Army bivy + compression sack
With some health hiccups, a still-busy family schedule, and just a sheer lack of "GO!", I've not exactly begun my #SummerCyclingSeason with a bang, this year, but the summer is still young. Instead of miles, I've piled on some minor swag purchases to prepare for ensuing adventures, in part facilitated by some tennis year-end gift cards. I'm going to post some pre-adventure thoughts on said items, and once put through the paces, I'll give each a "review" as needed. So here goes.
Gore-tex military bivy: $42 (w/shipping) from Amazon. I spent quite a bit of time websearching tent options for summer touring, as I'm uninspired with my 1-man AlpsMtneering tent. Eventually I ditched the 'new tent' concept and started looking at bivys, ony to find that they're as expensive as tents. With my limited and occasional camping outings, I decided to go the cheap route and buy a military bivy. They're are generally well-rated for dryness and quality and less-well-rated for weight and "features". As received, it really is a gore-tex sack with a zipper, snaps for extra weather protection and a make-shift hood enclosure that would seem to have the chance to suffocate you in a storm. As a person who doesn't *plan* to camp much in driving storms, I'm not as worried about that at the moment.
While easily stuffable in the bottom of a pannier, I decided to get a Sea-to-Summit compression bag to make the bivy as pannier friendly as possible. I originally bought the medium with a Dick's card but found that I only needed a small, and so exchanged. The bivy now stuffs down to the size of a 2-liter, maybe a little wider but also shorter. The manageable size will fit in either a pannier, Carradice longflap or a backpack if I were to take up that route.
The hope is to use the bivy sack sometime soon for a S24O or for a short tour in lieu of using the 1-man tent. I can see the gore-tex being a bit warm in summer, but I have some options to deal with that as well. More to come.
Gore-tex military bivy: $42 (w/shipping) from Amazon. I spent quite a bit of time websearching tent options for summer touring, as I'm uninspired with my 1-man AlpsMtneering tent. Eventually I ditched the 'new tent' concept and started looking at bivys, ony to find that they're as expensive as tents. With my limited and occasional camping outings, I decided to go the cheap route and buy a military bivy. They're are generally well-rated for dryness and quality and less-well-rated for weight and "features". As received, it really is a gore-tex sack with a zipper, snaps for extra weather protection and a make-shift hood enclosure that would seem to have the chance to suffocate you in a storm. As a person who doesn't *plan* to camp much in driving storms, I'm not as worried about that at the moment.
While easily stuffable in the bottom of a pannier, I decided to get a Sea-to-Summit compression bag to make the bivy as pannier friendly as possible. I originally bought the medium with a Dick's card but found that I only needed a small, and so exchanged. The bivy now stuffs down to the size of a 2-liter, maybe a little wider but also shorter. The manageable size will fit in either a pannier, Carradice longflap or a backpack if I were to take up that route.
The hope is to use the bivy sack sometime soon for a S24O or for a short tour in lieu of using the 1-man tent. I can see the gore-tex being a bit warm in summer, but I have some options to deal with that as well. More to come.
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