[pct-l] Bivy's, sneering

[Brian Lewis]

Eric said: ". . . people with lighter packs always sneer at people with
heavier packs.  It's just the natural order of things. "

My own experience was that it wasn't the natural order of things; perhaps I
was just fortunate in the folks I hung out with, but my sense was that the
types of people to get hung up that much about gear are the ones less likely
to still be on the trail after the first few weeks.   Of course hikers
always like to talk gear, but I hiked with some people that I (and others)
respected very much that had old heavy, clunky gear.  Heck, if anything I
respected them more for that, doing the miles (with never a complaint) with
inexpensive gear.        I will admit that infrequently (particularly
JMT'ers in the Sierras), it was hard to not see a difference between the
volume and doubtless weight of gear carried by more "normal" hikers vs. what
thru-hikers had.   Bottom line though is that I would suggest efforts to
rationally lighten your load to make your overall trip more pleasant, but
not based on what others might think of you.

Bivy sacks: In a way, I like the bivy approach very much insofar as you can
tuck into a sleeping area in the minimal possible footprint.   I'm not a fan
of the heavier, "complete tent replacement" approach, even if the bivy does
have a hoop to keep the netting off your face.  One reason is that I don't
feel secure with such a setup in heavy/steady rain (bivy fabric sitting
right on my sleeping bag), but more importantly, it's no fun on warm buggy
nights.  I've spent a night or two with a heavy bivy where being inside the
bivy was highly desireable to keep the bugs off, yet too warm in there even
if not in my sleeping bag.  In a single wall tent, I never had that problem.

I think a really light weight bivy can be good, one that's not meant to
stand alone, but used in conjunction with a tarp or (better IMO) a dual use
poncho-tarp.  My inexpensive Oware brand light bivy weighs 6.4 oz.   No
hoop, tie up the mesh to poles or something if bug proofing is required.
Or consider one of these "bug bivy" options:
http://tinyurl.com/catp8o
http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/shop/shopexd.asp?id=55&bc=no



Brian Lewis / Gadget '08
http://postholer.com/brianle