I’ve been exploring the possibility of acquiring a bivy bag for my bikepacking adventures for some time now. Currently, I own a one-person tent. To be honest, I’m increasingly inclined towards the idea of a bivy, primarily because it is generally lighter than most tents. However, there are several factors to consider if you’re thinking about making the switch.
Bivy bags are quite popular in audax cycling events. The interior space of a bivy is quite limited. If you suffer from claustrophobia, you might want to skip this entire article. Bivies are extremely lightweight, which is a major reason some bikepackers prefer them. However, they offer very little room to move around. If you’re bike touring with more gear that you’d like to store inside your shelter for the night, a bivy could feel even more cramped, potentially making it an impossible option. This is why I recommend them for bikepacking, where you start with minimal gear, allowing you to store only the essentials, which are typically small.
Most bivy bags are not ideal in warmer or more humid environments due to the reduced airflow inside, which can lead to overheating. This makes them perfect for colder times of the year when the trapped air circulates within the bivy, keeping you warm—this is the ideal scenario for using a bivy bag when bikepacking.
For example, I used an emergency bivy that we purchased from the UK for a relatively low price. Honestly, it’s supposed to be used only a handful of times. However, I use it every night I go bikepacking, and it still works fine to this day. It’s very lightweight, essentially a very thin sleeping bag with a drawstring hood, and does an excellent job at keeping out the cold and waterproofing me. I really got a chance to test it one night when we were camping on a playground, of all places, on a teepee-shaped structure that leaked like a sieve. It stormed all night, but I was dry as a bone.
There are some trade-offs for the extreme packability of a bivy. Some have a problem with condensation, making your sleeping bag wet where it touches the bivy, which is obviously not desirable when you want to stay warm and dry.
But it really comes down to the point where you are cutting very marginal weight with a bivy compared to a super-light tent, like the Nemo Hornet, which has a packed weight of 2 pounds (905 grams) or you can opt for the two-person version which would be much more comfortable at 1.08 kg. For comparison, a bivy like the Black Diamond Bipod Bivy Shelter has a total weight of 892 grams. They are around the same price, with the bivy being slightly cheaper. When looking at these two, it really doesn’t make sense to opt for a bivy at the moment. Is saving a few hundred grams of weight really worth it?
This brings me back to my emergency bivy bag. If you really want to go light, you could use something like that, just your sleeping bag, mat, and that bivy, and it would weigh almost nothing. Then you are just lying on the ground. It’s an option if you want to go super-duper light.
It’s important to look at what doesn’t work for using a bivy when bikepacking. Hopefully, this helps you make a more informed decision. At the beginning of writing this article, I was all for them, but at the moment, I am not so sure, really casting them in a bad light. But wait, we will get to the reasons why you may want to consider a bivy soon.
Again, as I mentioned before, they really lack space for storage. You may not think that’s important until you have to camp somewhere a bit sketchy. Suddenly, you might wish you had your panniers or all your gear beside you.
The confined space is what most people dislike about bivies; it’s so confined that you aren’t even able to read a book or change clothes when it’s raining outside.
There are a few solutions to some of the cons of using a bivy that have been mentioned above. Some use a bivy and tarp setup, which works great, providing a shelter that allows you to get out of the bivy and still have some coverage for getting changed or moving about to stretch, read a book, or even eat dinner while lying down. Plus, this setup is still considerably lightweight.
Bivies are great if you want to blend in with your surroundings and be super stealthy. My emergency bivy is a dark green, and when lying down on the ground completely covered by the bivy, you could mistake me for some shrubbery. They also add some extra warmth to your sleeping bag. However, you can feel a bit vulnerable when using them as they don’t offer much protection compared to a two-person tent.
You might want to consider a hammock-bivy setup, which seems more practical than just a standalone bivy. Plus, it’s a hammock too! And let’s face it, hammocks are really cool.
It must also be mentioned that pole bivies weigh about the same as a small tent. But one of the main benefits of a bivy, especially the really lightweight ones, is the weight. They can be much lighter; getting under a kilo for a tent costs money, and then you have a tent that weighs as much as a heavy bivy setup. Then someone points you in the direction of a 180g bivy bag and cuben tarp that together weigh less than a can of Coke, including a pole and pegs. That is what makes a bivy more appealing to me.
But then again, the more I look into it, the more I realize that a bivy is not really the best buy. With the new generations of quality ultralight tents, bivies are just history. The new ultralight tents are as light and as packable as bivies and not more expensive—a no-brainer choice.
In my opinion, I would opt for a lightweight bikepacking tent. I have written a complete list of bikepacking tents article about some of the best lightweight tents that you can use for your next bikepacking adventure. Unfortunately, for me, bivies can’t beat the comfort that comes with a tent, being able to sit up and move about without being confined like in a bivy.
About The Author
