Another shelter thread - best light combo?

[m48shooter3]

always been a tarp fan....

the boys have been biten by the bivy bug and im going to try mine out on my glades trip... i get some pics and reviews... the bug are killer down here so i'm liking the thought... we wil see

 

[m48shooter3]

always been a tarp fan....

the boys have been biten by the bivy bug and im going to try mine out on my glades trip... i get some pics and reviews... the bug are killer down here so i'm liking the thought... we wil see


srry about the above post......

 

[1Tracker]

Actually KGD, you really get used to a bivy very quickly once you've acclimated to it's type of shelter. I've used one for years in certain conditions and it can be the ideal quick shelter after a long hard slog. Some like the Salathe by OR you can put many of the pads folks use right inside along with your sleeping bag of course. This keeps the majority of your kit clean and dry, especially if you stay for longer than a day and the weather breaks. Another benefit to a bivy is that if you use a small type stove of most any type you can just roll over in the morning and fire up your cuppa' Joe without getting out of bed until it's ready Now if that's not a benefit to many here I don't know what is. I've cooked a full meal just leaning on an elbow enjoying the view and surroundings all from the comfort of the bivy.

Once you've spent enough consecutive days in the Bush; your city fears wear off enough to have you stop thinking about being a bear burrito I worry more often about chewing varmints like Marmots, Chipmunks, mice, porcupines getting into my hung up pack than I do a bear rolling me over for breakfast. And the snake fear is overblown as most bivys close up and there is'nt a way for one to get in except from the top down. Now I have heard of a snake getting under a bivy, but that's like a log to them. In the right weather you'll never see a snake, and in some regions you'll never see a bear at certain times of the year.

So your bivy fears are coming from a tent perspective. You have to think 1840's Cowboy Blanket Roll, plenty of Aussies still tuck in one at night while in their notoriously hazardous Bush.

You have less of a hypothermia risk in a bivy then under a tarp IME. This of course comes with a certain amount of common sense, not getting in the bivy wet, breathing out the top not into the bivy, you get my drift...

Okay, sorry it took so long for me to respond guys. I've been packing for the Michigan get-together slated for tomorrow night. I typed that post out in the morning and I must have been pretty drowsy because there are plenty of typos in there!

Anyhow, great responses guys and lets keep this discussion going a bit.



Sounds very nice Fonly. My remembering of things is that when your are under age of twenty and have a woman beside you in bed that you never get much sleep anyway In case you are concerned, that will change when you once you approach fortyish.



Awesome comments 1Tracker; that is exactly the kind of discussion I was hoping this thread would stimulate!



Also many good comments Ravaillac. Now we haven't had a whole pile of hammock posts yet, but I'd like to see somebody chime in.

Still am I the only one deathly afraid of sitting in the middle of nowhere stuck in a bivvy sack. I just have this horrid vision of a bear coming along and enjoying a human fajita. In a tent or a tarp, you are kind of free to move independent of the walls of your surrounding shelter but that bivvy is going to hold onto yeah. Maybe its all just sillyness, how vulnerable do you bivvy folks really feel when you are out there all alone?

 

[1Tracker]

I've used a Clark Jungle Hammock since Gary Clark started making them. They are the Busse of hammocks IME after years of solid use in all weather conditions I HIGHLY recommend them. I'm not affilated with Gary or the Company but I will pimp a product that I think is a HIGH VALUE for the price paid. You can get the 'Weathershield' feature sewn onto any of the models, and it adds a bit more warmth and weather resistance if you decide not to pitch a tarp overhead and it drizzles over night.

Some of the hammocking issues are the way folks tend to sleep at home need to be taken into consideration. I sleep on my stomach, and sometimes side, and in a Clark Jungle Hammock have no problems doing so as long as I pitch it correctly. Which is to say taut enough that there is a shallow U shaped belly in the center. It's the most comfortable sleep I get in the Bush, bar none! No Thermarest has ever given me the comfort of sleeping in the hammock at night. If you're hiking and find yourslef sans trees the Clark Jungle Hammock is one of the few on the market that can be pitched on the ground as a tent. This is due to the side opening dual slider zippers on either side, rather than a bottom access as some other brands. I'm a gear whore what can I say! $30K in 30 years at Campmor!

 

[Ming65]

You have to think 1840's Cowboy Blanket Roll, plenty of Aussies still tuck in one at night while in their notoriously hazardous Bush....

Ahh the venerable swag - as we call it. The primary benefit of which is the ability of the heavy canvas to block out light - so you can sleep in past sunrise and pretend that the several bottles of cheap port that you drank around the campfire with your mates never actually happenned.

Not really a light weight option though - but my swag lives in the back of my car and I can be guaranteed a good nights sleep on almost any surface.

Also - here's my mate JT's rig on a cold night in the NSW highlands.

 

[darkhawk424]

sicily02 dont worry no need to hurry take your time tackle real life problems before they come and tackle you.

jose nice setup there what do you do to ensue that no water pool under you and into your bag?