Walking Forum

Main Boards => Gear => Topic started by: Lumberjack72 on 21:25:07, 09/04/19

Title: Bivvy bags
Post by: Lumberjack72 on 21:25:07, 09/04/19
am looking to do the pennine way soon with my wife and am needing a couple of waterproof bivvi bags. Any advice on which ones to get or know of anybody getting rid of a couple. Thanks in advance .
Matt
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: beefy on 22:27:04, 09/04/19
Alpkit Hunka  :)
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: Rob Goes Walking on 22:56:07, 09/04/19
Alpkit Hunka  :)
GWM recommended this bivvy the other day and I Googled it out of interest, it's currently all sold out everywhere I looked.
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: hongkongphooey on 03:15:02, 10/04/19
I've Bivvied many times and I can assure you that the reality out ways the romance and there are some great lightweight tent alternatives to consider  O0
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: astaman on 08:16:34, 10/04/19
Another vote for the Alpkit Hunka if you can wait for them to come back in to stock. Contact Alpkit to find out when, they're very helpful. I'd get the bigger size so dry clothes can be taken inside the bag with you. Keeping stuff dry outside of the bag on a wet nigh can be a problem.


How are you planning to use them? I've only ever used them to get a few hours sleep on one or two night outings when the forecast has been good. Personally I wouldn't like to be wholly reliant on one on a walk that might take a fortnight. Party because, as hongkongphooey suggested, the romance wears off and because the weather is unpredictable over the length of time the PW takes. They might be useful if you're generally using B&Bs etc. as an overnighter in more remote areas where accommodation is hard to find. I'd go with a light tent myself.


Having said that, other people make them work. Interested to read your feedback if you do it this way.
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: beefy on 08:31:22, 10/04/19
Another vote for the Alpkit Hunka if you can wait for them to come back in to stock. Contact Alpkit to find out when, they're very helpful. I'd get the bigger size so dry clothes can be taken inside the bag with you. Keeping stuff dry outside of the bag on a wet nigh can be a problem.


How are you planning to use them? I've only ever used them to get a few hours sleep on one or two night outings when the forecast has been good. Personally I wouldn't like to be wholly reliant on one on a walk that might take a fortnight. Party because, as hongkongphooey suggested, the romance wears off and because the weather is unpredictable over the length of time the PW takes. They might be useful if you're generally using B&Bs etc. as an overnighter in more remote areas where accommodation is hard to find. I'd go with a light tent myself.


Having said that, other people make them work. Interested to read your feedback if you do it this way.
+1  O0
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: richardh1905 on 09:51:22, 10/04/19
I've Bivvied many times and I can assure you that the reality out ways the romance and there are some great lightweight tent alternatives to consider  O0



..especially if the midges are out!
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: gunwharfman on 10:50:04, 10/04/19
I have a Hunka but have never really got on with it. Getting in and out of it is a chore, in the end, I found that to get into it comfortably I had to stand in it first, pull it up to my head and then lay down, vice versa for getting out of it. If your head end is under a tarp you might have to wriggle around a bit to get into the right position. What it lacks is a zip down one side.

So what I did was to buy a Snugpack Stratosphere, much better, a raised space for your head (my boots, one each side of my ears) and a long zip down one side, a much better design in my opinion. One matter has to be thought of, do you use it by itself, (if it rains before or as you are getting in you have an immediate problem) Do you also take a tarp with you (I used a 3.5 Alpkit one) or to try to get organised in such weather under an umbrella? By the time you have packed the bivi, tarp or the umbrella the weight is the same or more than taking a tent and takes up a similar amount of space.

I use my bivi when I go away to a maximum of 5 days and want to wild camp, when I'm confident as I can be that the weather is going to be fine, when I want to stealth camp (that is for me, when I want to bed down near to the pub I've just frequented) and when I just want to walk, sleep, up and go!

You also have to think of another problem as well, once in your bivi what do you do with your rucksack? When I use my tarp I just push it under a corner to ensure that if it rains it will stay dry. If I use my brolly I put my waterproof rucksack cover over it and I have a piece of fishing line attached to a cheap audible alarm which is attached to the bivi. I don't want my rucksack to go walkies in the night without me knowing about it, theft is a possibility if on a site.

I do like my bivi but I also know that I have to live with its obvious limitations.

I from this Sunday I am due to go on a 12-14 day hike from Keswick to Edinburgh so I will be taking my tent, not my bivi. I hope some of this information is helpful.
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: Lumberjack72 on 20:53:53, 10/04/19
Thanks for all the help and info everyone. I do have a vango banshee tent. Light and able to sleep 3 , so that should fit my wife and I plus rucksacks. I was looking to cut weight down even further and that's why I was thinking along the lines of my old army basha with sleeping bags with bivvi bags. I suppose trying to recreate days gone by😄.
Might regret it after a while like many of you have said. Anyway thanks again.👍👍
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: Lumberjack72 on 20:55:32, 10/04/19
 O0
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: Lumberjack72 on 20:58:00, 10/04/19
Another vote for the Alpkit Hunka if you can wait for them to come back in to stock. Contact Alpkit to find out when, they're very helpful. I'd get the bigger size so dry clothes can be taken inside the bag with you. Keeping stuff dry outside of the bag on a wet nigh can be a problem.


