RE: [at-l] Bivy sacks, again.

["Mayer, Jim" <JMayer@crt.xerox.com>]

I actually own both a Stephenson's 2RS tent (3lbs 2oz with ground cloth)
and a bivy, and I do actively consider taking the bivy sack.  The weight
savings with my relatively heavy bivy are next to zilch (or even
negative, depending on what other gear I carry and how I use it).  So
what gives?

Well...

The tent is definitely more comfortable.

The tent is slightly more difficult to set up than just the bivy, but
substantially easier to set up than a bivy and a tarp.

On the other hand I have not had any problem sleeping in my Integral
Designs Unishelter.  Ventilation at the head is excellent (I've been
able to get good ventilation even in severe thunderstorms) and there is
plenty of room to turn over or read.  For warmer weather the bivy zips
open down to waist level on the right side and the entire opening is
backed by noseeum mesh... this is where a small tarp or poncho comes in
handy.  I do get some condensation in the foot section, but not enough
to actually wet the bag.

The real advantage of the bivy comes when "stealth" camping.  To use my
bivy all I have to do is find a piece of reasonably flat ground big
enough to lie down in.  In my experience so far it is much, much harder
to find a decent tent site.  At least in North Central PA where I've
done most of my hiking there just aren't that many big open patches.

The other option that looks like it will work really well for "stealth"
camping is to carry just a tarp and a head net to keep the bugs off.  I
haven't tried this enough to endorse it, but my experiences so far have
been promising.  One recent experiment involved just using a
backpacker's poncho (raingear + tarp) and a groundcloth... the poncho
provided plenty of coverage and kept my dry through several hours of
light rain.  Since this was a low altitude summer trip I wasn't too
worried about cold, although I did carry a windbreaker and fleece along
with the poncho.  The only "bug" problem I had was with slugs... they
leave slime trails on your sleeping bag and smell really, really, bad if
you don't pick all of them off the ground cloth before folding it up.

Anyway, if I'm camping at established sites finding a spot to put the
tent isn't a problem.  But when I'm hiking by myself my schedule usually
goes something like this:

	(1) get up, eat a cold breakfast, and start hiking
	(2) sometime in late afternoon find a nice stream, stop, and eat
dinner.
	(3) get up and start hiking
	(4) about an hour before it starts to get dark begin looking for
a place to sleep.
	(5) set up camp and go to sleep

Sometimes I'll stop and write or just enjoy a pretty spot, but I can
write just fine in the bivy (if I have to) and I usually stop to enjoy a
spot in good weather.  Most of the time, though, I might as well walk
after dinner (the after dinner conversation is a bit limited on solo
trips) and, besides, that's really why I'm out there.

-- Jim

> -----Original Message-----
> From: DaRedhead@aol.com [mailto:DaRedhead@aol.com]
> In a message dated 9/2/98, 10:52:02 PM, thatgirl@astrogirl.com writes:
> 
> <<  If I'm waiting out rain during the day, I can do that in 
> a shelter.>>
> 
> Assuming, of course, that a) you're AT a shelter and b) there 
> aren't 25 other
> thru hikers in it.  I don't know - but to me, the 10 extra 
> ounces is less
> important than other things - having a tent means an easy, no 
> hassle house.
> You don't have to depend on shelters, you won't have to stay 
> in essentially
> one position when spending long periods of time in it, it 
> sets up easy, you
> can have your pack inside when it's raining - there are so 
> many advantages to
> having a tent, I have to wonder why anyone wouldn't chose to 
> carry one.  I
> know a lot of ultra lighters go with a tarp or bivy - but I 
> just don't see how
> the weight you shave off is worth it. 
> 
> The Redhead
> Ga > Me  00
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