Shopping for shelter

[mtwarden]

This is a fascinating option. Where did you find this?

that one is a MLD (mountain laurel designs)- they offer 4 or 5 different ones, but there are several others that offer "mids" (pyramid)- Golite, Black Diamond, Oware, Bear Paw and I think Gossamer Gear is offering a new one- probably others as well

most of the above also offer inner tents to go w/ them as well

 

[JohnWayne360]

Well, In my limited experience with bivy sacks I can tell you that they suck. They're really popular with the mountaineering crowd beacuse more often than not, they're working with limited space on the ledge of God knows where. If you're not in that situation then consider something like a lightweight tent.
You won't be able to change inside a bivy, you won't be able to sit comfortably and read or eat your food, you won't be able to cook, and the list keeps going.
I myself use a lightweight 2 person tent with just the rainfly, the poles and the footprint. The main tent body can be left behind if you think 5lbs is too much, that cuts the weight in half. You get plenty of space, bombproof construction and you wont have to worry about findingtrees or rocks to secure your tarp/hammock to since the tent is free standing. In case you're wondering, it's an REI Half Dome 2, cost me like 150 bucks with a discount.
To each its own, I just rather carry more weight and feel safer and more comfortable in a proper shelter.

 

[Zombie Zeke]

LOL!

I really like my Sierra Nevada Pale Ale when I'm sitting around the pool watching the kids swim.

But the whole point to backpacking is to get far enough up a trail that the kind of people who would haul bottles of beer into the woods won't go there. There's nothing more irritating than listening to people clink bottles of beer and talking until 2 am when you're trying to sleep one campsite over.

I agree, that doesn't sound like it's going to be an issue with how light you guys are going though.

 

[bulgron]

Well, In my limited experience with bivy sacks I can tell you that they suck. They're really popular with the mountaineering crowd beacuse more often than not, they're working with limited space on the ledge of God knows where. If you're not in that situation then consider something like a lightweight tent.
You won't be able to change inside a bivy, you won't be able to sit comfortably and read or eat your food, you won't be able to cook, and the list keeps going.

Seems to me, that's why you use a tarp and a bivy. The bivy is just to keep the sleeping bag dry in the event of a strong enough storm that you get rain blowing in under the tarp. Obviously this option is going to suck if you head out and you get a major storm the entire trip. But the weather in California is usually mild enough (even in the Sierra Nevada, or so I've heard) that most of the time the bivy won't be necessary.