How are you planning to use them? I've only ever used them to get a few hours sleep on one or two night outings when the forecast has been good. Personally I wouldn't like to be wholly reliant on one on a walk that might take a fortnight. Party because, as hongkongphooey suggested, the romance wears off and because the weather is unpredictable over the length of time the PW takes. They might be useful if you're generally using B&Bs etc. as an overnighter in more remote areas where accommodation is hard to find. I'd go with a light tent myself.


Having said that, other people make them work. Interested to read your feedback if you do it this way.


 O0  Looking to use in conjunction with my old army basha. Got a light tent so I think it might be a flip of the coin before I pack.😀
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: Lumberjack72 on 20:59:48, 10/04/19
I have a Hunka but have never really got on with it. Getting in and out of it is a chore, in the end, I found that to get into it comfortably I had to stand in it first, pull it up to my head and then lay down, vice versa for getting out of it. If your head end is under a tarp you might have to wriggle around a bit to get into the right position. What it lacks is a zip down one side.

So what I did was to buy a Snugpack Stratosphere, much better, a raised space for your head (my boots, one each side of my ears) and a long zip down one side, a much better design in my opinion. One matter has to be thought of, do you use it by itself, (if it rains before or as you are getting in you have an immediate problem) Do you also take a tarp with you (I used a 3.5 Alpkit one) or to try to get organised in such weather under an umbrella? By the time you have packed the bivi, tarp or the umbrella the weight is the same or more than taking a tent and takes up a similar amount of space.

I use my bivi when I go away to a maximum of 5 days and want to wild camp, when I'm confident as I can be that the weather is going to be fine, when I want to stealth camp (that is for me, when I want to bed down near to the pub I've just frequented) and when I just want to walk, sleep, up and go!

You also have to think of another problem as well, once in your bivi what do you do with your rucksack? When I use my tarp I just push it under a corner to ensure that if it rains it will stay dry. If I use my brolly I put my waterproof rucksack cover over it and I have a piece of fishing line attached to a cheap audible alarm which is attached to the bivi. I don't want my rucksack to go walkies in the night without me knowing about it, theft is a possibility if on a site.

I do like my bivi but I also know that I have to live with its obvious limitations.

I from this Sunday I am due to go on a 12-14 day hike from Keswick to Edinburgh so I will be taking my tent, not my bivi. I hope some of this information is helpful.
Thanks for the help. Will have a long hard think now😀. Good luck and enjoy your walk his Sunday.👍
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: gunwharfman on 14:08:57, 11/04/19
Sorry, in my blurb I completely forgot a couple of matters! I would not go on a bivi hike without a groundsheet. I've found that I need one that is as long as the bivi itself and about a foot to two feet wider than the bivi. Being able to sit down, to change my clothes and socks, and in full view of the public sometimes, is far nicer doing it on the groundsheet surface, rather than having to do all these things on the bare ground, grass and suchlike.

One last problem to consider, if you leave your bivi on a campsite, ready for use like I often leave my tent, and you want to go off for a few hours hike and you do not want to carry your rucksack with you, where are you going to leave it? In my Snugpack bivi, I can choose to put it into the head area and then secure the zips with a small padlock (like I can do in my tent) or I have to make another arrangement to ensure that it and its contents are safe. When I have done this I usually do a deal with the campsite owner.
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: richardh1905 on 17:34:32, 11/04/19
Bivvying is fine if it is a one nighter up in the mountains in fine weather, but no way would I consider it an option for a multi day walk.
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: Lumberjack72 on 21:21:33, 11/04/19
Sorry, in my blurb I completely forgot a couple of matters! I would not go on a bivi hike without a groundsheet. I've found that I need one that is as long as the bivi itself and about a foot to two feet wider than the bivi. Being able to sit down, to change my clothes and socks, and in full view of the public sometimes, is far nicer doing it on the groundsheet surface, rather than having to do all these things on the bare ground, grass and suchlike.

One last problem to consider, if you leave your bivi on a campsite, ready for use like I often leave my tent, and you want to go off for a few hours hike and you do not want to carry your rucksack with you, where are you going to leave it? In my Snugpack bivi, I can choose to put it into the head area and then secure the zips with a small padlock (like I can do in my tent) or I have to make another arrangement to ensure that it and its contents are safe. When I have done this I usually do a deal with the campsite owner.
O0
Title: Re: Bivvy bags
Post by: richardh1905 on 15:03:29, 12/04/19

Alpkit Hunka cosmetic seconds still available from Alpkit.


https://www.alpkit.com/products/hunka-cosmetic-seconds (https://www.alpkit.com/products/hunka-cosmetic-seconds)