[pct-l] bivy sack

[goforth at cnw.com (Joanne Lennox)]

I have used one, although not recently.  In my opinion they have very
limited use, not only because of the condensation, but they offer very
little flexibility for keeping your other gear dry, cooking  and moving
about, with a day after day rain, you get wet a lot faster.  you get wet
getting in and out, you lose things in the darn thing and have to take out
your gear to find it, etc.  It is  good for a  1-3 day trip, I wouldn't use
it for more than that.  It is not good in the nice weather,(too warm and
confining, etc,) better to just have a ground cloth, and it is no good in a
real downpour  for more than a couple days.

Good for the effete, that want to effect an image?.  I do not know anybody
out there that has used them for a multi month trip. I think there is a
emotional component here - something like keeping others and the world out
by crawling in a sack alone and sealing it-t does not have the same feeling
as a tent.  I have never shared a meal or a campsite with a bivy sack person
even though they were close by. A tyvek groundcloth and a siltarp are just
as light or lighter; you can wrap yourself and your gear up in a siltarp
during a sudden  storm; pretty hard to do that with a bivy.  We all have
differnt needs and ways of coping with the world; maybe yours is  staying in
a sack.

I think a lot of bivies get shelved after little use.  Probably could find a
good second hand one on ebay.

If you have always used a tarp or tent on the trail, why switch??? Maybe
borrow one from somebody and sleep in it in a two day rain.

Joanne



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