Can we talk about Bivouacs?

[Planks]

Okay so I'm spending this summer in a tent in Northern Idaho, it's great but my 10 year old Sierra Designs 3 person tent weighs ~10lbs and that's way more than I'm willing to carry. So I spent some time researching smaller-lighter weight 1 person tents and while discussing it with a co-worker Bivy's were brought up. I didn't really know much about them besides the fact they were kinda like gore-tex burritos. After some research I came across Bivy Shelters made by awesome companies like OR and Terra Nova but I'm still held up by them a little bit especially because I'll be using them in the winter and I feel like that little bit of shelter that tents provide could be inherently useful. I don't mean to sound like a princess, I'm not afraid of living out of a glorified hot-pocket but I wanted to hear your experiences with it first.

[rod9301]

look at tarptent. they have really light 1 or 2 person tents that also setup very fast, since the inner tent and the fly are connected so you set them up at the same time.

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[skimaxpower]

Are you looking for a lightweight summer tent? Or a winter camping bivy-sack. Because these are two VERY different products.

If you're looking for the former, I cannot say enough things about the Tarptent Sublite. I took the tyvek version on the CDT and loved it. Spacious, breathable, light, and bug proof.

If you're looking for a winter camping bivy - good luck. They all have inherent problems (namely bad breathability) and advantages (light, compact, waterproof). I've never found sleeping in a bivy to be a comfortable experience.

[hutash]

Personally I am not a fan of bivy sacs. I much prefer a tent, but then I am a poor mountain sleeper, so the extra comfort is important to me. I also like to be comfortable in the rain or if mossies are a big problem (they love me and bite the shit out of me,)

For slightly more weight I much prefer Black Diamond tents like First Light, or their slightly heavier 4 season version. They are roomy one person or moderately cramped two person tents.

[auvgeek]

Are you looking for a lightweight summer tent? Or a winter camping bivy-sack. Because these are two VERY different products.

^^This.

Like many others here, I think bivys are significantly less comfortable than a tent without offering substantial weight savings. Their main advantage is the ability to sleep in spots where setting up a tent is impossible. Not sure how important this is to you.

I think the dream setup would be a z-packs tarp for 3-seasons and a Stephenson's Warmlight tent for the winter. Right now, I have a BD Firstlight and an Integral Designs MK1 XL (old version they quit making). There have been threads on this where people have disagreed, but I have personally encountered situations where the Firstlight (old version out of Epic; not sure how the new ones out of BD's "NanoShield" perform) was not adequately waterproof in the pouring rain. But the ID is pretty heavy so I usually bring the BD, unless T-storms are forecasted. I mention this because when you buy a piece of gear, be sure it fills a specific purpose that you need on a semi-regular basis, or it will end up sitting in your garage for the majority of its life. In my case, a heavy 4-season tent was just plain overkill for my needs. Just my $0.02.

Man, I want to spend more time in a tent.

[backcountry1pr]

I use a GoreTex OR bivy quite a bit on solo missions.

I use it because-

A- there is not a lot of precip in CO
B- super simple/quick up/down, and can sleep w.e
C- allows me to carry a lighter/smaller sleeping bag
D- "feels" very minimalist, even though it isn't


In your situation I would not use it because-

A- actually "living" for any extended period of time in/out of one would suck, very hard to get "out" of the weather
B- all your stuff is outside/exposed every night, and if its raining/snowing for multiple days its hard to manage
C- in the winter, moisture management is even more difficult since you and your stuff is always on the ground

They are great for quick trips, tight spots, irregular weather, and fast travel, BUT, if I was living day in and day out in one, it would be very hard to feel as though I could ever actually "escape" the elements, which is so important to comfort when you are talking about extended time period of outdoor living.

[Planks]

Are you looking for a lightweight summer tent? Or a winter camping bivy-sack. Because these are two VERY different products.

If you're looking for the former, I cannot say enough things about the Tarptent Sublite. I took the tyvek version on the CDT and loved it. Spacious, breathable, light, and bug proof.

If you're looking for a winter camping bivy - good luck. They all have inherent problems (namely bad breathability) and advantages (light, compact, waterproof). I've never found sleeping in a bivy to be a comfortable experience.

I'm looking for a 4 seasons shelter and after doing a bit of my research as well as reading what you guys said I think I'm going to end up just getting a 1 person tent.

Thanks for all your help