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  Topic Name: The Montbell Bivy on: March 26, 2013, 04:10:29 PM
MattL


Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 97


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« on: March 26, 2013, 04:10:29 PM »

AKA U.L. Sleeping Bag Cover http://www.montbell.us/products/disp.php?p_id=2321024

This little gem holds a lot of promise, but I find in practice that it fails to live up.  Or perhaps I'm just expecting too much.  It works OK as a ground sheet, and I appreciate its extra puncture resistance beneath my Neoair Xlite, but I have found that I cannot put the pad and bag both inside the sack for protection from dew.  There's not enough room, I compress the down, and I get cold.

Since it has no zip, it's all or nothing.  I can't really vent it.  Thus most nights I use it as an expensive (and probably fragile) groundsheet, and as a bivy it's generally emergency gear to be used in case of real rain, in which case the pad goes on the outside (ends up dirty, more likely to puncture), I still have to be a bit more careful to preserve loft, and the bag does get wetter from my sweat.

Do most of you just leave it packed unless you expect actual rain?  Do you use it as a ground sheet, maybe only if the ground is soggy?
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I finished the 2013 TD.  I did the whole damn thing,
excluding the 2013 detours, in good style and—as
far as I know—totally in accordance with the rules.

  Topic Name: The Montbell Bivy Reply #1 on: March 28, 2013, 02:05:36 PM
sherpaxc


Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 577


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« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2013, 02:05:36 PM »

I have that bivy.  It's not big enough for me to use the pad inside.  I use a plastic drop cloth under my pad.  I sleep with my bag in the bivy, but that's it.  Works well for me with many nights on the ground and zero punctures. 
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  Topic Name: The Montbell Bivy Reply #2 on: March 28, 2013, 04:55:01 PM
JRA


Location: California
Posts: 362


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« Reply #2 on: March 28, 2013, 04:55:01 PM »

I'm disappointed to hear that is doesn't work well for you.  At 7.2 oz. it sure looks appealing.
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I don't know what the question is - but the answer is: Lubrication!
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