EISPIRATEN

Bivy, bivi, bivouac, whatever you call them. Anyone use these with any regularity?

I picked up an REI Minimalist bivy in the last round of dividend impulse buying, and I was thinking about using it this weekend somewhere around Norf Baldy. Anyone have any experience using these in the snow? I figured I could just use my ice axe or trekking pole, some tent stakes and a guyline or two to string up my hardshell over the exposed face area.

Also, what's the wildlife like in the SGM? Am I going to get my face ripped off by something at night?

bertfivesix wrote:Am I going to get my face ripped off by something at night?

For that experience, you'll want to camp within city limits.

I've spent many a night under the stars, but nary a nibble.

There are some bears, but very low threat level. Even though bears aren't a big problem, I always do something with my food. I myself use an Ursack, some carry bear canisters (which I find to be cumbersome and heavy), others just suspend their food in a tree. Realistically, rodents are the biggest threat to your food locally.

There are mountain lions, but after 40+ years hiking locally, I've yet to actually see one. They're out there, but your face is probably pretty safe.

Re bivvy's: I picked up an Aurora bivvy recently. Haven't used it enough to give you any definitives, but it is way lighter than a tent. I've used it alone in good weather only so far. For wetter weather, I plan to use my poncho and trekking poles along with a couple of small stakes to make a lean to over the bivvy so I'll have a little room for gear or to move around in.

A bivy sack looks just like a giant burrito to bears and mountain lions. Chewy on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside. Ha! No, seriously nothing to worry about. I use my bivy (BD Light Sabre) all the time under all conditions (rain, snow, wind) and it has never failed me. Skeeters are the only annoyance but my bivy has a bug screen which keeps them off (not sure about the minimalist bivy).

You should be fine Brotha.

I use my UK Army Issue bivy bag all the time. You could go cheap and get a USGI poncho and some bungee cords, and make a hooch/shelter with a trekking pole or axe or whatnot. There is one excellent shelter on West Baldy that I've used in said style, and no tent is required, even on "bad days".

TacoDelRio wrote:I use my UK Army Issue bivy bag...

UK? You a brit, bro', or is that a Taco typo?

TacoDelRio wrote:You should be fine Brotha.

I use my UK Army Issue bivy bag all the time. You could go cheap and get a USGI poncho and some bungee cords, and make a hooch/shelter with a trekking pole or axe or whatnot. There is one excellent shelter on West Baldy that I've used in said style, and no tent is required, even on "bad days".

Real men don't need shelter, unless it's precipitating.

Troof!

Jim, my buddy in Wales (a Mortician) sent it to me. Survival oriented folks.

I'm not sure I'd accept a bivy bag from a mortician!

They're really smellproof. 8)

I've got one somewhere, probably buried ina closet. I found it too confining. I bought a Shires Tarptent (Cloudburst model) so I'd have more room, and could sit up while inside. Its a little heavier (2 1/4 lbs) but that's the trade-off I make for the extra room. I've had it for two years and so far, so good.

I'm thinking of getting one.

I loathe tents, and often the tarp is a bitch to set up and doesn't provide any protection from the wind anyway. Here in SoCal in the summer, the main thing you need protection from is wind, and a bivy would be nice for that (what I have been doing for the last 20 years is simply wrapping my tarp around me on windy nights, but urethane-coated nylon tarps don't breathe like bivys, so I often end up with a wet sleeping bag).

If it's raining, you usually know ahead of time and so can either postpone the trip or bring a tarp or tent. I was on Villagar Peak in February when it started raining on us. I was fine under my tarp; one of the guys had a bivy with some kind of supported hood, so he was fine too; another guy had a bivy without a hood, so he just rigged a poncho on a bush over his head to keep the rain off. Luckily it started raining at 10:00 at night and stopped a couple hours before dawn. I bet getting into and out of a bivy while it's raining is teh suck.

