water bottle.

WRT will be warm enough that you’ll not need a hot water bottle.

here’s hoping

True I wont need a hot water bottle but wanna try and make it universal as possible, maybe add two lids 1 with holes and 1 with out then can change as your need do.

Come across this the other day
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280646350145&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_1156
or
http://www.luxeoutdoor.com/eng/catalog-topic-gallery-view1.asp?id=821&selfpath=/12/125
anyone used one??

not used one but maybe worth a punt for the price if available again.

but at around 1kg not bad for a “tent” to get out of bad weather

Well time for the first bivi trip of the year. Was planning to get the train from Leeds to Dent, but missed that so settled on Skipton for a start.

Beautiful day, great decents, and a nice bar meal in Kettleworth.

Rode up into the hills to make camp, before sunset.

Then snap, chain broke 40 miles from home. Its going to be a long walk. 😯

Managed to set up camp while i thought of a plan.

Luckly the chain snapped in a place where a could singlespeed it. Gently rode/pushed my way back to Skipton, fingers crossed that the trains were running on an Easter Sunday. They were phew….

Not the adventure i planned but an ‘adventure’…

Some nice pics there chew 😀

Adventure is what it’s all about 😆

If your using a tarp them a bivi bag isn’t necessary

…unless the ground is already wet from rain! The bag I was using at the time also happened to be a Survival Zone but I never really suffered with excessive condensation at other times.

Great pictures Matty and thanks for the inclusion of the weights 🙂 Did you make the pot cosy?

[Did you make the pot cosy?]
Yes made it myself, gotta say it all well made and works well keep hot for a cup of tea/coffee for over an hour

Where did you get the material?

At £13 I’m tempted to buy one, but I’m always up for a bit of MOYG

got it from B&Q
link
Will start to sell these got 10 on the go at the moment just gotta work on a price 😀