Throw down bivies?

I have spent some time under a small hennesy cat tarp using a dryducks poncho as a bivy when that faild i switched to a taped diy envelope bivy made 100% out of tyvek and gorilla tape verry nice i might say. Im in the Process of making another. but tyvek is really not that breathable and neither is the dryducks poncho. and the lack of bug netting was exatly that lacking. Im getting ready to purchase my first down bag or quilt. To replace a microfiber blanket i had been using sence spring and am now slightly more worried about moisture build up on multi day hikes. aswell as the fact i made the other two bivys to see if bivy camping was for me. and now convinced. Im looking for something i will not have to replace for many years to come. and that i can get four season use out of. aswell as take some abuse. I know alot of pepole are going to recomend small solo tents. but i dont see pitching a contrail or sublite within the walls of a shelter flying well with the other residence. Im currently interrestd in a few different models.

Black Diamond Hooped bivy
Integral Designs backcountry bivy
Out door reasearch Aurora

Any suggestions or comments on bivy qualty design or concept will be greatly appreciated.

once again thanks in advance for any advice it all will be conciderd . and heres a poll for a little fun.

I'd go for the Integral Designs bivy, simply because I've used the ID Salathe and liked it very much. In fact, if you're planning to use it in summer conditions, you might want to consider the Salathe. It's only $15 more (but a bit heavier), and it has a panel that zips open on both sides all the way down to your waist - a real godsend on a hot, steamy night.

If you're not concerned about being able to close it completely up (you said you were using it with a tarp or in a shelter), you might want to look at the REI Minimalist - 1 pound and $100, when I bought mine. It doesn't have the chest zip, but it does zip open like a sleeping bag. It was my first bivy, and it worked quite well - got a bit warmish in August, though.

Although more costly, any bivy with eVent should be on your list. Fully waterproof and far more breathable than any Gortex. Superb.

Try this in eVent:

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=38

lighter than any of the ones on your list, and eVent is the most breathable W/B fabric.

I agree with Paul, check out Mountain Laurel Designs. I have couple of there products, including Soul Bivy and LiteSoul Bivy, and i love all the stuff i have gotten from them.

I would make something with a Momentum .90 top and a silnylon bottom. My lovely wife made one for me, and it's awesome -- extremely water resistant on top, totally waterproof on bottom, and with a big mesh panel over the head and chest for bug protection. At 8 ounces, it's light and easy to use, and perfect under a small-ish tarp.

my only problem with the soul is the event upcharge brings the bivy to $350. witch in my opion is outrages.

I don't think any of those will breath more than driducks. And you already said driducks didn't breath enough.

well that kinda worrys me a little then. the dryducks was conciderably better than the tyvek but if wrapd up tight in a storm it could get a little moist.

My advice would be to go with a more breathable, less waterproof bivy, like momentum, and use a tarp when needed. That way you can throw it down in a shelter without poles or stakes, and throw a small tarp/poncho over the top when out in the open.

Here is a suggestion.
Meteor Bivy

And for what it is worth, I have no experience with this bivy.

I do like the idea of momentum bivys i just wonder how much use one could handle before the dwr treatment would begin to fail. im fairly ruff on stuff hints why im looking for something throw down type conditions.

appreciate the link but im leaning moretowards something i could survive fairly dry in with catosrophic tarp failure during storm or just plain beeing lazy and not pitching sed little tarp. i am looking more into momentum bivys and reveiws of them.

The problem with bivies seems always to be that the foot section of the bag/quilt gets wet from insensible perspiration. Opening the foot helps. I don't think anyone has found an effective balance of breathability and water resistance, although IMHO, Driducks comes closest if you put a drawstring closure with a spinthrift collar on it. Then it can be left open unless you are in cold, dry weather. The collar will keep water out in a deluge.

No question that a Bivvy Bag made out of eVent is almost a miracle. I have yet to experience any condensation in my Integral Designs 100% eVent Bivy / Overbag in all conditions.

the lack of bug netting is the only reason this bag is not on my list do you beleave that with a little 3m velcro tape and a swath of noseum netting it be fairly easy to mod this bivy.

Yes I do! I was thinking of doing that once before and e-mailed ID. They suggested the exact same thing you did.

“…a little 3m velcro tape and a swath of noseum netting…”

It just seems this is a recipe for disaster as these siblings are always quarreling.

It was SOOO nice when Joe left Velcro off his 8.oz bug-proof, rain-proof, hexamid tent; and used all zippers.

Just a thought.
-Barry

No - you would be fine with that bivy. It is just a mesh insert that he is refering to and removable. The perimeter mesh could be an issue on any shelter, however.