My first bivy sack was pre Gortex days...a coated nylon "sauna". I called it the condom. When Gortex came out in the 70's I bought 3 yards and made my own bivy sack (along with clothing, packs, harnesses, etc). Hiked up to Baldy Bowl in a snowstorm to try it out...had no sleeping bag or pad and all I came say is I survived the night (and the hut was locked). If I had any sense I would have brought a sleeping bag & pad to use after I did my "experiment" for an hour or two. I think a nice tarp or bivy sack should be one of the ten "essentials".

Works great in the summer with just a very light bag or long johns (I hate mosquitoes ). They also work great out in the middle of dry lake beds when you don't want to get your tent covered in fine dust that you can never seem to get out. I think bivy sacks really come into their own in snow shelters (igloos or caves). My first was barely bigger than a sleeping bag and thought an increase in size would be nice.

The next one I made was about 60" wide (fits two and for SAR work you could squeeze and hypothermic person between two warm bodies if need be). But used solo it is like a Chevy Suburban...I can even bring in all my gear if need be and it still rolls into a small roll that even fits into a large fanny with other essentials. It doesn't have lots of bells and whistles (looks like a giant stuff sack) but has served me fine for years.

I did acquire an REI Cyclops that I have used twice. It weighs and rolls about the same as the 60" one but has netting and zippers but I like the 60" much better. Unfortunately, people bought Gortex fabric in the seventies (hippy days) and sometimes didn't seal seams and such and Gortex was getting a bad rep so they only sell it now to "name" companies that seal to their specs or something like that.

I have lots of tents, big (6-man) and small (1-man) and only use them for certain car camping events. I used to use a tarp over the bivy for those times when rain is a possibility cause it's nice to be able to sit up in your bivy and cook or whatever while watching your surroundings.

ps I did have a pack of raccoons attack me once while in my bivy.

Rick M wrote: ps I did have a pack of raccoons attack me once while in my bivy.

got any pix of that Rick?

Rick Kent correctly noted

A bivy sack looks just like a giant burrito to bears and mountain lions. Chewy on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside.

To avoid laying in the mud, I once slept in my bivy on a picnic table..."late night snack" I guess. Just glad they weren't bears, are they related?

Sorry, no pics, this was predigital days when I used Kodachrome 25 for most things...ancient. And I was too concerned about rolling off the fool table into the mud and then get eaten. You young guys don't know how great you have it with these digital cameras.

I use my Integral Design's Unishelter Exp (the eVent version) on a regular basis in the summer. My previous bivy was an Integral Designs Salathe Bivy and that was a even easier to deal with than the Unishelter because it didn't have a hoop but it is nice to have some head room.

I did find myself floating on my thermarest in a bivy at Shepherd Pass once after a heavy thunderstorm - that was fun. Bivy's do eventually loose some of their waterproofing, but it takes a lot of use to do that.

I have used the neatsheet a couple of times as a biv, and will again...just have to remember to bring 2 of them(1 for sleeping on as well). Ive used them in a variety of situations and they have mostly pros. To me though its a self-rescue thingy(mainly for water protection like hanging out in a waterfall) and havent deployed it for a long time except one planned bivy.

Granted, I much prefer a comfy tent....a luxury thermarest on a portable Kelso hammock inside a giant beach tent...who am I kidding, Im much too lazy to deploy the tent, and carry that hammock..hehehehe..good luck!

I have a very nice Big Agnes Sunnyslope II tent which stood me in very good stead (down bags 100% dry) in a very intense storm last summer in Rocky Mtn Natl Park, but it weighs 5+ lbs. It's not bad with a partner, but way to much for my solos.

I've done a couple of things to try to not have to carry a tent. I bought one of those Hennesy Hammocks, the Ultralight model. It's around 2 lbs and some change which isn't bad. Super comfortable in good weather, but it sucks in cold, windy weather. There are ways to adapt it, but then there goes your weight advantage.

