Well i'm driving myself nuts tonight with research and have another backpacking question. I'm debating between a tent, bivy, or tarp for shelter when backpacking. My only concern with a bivy is that I may get claustrophobic. At night I can't cover my head with the comforter without losing breath fast. Does anyone have any experience with this? Do bivy's typically 'breathe"? Thanks again!
how long of a backpacking adventure are we talking here? there are bivys out there with screening around the head area instead of a body bag looking bivy.
Donut, I've looked at those, but then im concerned about weather. Hunts will be camp on back for 3-5 days at a time.
gotcha... you can find some tent that are almost like suspended bivies with canopies... there is a lot out there just gotta pick and choose.... i would strongly think about a tarp regardless for an extended trip cuz once your wet its no fun, itll protect your gear, and they will help with the wind if it does become an issue
The best thing I've seen for your situation is the Kifaru Paratarp. It's a hybrid between a bivy, tent and tarp shelter (read: tarp shelter on steroids). The problem with bivies for extended trips is that they are tailored as emergency shelters. They don't breath well at all so if the weather is wet, the inside of the bivy is not going to be able to vent your perspiration out and you're going to end up wet in a couple nights. If you need something more serious than the Paratarp http://www.kifaru.net/paratarp2009.html check out either the supertarp or paratipi http://www.kifaru.net/paratipi2009.html. Don't sweat the floorless design. We have a 6 man tipi and it's great, even here in AK.
I prefer a small tent so I have a little more shelter if weather really turns crappy and also like to be able to set my backpack and bow inside... In fairness I've never used a bivy sack, but again, because of the reasons listed, I'll most likely always just stay with a small tent...
It's nice to have more space so you can put your gear in with you. I'd go for a smaller tent or the Kifaru Paratarp mentioned above.
Thanks for the input guys! Went and looked at some bivy's today....way to small for me. I need to be able to move some lol. I have an older Camel solo pack tent that I will use. I'll save my money and put it towards a water purifier and sleeping pad
I like a tent myself as well. I'm a bigger guy, and I like a minimum 2 person tent (just for me), that way I have plenty of room to stretch out.
I use to spend weeks at a time in the field flyfishing....my favorite tent was one made by Slumberjack.....it was called the Predator. perfect backpacking tent...fairly pricey though. SB
Tent, water purifier, sleeping pad? I hope you're not going on more than an extended squirrel hunt. Every ounce counts when you've got to load a critter in on top of the gear in the mountains. Even my super lightweight overnight pack tops in over 90 lbs. when a deer gets loaded on and it'll push 140 with a goat.
The tent weighs in at about 1.5#'s and the pad i'm looking at was 14 oz. I was originaly thinking of going with iodine pills for water but with pumps in the 10oz range, im not sure if its worth it
