I was forced to use my OR bivy this weekend instead of my tent because of a strange regulation on numbers of tents per group where we were camping. I realized why I like the bivy so much. This probably doesn't apply to the mosquito infested north, but down here they aren't much of a problem except around dusk. If the chances of rain are low it is my favorite way to camp. I love to sleep completely exposed with the bivy opened up. A tarp blocks the sky and a tent feels claustrophobic in comparison. If it does rain I wake up when I start to feel the raindrops and then I just zip it up. It's such a simple way to camp, it doesn't really get much better for me.
I haven't ever had to ride out a long storm in it which would be miserable, but at that point I'd just put on my rain gear and sit out under a tree if I wasn't sleeping.
Since the bivy takes up so little space I'll probably bring it along on all my upcoming trips along with my tent. If it's rainy I'll use the tent, if not, it's great to be able to unroll my bedroll in less than a minute and get straight to other camp chores.
I haven't ever had to ride out a long storm in it which would be miserable, but at that point I'd just put on my rain gear and sit out under a tree if I wasn't sleeping.
Since the bivy takes up so little space I'll probably bring it along on all my upcoming trips along with my tent. If it's rainy I'll use the tent, if not, it's great to be able to unroll my bedroll in less than a minute and get straight to other camp chores.
