Bivy sack in the Rain

[Woodland]

During my attempt at this years CTR I carried an MSR AC bivy, a Klymit 6oz pad and a 1lb sleeping bag and on clear nights it was an awesome setup. Super lightweight and compressed down to a small size under the handlebars.

Here was my problem though and where I am wondering what others do. I couldn't imagine how I would get into the bivy while it was raining or if I was soaking wet - I kept wishing I had some kind of shelter to get under to change before getting into the bivy, but that is more gear and more setup time. So most nights I bedded down at dusk before the next storm rolled in, or I kept going waiting for the rain to stop so I could dry off a bit before setting up camp.

So how does anyone who uses a bivy successfully in the rain deal with getting into a bivy while it's raining, or when they are soaking wet without getting dry stuff wet?

Thanks for any tips for this bivy sack rookie

[Done]

Trees help a lot. I try to park my head under a nice big and/or dense one, and it helps keep the rain off of my head and out of my bivy.

But sometimes that's not an option, at which point I just set up and jump in as quickly as I can. There's no way to do it and stay perfectly dry, but I've found that a little moisture isn't that bad for a night or two--especially in Colorado. Having to set up and break down over several consecutive nights can start to suck though, so I'll usually find a time during the day to pull things out and dry them off if I start to get really soggy.

[ezdoesit]

During my attempt at this years CTR I carried an MSR AC bivy, a Klymit 6oz pad and a 1lb sleeping bag and on clear nights it was an awesome setup. Super lightweight and compressed down to a small size under the handlebars.

Here was my problem though and where I am wondering what others do. I couldn't imagine how I would get into the bivy while it was raining or if I was soaking wet - I kept wishing I had some kind of shelter to get under to change before getting into the bivy, but that is more gear and more setup time. So most nights I bedded down at dusk before the next storm rolled in, or I kept going waiting for the rain to stop so I could dry off a bit before setting up camp.

So how does anyone who uses a bivy successfully in the rain deal with getting into a bivy while it's raining, or when they are soaking wet without getting dry stuff wet?

Thanks for any tips for this bivy sack rookie

Tarp

[Buttermilk]

I used a poncho tarp like this one, http://www.seatosummit.com/products/display/61, and tied it off to my bike or some trees. It was sweet for those couple of nights that rained all night long. I was dry, shoes were dry, and I had some where to rip off the shorts and socks before climbing into the bivi. 

The trick is to tie off the hood part up to a limb above you to keep the water shedding off.

I also wore the poncho while pushing through section 23 in. Not so great for riding but it did keep me totally dry. Can beat dual purpose gear.

[Done]

While climbing, I don't envy guys carrying the extra weight of tarps.

But while rolling past guys with tarps in the rain, I have to resist the urge to steal one and dash into the night!

[Woodland]

Yeah, I didn't want the extra weight of a tarp either or the hassle of stringing it up in the dark exhausted. Nothing easier or faster than a bivy.

However after those storms that week I was wishing I had reconsidered!

[LiiT]

"Hot Pocket" is what i call my homemeade tyvek bivy w/ some spectra line tie-outs built in with tyvek tape...  Literally, a nightmare during all night storms in the South.  I took it for my Pinhoti ride in October. Also, It weighs as much or more than one of my tarps.

 I've got a 14oz sil-nylon tarp and a 8oz cuben fiber tarp.  Funny thing is that the sil-nylon seems to pack tighter and is a bit larger overall with beaks on the ends.  I prefer the sil-nylon packability and coverage.  *Note the cuben will pack small but it needs to be folded up or held in compression more so than the sil-nylon. 

I enjoy my poncho tarp as well, but if it rains a lot I find the coverage to be the absolute minimum and the drip lines from the edges often cause splashing off the ground, but it's definately better than a bivy.

As far as not gettin wet in camp, I usually hike with an umbrella and it outperforms my rainjackets everytime, so I bought a 4oz collapsible umbrella (golit3) for smoke/snack breaks during rainy day rides in Virginia.  Last time with just my rainjacket, I found it difficult to find enough cover to try and eat, look at maps, and light up while waiting on the group.  A couple times, I started gettin the shivers standing at a turnoff waitin (aka "did you have a mechanical?-it's been like 30 mins bro.")for those jokers in 50F rain.  Anyways, a bit of a luxury it's probably easier to carry brownies...

[Buttermilk]

Agreed about the weight...but it was worth it once the clouds let loose. I think next year I'll trim weight in other ares in order to keep the tarp. It was nice to pack a dry bivi and bag in the morning and not carry the weight of wet equipment.

[bmike-vt]

i tried a bivy and tarp for some exploring. i didn't enjoy it, and returned the bivy.
 
for the same weight as some tarp and bivy setups i found i could move to a tarptent contrail. 20 oz. (advertised) with a 2 oz pole as i don't carry a trekking pole (although i've heard it can be rigged with a tree). room to sit up in the covered doorway to change, and nothing in my face.