Side note: On my MLD SoloMid, I have perimeter bug netting but no velcro. Combination of zipper for the door and snaps for the velcro. Works well. The upper vent has a velcro bug insert and there has not been any issue with neeting geting stuck in the velcro because of the size.

hem i dont like disasterous recipies. and lack the equip and know how to sew on zipperd nettting. I wonder if IntegralDesigns would Customize this bivy prior to purchase. wonder what that would cost me. I also wonder if i can find another all event bivys with bug netting aleady in the design. back to google.:)_

Samoset, I used the Integral Designs South Col as a throw down thru-hiking the AT several years ago, and was very pleased, though twice, when I was totally unprotected in an hours-long driving rain, I slept in a puddle. Never figured out how the water got in, but did not seem to be through the cloth itself or the sealed seams. I carried a poncho, but rarely used it for shelter, and in the two rains mentioned above,I had used it to wrap my pack. There was a bit of a learning curve, knowing how much to open to avoid condensation, but had very little trouble.

More recently, I have bee using one of Ron Bell's designs, and I love it. Bell is Mountain Laurel Designs and I think a super designer. I have a poncho/tarp and pack in addition to the bivy,and I'm delighted with them. I probably have at least a hundred nights in the bivy, though I have never tried it in the open in the kind of rain that breached the South Col. Always set up my tarp like a good boy when there seemed to be a chance of rain.

I'm convinced that you can't go very far wrong with either company, but at the moment, I think I would recommend One of Ron Bell's designs.

best, jcp

I haven't had that happen to me in an ID bivy, but have heard of leaking of seams in some of their bivvies! (Knock on wood). I have the all eVent bivvy and there are no seams to leak which is nice. Between this one and the MLD eVent bivvies, I really don't believe there are any better WPB bivvies available.

Nice thing about MLD is that Ron can customize a bug insert. But be aware - it does cost a bit of $$$$.

Should have commented earlier. No, Ron's work is not cheap, but it may be just about the best value around. As designer, he's a magician. He actually understands the materials he works with. He seriously listens to his customers, and the work his shop turns out is top quality (see other comments on this site).

im very curious to know when your south col allowed water in was the bivy on either a pad or a gc.
thanx

Samoset, No, both times I was in full throw-down mode. I was right on the ground itself, nothing in between.

Never did figure out how the water got in. Could not replicate the problem. Stuffed the bivy full of wadded up newspaper (took me and coupla friends most of a day to wad up that much newspaper). Ran garden sprinkler all night and all the paper was dry in the morning. Baffelment. It stood up to several other pretty significant rain squalls without a drop inside.

Only reason I gave up on the South Col was weight. The MLD was just so much lighter, took up a lot less space, and works beautifully. best,jcp

Any chance it was condensation, and not a leak? I had one occasion where the inside of my ID Salathe let the foot of my sleeping bag get wet. Since I was using it under an ID Silshelter, and we had only a slight shower, I knew the bivy didn't leak. Turned out that, by having the shelter pitched low and the bivy pretty well closed, I allowed condensation to form inside the shelter and inside the bivy. It was user error, not equipment failure. I learned, too, that sometimes conditions make it very hard to use a bivy and avoid condensation - not impossible, but hard, which sometimes leads to less-than-optimal results.

If it was raining hard, is it possible that the surface of the waterproof-breathable material was effectively "sheeted over," so that vapor from inside couldn't escape? I know that gore-tex jackets, at least in the early days, had this problem when they "wetted out."

Interesting thought, Glenn, and one I didn't really think about. I did not have a tarp up either time, just open to the sky. I certainly had it closed up pretty tight (four inch or so breathing hole at the side down low--sleeping on stomach so nose/mouth very close to hole). Mentioned earlier that keeping down condensation took some practice/experimentation (on how much to open when) and in these cases it was just button up tight, so condensation is certainly possible (maybe inevitable) and "wetting out" is also likely. But the puddle was probably two or three cups of water in one case. Don't really think I could have collected that much condensation that fast, but lacking any other rational explanation, I certainly can't reject that one. Thanks.

Incidentally, I still liked that bivy a whole lot, used it the whole trail (six months), but in the end, just couldn't justify the weight when MLD item did such a good job for a fraction of the weight (Used the MLD bivy on second thru-hike). best,jcp

I know - I still feel an emotional tug just thinking about my Salathe. I'd probably still be using that Salathe-and-Silshelter setup, which weighed just under 3 pounds, if MSR hadn't come up with the Hubba. For the same weight, it was just as versatile and a lot more comfortable. With my present Carbon Reflex, half a pound lighter, there's even less likelihood of going back.

Thanks to everones help and suggestions on this form i think maybe ill wait a while before rushing into this purchace. maybe get a little more exp and save some money to invest into a mld side zip soul bivy maybe next year. thanks for all the great advice

Samoset,

If you wander over to backpackinglight.com to the gear swap section, you can often find the MLD bivvies for sale. They do go quickly, however.

thanks