[pct-l] Fw: Tents vrs Tarps - Bivies?

[Timothy Nye]

Great series of posts on this question.  I posed my original question to Ron
about the virtues of a light bivy vs. enhanced fabric for a sleeping bag
based on specific situations that I had observed on the trail.  Who better
to ask than one of the best known gear makers (Six Moons Designs)?

This also goes to Mike's observation about not believing in limitations.  I
couldn't agree more about that.  Most people limit themselves unnecessarily
, that are inherent in us all, in failing to be able to recognize the true
abilities that they possess and the things that they can otherwise achieve.
Hikers see that all the time; encountering repeatedly the question
of: "Isn't it dangerous out there"?  The same thing holds true about going
into business for yourself.  In the end, it is all about having the
knowledge to be able to make an informed decision; that is, a calculated
risk and learning that in the end the rewards are infinitely greater.

Specifically, last spring there were consecutive days of high winds (gale
force) with freezing rain, sleet, snow.  How best to deal with this?  My
first observation was that I understood at once the plains Indian's teepee
design as being able to effectively shed wind from any direction.  This is
something my tarp tent wouldn't be able to handle; and indeed many tents
were trashed.  I have a tarp (7.5 oz)and a lightweight bivy (5.5 oz), the
latter with a cuben fiber bottem and momentum top.

The downside, as I see it, from a standard tarp set up is that high
winds may blow precipitation in on a ground sheet, more or less depending on
size, and create either a puddle effect or drainage channel wetting a bag.
Ron's cape has the advantage of a pyramid design that sheds wind and would
screen the rain; primary downside (to me) is that you lack the layering
warmth that a true shell provides....but I could dump the weight of the tarp
and the bivy and add a piece of painters plastic that I could form into a
bathtub; all at the approx same weight as my existing shell.

Yet, in the end the true value of these discussions, whether they lead to
new gear or not on an informed cost benefit analysis, is really that they
cause us to consider different scenarios that we may encounter on the trail
and determine in advance how they might effectively be dealt with.