[Woodland]

The Contrail may be my solution. As you said, lighter than most bivy/tarp combos. Does it set up pretty easy?

[bmike-vt]

i did my first pitch in about 5 minutes or less, fussing with it to understand it.
after you get it down it is more like 2 minutes.

pull it out, stake 4 corners (they are on guy lines). put in the pole. pull the corner adjusters tight.
throw in your bag and pad.

tweak the sides and stake em down if there is weather coming in. you can also stake out the beak.
jump in.

the guy in the videos below can do it in under a minute.

http://www.youtube.com/user/francodarioli/videos?query=contrail


if you ride flat bars, check out the tarptent moment. even easier to pitch, but it weighs 30oz.

[joeydurango]

The Moment is pretty sweet.  It's what I've been using the last year or two.  For pack size's sake, however, I'm trying out a Nemo bivy - packs small, is light, no poles but still stays off your face (small inflatable "Airbeam").  Haven't taken it on a trip yet, but camping out in the yard seems quite good, and I even turned the hose on it with no ill effects... looking forward to having time for an actual trip on which to use the thing.

[gowlin]

Why is the moment good for flat bars?  Looking at the tarptents website I couldn't figure out what the advantages of the moment were over the contrail (more expensive, heavier, etc)..

[joeydurango]

The Moment doesn't work well for drops because it has four small internal carbon poles that make its pack width about 18" - which sticks out too far for drops.  Flat or riser bars are fine.  You can also take the internal poles out, but that's a pain and is time-consuming.

The Moment is also sweet for bikepacking because it sets up fast, with only two stakes and one alloy pole.  Buy some MSR Groundhog stakes or something though, because the stock Easton ones don't work well in most western soil...

[Buttermilk]

Joey,
The moment look like a sweet set-up. The website says 30oz weight. Have you weighed yours? Just curious what the actual weight comes in at. Thanks.

[sfuller]

For pack size's sake, however, I'm trying out a Nemo bivy - packs small, is light, no poles but still stays off your face (small inflatable "Airbeam").  Haven't taken it on a trip yet, but camping out in the yard seems quite good, and I even turned the hose on it with no ill effects... looking forward to having time for an actual trip on which to use the thing.

I bought a Nemo Gogo bivy used from a friend and have taken it out on a couple of overnight sandbar camps the last two weeks. Setup and teardown is quick. I used 5 stakes for setup the first night. This last time, I used one more stake and a line to help hold the hoop up and keep the top from sagging down.

There's enough room up in the beak to store a small bag if necessary. I spent one night in it while there was some light rain. I stayed dry, but like any bivy, seems like condensation was an issue with the rain fly closed. I think it will be a good choice for fall camps for me. For summer, definitely not enough ventilation. I'm still working out my tarp/bivy setup for warmer weather

[LonestarJ]

Joey,
The moment look like a sweet set-up. The website says 30oz weight. Have you weighed yours? Just curious what the actual weight comes in at. Thanks.

I'm not Joey but I bought a Moment for use on CTR this year. Mine weighed 31oz on my scale, which given potential calibration error, is close enough to the spec'd weight to make me happy.

I will add that given the multiple rainy days I saw on CTR this year, the comfort the Moment provided relative to the 1oz weight increase over my bivy was well worth it.

Jason.

[mtnbound]

I used the Contrail on the CTR this year and it worked well.  The first night I screwed up setting the rear 2 stakes and they collapsed in the middle of the night, causing the rear half of the tent to collapse on me though I didn't notice until morning (luckily it didn't rain that night!).  However, the rest of the time, I was able to (properly) set it up within 2-3 minutes without a problem (and it withstood some hard rains).  Just try setting up the tent several times b/f bikepacking so you have it all down pat - don't want to learn with rain, wind, hard ground, etc. 

I never weighed the Contrail but it is advertised as 24 oz (plus 2 oz pole).  I took the collapsible pole (think it's about 16 inches long) and strapped it to my downtube so it didn't get in the way (and avoid handlebar issues) - I also tied a small piece of cord around the front end (threaded it thru two pieces by the stretchy string that makes it collapsible) and tied that cord to the bottom of the stem so the pole would not slide down the downtube.  It was very nice to be able to sit up to change and not be in the rain (and it keeps my down bag dry since the bag can be taken out and rolled up inside the tent). 

[Slim]

For use with a bivy: a tiny tarp. They can be ridiculously light, so unless you think it's almost certain not to rain I'd bring it.

Even better: a full size tarp and breathable bivy. I don't like the lack of breathability of wp bivies.

[ron]

Superlight bivy + cuben Monk tarp = 12oz total with ultimate flexibility. Both from http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/