[pct-l] Tent vs Bivy Sack

[Tim Gustafson]

Hi,

So I went for a "training" trip this weekend at Henry Coe park with my
Eureka Solitaire tent.  The tent was woefully inadequate for the cold
temperatures overnight - I'm not sure exactly, but I would say it got
down to perhaps 25 degrees or so.  There was a significant
accumulation of ice crystals inside and outside the tent.  Since it is
a 3-season tent, it doesn't ever "seal shut" - the tent is no-see-um
mesh covered with a second layer that is essentially a rain fly, but
since the rain fly doesn't zip shut (it stakes to the ground
separately from the rest of the tent), there was no good seal around
the perimeter of the tent and I got a constant draft through the tent
all night.  I wound up "cocooning" myself into my sleeping bag and
holding closed the top as I slept.

So I'm thinking about perhaps purchasing something that would be more
suitable for 4-season use, and I was wondering if I should get a
4-season backpacker tent, or maybe go for the bivy sack option.  The
bivy sacks are way lighter than the 4-season tents I'm finding, they
pack smaller, and they're a lot cheaper too.

I'm not thrilled with the prospect of my pack and boots getting rained
on, but I suppose I could fix that with a waterproof pack sack, or
perhaps a tarp that I could erect a simple shelter for them in the
event of rain.

Does anyone have any wisdom related to using a bivy sack rather than a tent?

-- 

Tim Gustafson
tjg at tgustafson.com
http://tgustafson.com/