To bivy or not to bivy

[Deli]

I tried a bivy and absolutely not for me.

I have a Six Moons Lunar Solo single pole complete shelter. If i was truely thinking carry on back mobile, I would take my six moons gatewood cape tarp and the nest. I can setup the tarp for any bad weather and set up with the nest for sleeping at night.

Both of these i can setup at close to 54" tall with long guy lines. They shed light snow pretty good.

I thought about the lunar solo since the price is decent. I did read some trouble pitching it but maybe that just comes down to practice? At 6 ft tall, would I have enough space?


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[Blurry1]

Lots of ways to skin that cat. Some of the tents out there can be set up using poles and fly only. Big Agnes comes to mind. Having spent quite some time sleeping in bivy sacks I would be hesitant to recommend them if you move around a lot. You will be more comfortable in a good hammock than a bivy when it comes to that. I also don’t think a bivy is really all that valuable if your already using a tarp unless your worried about water running down hill and getting you and your sleeping bag wet. Just my 2cents but pick one or the other. Not both.

 

[Deli]

Lots of ways to skin that cat. Some of the tents out there can be set up using poles and fly only. Big Agnes comes to mind. Having spent quite some time sleeping in bivy sacks I would be hesitant to recommend them if you move around a lot. You will be more comfortable in a good hammock than a bivy when it comes to that. I also don’t think a bivy is really all that valuable if your already using a tarp unless your worried about water running down hill and getting you and your sleeping bag wet. Just my 2cents but pick one or the other. Not both.

The thought process was to use more of an open mesh style bivy and not a full waterproof one. Something I can just throw down on nice nights and keep the critters off me and then use the tarp or a lightweight shelter if there is weather. I’m probably overthinking it as some of these new tents only take 10 minutes tops to set up. My problem I wanted to solve is finding something with a smaller footprint to make it easier to find a place to sleep as the xmid 2 needs a pretty large flat area to get a perfect pitch.


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[Crews]

I enjoy my MLD Bug Bivy II and tarp. It’s nice to have the bivy with splash protection and stand alone capability as long as it’s breathable. Wish I had side zip instead of top entry. But that’s a very small gripe. It’s lighter and a bit cheaper than most one person tents. And perhaps a tiny bit more versatile than a tent, depending on which one you are comparing against. Think the best answer here is to try them all out and figure out what tickles your fancy. All this talk is splitting hairs

 

[CMF]

My problem I wanted to solve is finding something with a smaller footprint to make it easier to find a place to sleep as the xmid 2 needs a pretty large flat area to get a perfect pitch.

If you're going solo, what about the bivy with the X-Mid 2 fly?
If you want to cut more weight, upgrade to the dcf fly. If you only have enough flat for one mattress, you can still get a good enough pitch with the xmid 2 to shed water and accept that it won't be perfect. It might be a little wonky, but I've set the xmid 2 up on a decent slope and then used a rock to scrape a 2p flat spot. Had I been alone, the flat spot would have been quick and easy to dig.
I tried an HG DCF tarp with doors and a bivy last year, solo, on a sheep hunt. The tarp definitely took me longer to pitch than the DD xmid 2. I'll probably keep the HG tarp, but to do it again, I would spend the money to upgrade my xmid 2 to dcf and just run the fly with bivy.
I did learn the first night in the bora bivy, that you better be flat, or your pad will slide on the bivy.
If you're always solo and like the xmid, look at the dcf 1p.

 

[rclouse79]

After trying multiple configurations of tents, tarp-bivy and floorless, I am a Durston x-mid man. I will take the ease of setup, comfort, storm and bug protection over the tiny weight savings a bivy and tarp might offer.