By: Blonde Two
As you know, Blonde One and I have been experimenting with accommodation when we go wild camping on Dartmoor. We usually take a tent but both enjoy the freedom and fresh air you get from a sleep in a bivvy bag. A tarp can add a shelter over your bivvy but, when you put together the weight and bulk of two bivvy bags, a tarp, some guy ropes and a few pegs, they don’t weigh much less or take up much less rucksack space that a shared two-man (two-blonde) tent. We have been thinking about which we prefer and here are our (very Blonde thoughts).
- You can camp more discreetly in a bivvy bag than you can in a tent
- Even the best bivvy bag will let in a little rain if the weather decides to turn nasty
- A tent offers more opportunity for a lie-in than a bivvy bag does
- A tent may make you feel more secure
- You get more kudos from sleeping under a tarp than you do sleeping in a tent
- A bivvy bag might help you relax because you can see what is around you
- Erecting a tarp is great fun when it works but really annoying when it doesn’t
- If you camp using a bivvy bag only, you might want another bag to put your gear into
- A tarp won’t stop slugs from crawling up your nose but a tent might
- If it is really cold, you might want to use a tent and a bivvy bag
- If it is really cold and your tent leaks, you might want to use a tent, a bivvy bag and a tarp
A complicated issue I am sure you will agree. Have no fear however, we Blondes will keep on trying out different arrangements… it’s all good fun!
