When the only precipitation you need to be protected from is buzzing around on wings or slithering on its belly, these are the bivouac covers of choice. The no-see-um netting will not let the obnoxious little buggers through, and the overhead pole keeps them from getting too close to your head. We left off a pole at the bottom to eliminate the need for staking out the bivy, but stashing a few things at the foot of it will help keep the netting from resting on bare legs. The long-zip end opening
Perfect light solution for hot summer nights,
I’m not a weight weenie, but when I can reduce bulk [weight and volume], It’s always good.
I have a few O.R. items in my camping and outdoors gear list and I’ve always been pleased with them. That trend continues with this Bivy.
The Bivy construction is very good. Stitching is well done and overall, I expect good reliability. The underneath is tough wearing and as I use a light weight groundsheet for an extra layer anyway.
The pole is easily put in place once you find the little velcro entry on the side. There are marking to show you where to insert the pole.
It packs away to a very small and manageable size.
I’m ~6″, ~100lb so I’m consider myself the larger side of the one size fits all chart. I was easily able to roll inside and I had plenty of head room. Access to the zip [door/entry] was easy and the zip operation was positive.
This product does what it says and provides great protection against airborne and ground borne blood suckers. A colleague woke in the morning from his tent and upon checking himself, found two ticks on his upper body. We’re pretty used to mozzies now and they are not disease carrying. Ticks are real threat however. Two ticks in the tent was somewhat of an exception in fairness [first time in many trips], though certainly not shocking. If I needed a case in point to justify my new bivy purchase, I had just been given one.
I don’t see any negatives to be honest. I used a Thermorest and Snugpak lite sleeping bag and everything worked well. OK, this is all light stuff.
For instance, a blow up mattress or other luxury bedding may make the available space too little and defeat the point of this bivy.
There is some room for some small items in the head area of the bivy [keys, phone, camera and the like]. Not enough for anything more than a small fanny pack or the like but again, storage is not what this product is about.
I did not use the guy line or stake loops on the first night and had no problem. The delrin pole was standing up well. I did on the second and this helped the delrin pole remain upright better.
I put in my larger 4 season bag [Mountain Hardware] just for a test and found it works well also.
The purchase experience from Amazon was great. I needed the item fast and I was impressed with Amazon and their shipping partner choice. I live in EU.
This solution would work well on an MTB / bike trips, hiking, fishing etc. If you need to go light, are in warm climates and need protection at night against bloodsucking bugs, this is certainly a product you should consider.
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Bug Bivy Review,
The Bug Bivy is a fine product and meets all of the needs one would have on an expedition where mosquitoes are a consideration. I took the bivy to Africa recently and used it in several different indoor and outdoor settings. It was easy to carry, setup and sleep in. My only criticisms are: I had a few minutes of confusion as to how to insert the support pole into the bivy as there were no instructions included with the product. However, I later discovered that one of the tags on the bivy had instructions for setup and I had missed it. The support pole’s sections are a bit long for carry in a normal backpack. Even if placed in the bottom of my pack, the poles poke right up against the pack lining and are likely to either cause rub damage to the bivy’s carry sack or the same to the inside of my pack.
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Ingenius product that keeps the bugs away,
This is a marvel of engineering. You unzip the top, slide your sleeping bag in, then you get in and zip it up. Presto! No more bugs. The flexible hoop that keeps the netting up and off your face easily folds down flat when you are not inside the bag. The best part is the hoop breaks down into several pieces and the whole thing stores in a small pouch, about the size of one of those compact raincoat pouches. The construction of the solid piece of vinyl that comprises the bottom of the bag feels a bit flimsy. I was always afraid I was going to rip it, but I never had a problem. I used this bag for approx. 45 straight days and have no complaints.
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