By: Blonde Two
Bivvy bag – Alpkit Hunka XL £45 (Name-SkinnyBlue)
As I stuffed sleeping kit into my inadequately sized day-pack on New Year’s Eve, I was fully prepared not to enjoy my first bivvy experience. I am very pleased to announce that I was wrong and that, despite the insistent Dartmoor mist (see image above), the slightly soggy sleeping bag edge and the bag-flapping wind, I had possibly the best camping sleep that I have had in a long time.
The thing about being in a tent, particularly if you are on your own, is that you can’t tell what is going on outside. I have imagined ponies galloping over me, being swept downriver and even axe murderers before now. In a bivvy, unless you enter upside down (which might be easier) you can see exactly what is happening.
It is lovely too, to be able to feel the cold, peaty air on your face but have the rest of your body toasty warm. I don’t know if the smaller amount of air to heat in a bivvy bag makes it warmer but I didn’t take most of my usual camping accoutrements (they are many) and was as cosy as a cosy thing in Cosy-Land.
I thought that I would mind having flappy bits of bivvy bag in my face but AlpKit clearly know what they are doing and have made their bags out of non-flappy rip-stop nylon. I have had many “I can’t get out!” panics when cold nights have driven me and my many coats right down inside Big Orange (sleeping bag), but it was easy in the bivvy bag, just flip the lid and there was the air again.
I only had two issues with bivvying and I think both of these could be solved by the development of a Blonde system:
The first was storage – you have to wrap all of the stuff you won’t want in the night (rucksack, boots, hunky bloke etc) up in a separate bag (I used my survival bag). This is ok if you are not a Blonde who needs lots of stuff. I ended up sharing my bivvy with my glasses case, my phone, my head torch and my down jacket. Luckily, it was tricky to roll over so I managed not to squash anything.
My second issue was that I clearly need to work on my bivvy-entrance skills. My legs were apparently much too long to allow me to sit on the hood of the bag (thus retaining a dry bottom) and wriggle them inside. My subsequent antics kept Mr Blonde Two (who made a much more elegant entrance) entertained.
I think I may be a bivvy convert. I am already planning the next one and am very much looking forward to trying it in weather that might give me some hope of seeing a sunrise!
One advantage of being short is that I can get away with putting all my gear in my sac at the bottom of the bivvy bag. This not only keeps it all dry but also stops the bivvy from blowing away if you get out!
Phone, torch, glasses etc go in my boots which are placed beside my head in the hood of the bivvy bag this stops them getting lost and damaged – luckily my feet don’t smell too bad!
This all makes a lot of sense. My bag is very long, maybe I could fit my gear in at the bottom. It would save having another wet, flappy thing to deal with in the morning. Not sure that I can ever face the idea of my face being next to my boots though!
Do you use a sleeping mat?
Of I use a mat, I’m not completely mad! Normally a thermarest on the inside of the bag if it’s a planned bivvy and its not a really light weight trip
I have done a couple of ‘less planned’ nights but I normally have a karrimat on my sac.
Do you always carry your bivvy bag? Was considering mine as an alternative to the survival bag.
Yup nearly always, apart from being bright orange I can’t think of any situation where a bit of orange plastic is going to be preferable to a decent bivvy bag.
I have a standrd Hunker but am thinking about buying the larger one. My Hunker has been adapted, it now has a 4′ waterproof zip down one side, its now so much more user friendly.
I was going to say, do you use a thermarest. Not sure my back would hold up to sleeping on the ground-although I’m sure if one picked the correct consistency of peat to lie on, it could be quite comfy!
I use a small vinyl roll-top drybag for my essential gear, and leave it outside the bivvy bag. I’ve never got any wet gear yet. My bag only has room for me and my layer upon layer of clothing, but entrance is definitely easier standing up and stepping in. I have moments of panic when sealed inside as I’m slightly claustrophobic, but a torch in my pocket or attached to my wrist (along with the dog lead) helps. The problem I find hardest to deal with is K9, who has a small tarpaulin shelter. He is not over-keen, but tolerates it. The things a dog has to do!
I found that, although I didn’t use it, having my torch easily to hand was a comfort. We Blondes saw a chap with a hooped bivvy that he shared with his hound. In the morning, the dog was out and about (but attached) while he was still asleep. I don’t think your hound would fit!