I recently bought an OR Aurora bivvy. I've only used it around the house; no real hikes yet. Like Simonov, I've wondered about getting in and out while it's raining. Seems like I'd get soaked and take all the rain in with me and also that rain would pour in as I got in. Not good. I was thinking that taking along a poncho and rigging it with my trekking poles as a lean-to might be a good idea. Perhaps I could erect the poncho as a lean-to while it's raining, lay out my ground cloth underneath the poncho, lay out the bivvy, put my sleeping bag into the bivvy, change into dry clothes, and then crawl into the sleeping bag. This wouldn't work well in really windy storms (lean-tos are open on the sides), but maybe it would work in a lot of mild to moderate rain conditions? Any suggestions? Any experience with something like this?

Hikin Jim said

I recently bought an OR Aurora bivvy. I've only used it around the house...

There are lots of licensed roofers in the LA area


Way back when, I tried using ponchos as rain shelters; one of the reasons I thought shelters were not an original ten essential. For a light rain with little wind I thought is was adequate. If the rain was heavy, I was usually fighting runoff flowing constantly into “my limited space”. Really need to pick a slightly mounded area for your bag if you can fine one. Add a cold wind to the equation and it's time to think about going home. When I saw someone with a huge 10x12’ tarp that was dry as a bug compared to my poncho and me, it sent me straight to Sport Chalet to buy some coated ripstop (when the La Canada store sold fabrics). I then bought a mountain tent “rain fly” minus the tent and used it much like the pyramid that Chouinard later came out with. I made some modifications…one was to sew in two loops at the top ridgeline so I could tie it to trees instead of using poles (a use for trekking poles?).

ps As for your roof, I used to have my North Face VE-24 set up in the bedroom for months (years?) with my sleeping bag until I built a water bed

Rick M wrote:Way back when, I tried using ponchos as rain shelters; one of the reasons I thought shelters were not an original ten essential. For a light rain with little wind I thought is was adequate. If the rain was heavy, I was usually fighting runoff flowing constantly into “my limited space”. Really need to pick a slightly mounded area for your bag if you can fine one. Add a cold wind to the equation and it's time to think about going home.

Yeah, limited space + runoff + wind and wind blown rain = no fun at all (go home)
That "go home" factor was why I was thinking of having the bivvy under the poncho. The bivvy is the real protection; the poncho just gives you a little cover so you can get in and out without allowing a lot of water into the bivvy.

The other idea behind the poncho lean to is multi-use. I typically carry a poncho and trekking poles anyway. Add a few lightweight stakes and I've got a lean to over the bivvy without a whole lot of extra weight.

Rick M wrote: When I saw someone with a huge 10x12’ tarp that was dry as a bug compared to my poncho and me, it sent me straight to Sport Chalet to buy some coated ripstop (when the La Canada store sold fabrics). I then bought a mountain tent “rain fly” minus the tent and used it much like the pyramid that Chouinard later came out with. I made some modifications…one was to sew in two loops at the top ridgeline so I could tie it to trees instead of using poles (a use for trekking poles?).

Re the trekking poles: exactly my thought.

Thanks for the sharing of your experience. No need for me to "reinvent the wheel." I was hoping to not have to carry both a tarp and a bivvy and just make do with the poncho. I tend to carry the poncho since none of the GoreTex jackets I've had in the last 15 - 20 years have ever been waterproof in a heavy rain EXCEPT my US Army issue PTFE micropore parka, but the army one is so heavy (and makes me look like some militia guy from backwoods Montana).

I have a 2005 carhartt jacket....I noticed the new ones dont have carbon fiber stiching and are only 88% nomex, but there are likely brands out there that live up to the sheer genius of the 2005 one.

Not to take away from the Neatsheet, which I thought was a ripoff of Tyvek, but P&G says the idea came from hospital garments?

Usually I despise what I call corporate hiking, so I guess Im a corporate hiker with a few brand names.

Comes in handy in unexpected times...for example I was once attacked by some unrestrained dogs(german shepards or something like that) out of a residence near Stoneyvalle in the Big T. Add to that jacket, Reima warrior gloves and those dogs quickly learnt a piece of me carries a huge repercusion, especially since I was carrying one of those white oak walking sticks. They still did walk me up the road keeping a real short distance though I was very mad....but couldnt catch them...I was asked(retelling the experience) what would have I done if I caught one of those buggers? Luckily I never faced that choice.