Hi
What type of sleeping bag did you use – synthetic or down? Was the bivvy bag dry inside in the morning? I am trying to decide which bivvy bag to buy and really fancy the Alpkit one.
Thank you
Lots of people really recommend the Alpkit bivvy. Mr B2 has a different one and his made far more condensation than mine.
Hello! My sleeping bag (Big Orange is his name) is a down one. Only the top edge got wet and that was because I didn’t pull the bivvy drawstrings tight enough.
When I packed up, the bivvy was damp inside but my sleeping bag is slightly water-resistant and I was completely dry.
PS The blue bivvy is a lovely colour! (Girl tip!)
I don’t use a sleeping bag, I use a down sleeping quilt, much lighter and compresses smaller.
I can recommend the “standing up and stepping in” technique too; works very well. I carry a thermarest and have it outside the bivvy bag, which helps protect the bag from being punctured by any sharp bits on the ground.
My big question now is, “Do you step into the sleeping bag at the same time?”
I am too fond of my Thermarest to risk it being on the ground (I think!)
The ultimate bivvying anecdote occurs in A Short Walk in The Hindu Kush, by Eric Newby, quite possibly the best ever mountaineering book written.
Newby and his mate are having a tough time of it in what is now Afghanistan and they come by chance on the great wanderer and Arabist, Wilfred Thesiger. Newby specialises in a writing style that deliberately makes light of their privations and the account uses Thesiger’s words to show there is another (more experienced) level in exploration. As they struggle to prepare the site of their bivvy Thesiger more or less accuses of them of being softies, while he sleeps on (I think) bare rocks with no bag.
There’s an extract in The Guardian that tells the tale:
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/oct/29/travelobituaries.travelbooks.escape
This doesn’t mean to think of you and Mr B2 as softies. Hard as nails the pair of you. And not the nails that bend when you mishit them. The sort that can be driven straight into bricks.
A similar event occurred to me personally. While at the Outward Bound Mountain School, we slept overnight in a wreck of a hut all holes and whistling wind. The warden, Eric Shipton (famed advocate of light Himalayan expeditions) said he couldn’t understand how we could stay in such a stuffy atmosphere and he too bedded down outside.
There you are – up with the greats.
On the to-buy list now. For myself and Mr B2 to enjoy. I particularly liked, “… crag of a man …”, we have all met and admired outdoor people of that type.
Sounds like a good trip. I do enjoy getting back to basics and being closer to the envinroment. I think my Rab bivi bag is similar to the Hunka and there’s a definite knack to wriggling into it without getting a wet bum. I slept out in my Rab bag a few nights ago but had the extra comfort of an Alpkit tarp to keep the driving rain off. I’d never thought of using the foot end of the bag to store things; I just tend to shove it all back in my rucksack and keep a few essentials in my sleeping bag with me. I slept with my headtorch on my head the other night!
Hi Judith
It was really enjoyable. Not an expedition in the true sense of the word (fairly near to the car) but I have the confidence now to go a bit further afield. A tarp sounds like the next piece of equipment 🙂
Congrats on surviving and enjoying your first bivvy. You can now progress to bothying, snowcaving, oldruining, airportlounging and lots more places to use your bag.
Funnily enough, I have just been invited to go bothying this weekend and think I will say “yes”.
We have lots of old ruins on Dartmoor, some are a bit spooky. Blonde One and I have selected a spot already! I particularly want to use my bivvy bag in the snow (not really sure why!)
Will look forward to your post.
I have the standard Hunker and I got a friend to fit a 4′ waterproof zip along one side, it now works so much better, in and out is easy! I attach a length of fishing line to my Hunker and the other end to a ‘rape alarm’ (3 units for £10 from Amazon) then another short piece of fishing line to my rucksack. If it moves in the night the alarm shrieks very loudly. Its never happened yet. My rucksack is covered with my waterproof elasticated cover, works well! When I decide my place for the night, I lay my groundsheet, my Thermarest Prolight self inflating mattress on top the my Hunker. The only decision I need to make is, would I enjoy the Hunker more if I bought the larger one???
We could have done with your safety arrangements the night the fox kept stealing our rucksacks from under the flysheet!
I have the standard Hunker but am thinking of buying the XL version. My Hunker has been adapted, it now has a 4ft waterproof zip down one side, it now so much more user friendly.
That really is an excellent idea… I can see why bivvy bags don’t have zips, cold, possible leakage and expense but they really would make a difference!