UKC

Hi Everyone.

So, I bought an Alpkit Hunka in January, and have used it in the Ben Nevis Car Park on a dry night, and also a rainy night. On the rainy night I also had a tarp wrapped around me. In the morning I was basically laying in a puddle due to the tarp acting like a basin!

I was totally dry in the Hunka though so thumbs up for that... But I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience in the rain with the Hunka without a tarp?

The hood doesn't zip up, only tightens, meaning that if you laid on your back and the hood folded over your head, rain could run into the bag. The only other thing I thought of was to have the hood facing the floor - but then you have the hood of your sleeping bag touching the wet ground...

Anyone have any suggestions to this, or is the bivvy bag not ideal for rainy nights? I know tents are the way to go, but I'm just wondering about the bivvy bag.

Cheers

Nick

In reply to Nick_Merriman:

Same happened to me, I have a zipped bAg now which is better in the rain.
The Hunka is probably better suited to cold and dry conditions or emergency/extreme use.

If using the tarp again try rigging it up on cord and lie under it. Should give enough cover to keep rain off your face. You could trap the tarp in car door and peg the bottom out when in NF car park.

Andy

In reply to Andrew Wilson:

Andy,

Thanks for the reply - which bivvy do you have now?

I had planned on rigging the tarp up - but arriving in the NF car park at 3 in the morning in the rain meant I ended up just wrapping myself in the tarp =p.

Nick

In reply to Nick_Merriman:

Based on too much experience with similar designs of bivvy bag, the options are-
1. Find somewhere sheltered to put you head
2. Pitch a tarp using a handy tree/bivvy pole or other suitable object and create your own shelter for you head
3. Do the drawstring up as much as you can. Position the hole near your mouth, roll onto your side and adopt the foetal position. Lie there hoping the rain stops soon. Any sleep will be disturbed by either rain pouring in the hole or the bivvy bag moving so you lose your air hole - both result in a damp and uncomfortable night.

Good luck!

p.s. option 2 is the best but obviously this is lots more gear than just a bivvy bag. Providing it's midge free this can be a really nice way to spend a night, especially if you're wild camping somewhere scenic

In reply to Nick_Merriman:

It's one I already had so quite old now. Mountain range is the make. It is a straight zip at the top. Not as light and compact as the alpkit bag, but can batten down the hatches when needed.
Have you tried wearing a wide brimmed hat over the top of the bivi bag- cowboy style? 😀

In reply to Nick_Merriman:

Spin it round so the opening faces down. On a roll mat and with some sort of pillow your sleeping bag hood should stay pretty dry.

My bivi bag is long so it works for me. Been doing it for years in all sorts of weather as a soldier and never got wet

In reply to Nick_Merriman:

Same problem as RAF issue bag! Most nights in those have been under a bivi sheet or in full winter conditions on the hill. In the full winter conditions I just have it tightened up and back to the wind and it's fine.

In reply to Nick_Merriman:

I have one of the army issue ones and that's long enough to turn over so the hood face the the floor and still have your sleeping bag on the bag.

I've only used it a few times after realising that using a bivy bag for anything other than freezing conditions is just not pleasant so I bought a small 1 man tent that although a whole 500g heavier than a bivy bag is so much more comfortable and worth every gram.

In reply to gethin_allen:

Those bivvy bags with no face cover are nothing more than emergency shelters or for nice summer trips. For bad weather I think Terra Nova made an enclosed bivvy bag and North Face used to make a 1 man tent. I bought one from this forum (well, it was called Rocktalk) about 15 years ago and that was only 1.2kg. It pitched with room for 1 sleeping bag and a rucksac in the "porch".

In reply to Bish:



This method has always worked for me too but given the choice I'd always pair it with a basha. (Though I understand why that's not always possible)

To the op: if you're by you car you could just lob a brolly in the boot and stick it in the ground as a wee shelter for your head for wet bivis.

In reply to Nick_Merriman:
Even a tiny hole facing down just doesn't work in heavy rain. The only reliable solution I've found is to carry a plastic survival bag that you pull down over your head. This is surprisingly satisfactory, and the bag also keeps your sack and boots dry.

In reply to thomm:

I have an old bivy bag, no hood as such, just a spacious head end, no hoops, it's one of the original Gortex bags which I bought in the mid 1980s. I must have been lucky because even in the most severe rain I've always stayed bone dry. I put my boots inside the bivy bag just above my head which holds the material off my face and use my outer clothes as a pillow, again inside the bag. Normally have it slightly unzipped, but in heavy rain I zip it fully shut and it's not too claustrophobic.

The problem comes if you need to get out for a pee because you drag your wet clothes/body back in.

In reply to Nick_Merriman:

I have the same bag, but only use it in dry weather. If it's going to rain I take the tent, if its dry I take bivvy bag.
The thought of a wet night in a bivvy bag is too much suffering for my old bones.

In reply to Nick_Merriman:

I've always just rolled over if it starts to rain. The only problem I ever had was when sleeping on the canvas cover of a trailer. Nice and comfy to start with, but when the thunderstorm started it started to go downhill. When the puddle I was now sleeping in because a foot deep the water started to come in. When I started to wriggle to get out, the puddle shifted north and poured into the bag. By the time I got out, most of the puddle seemed to be inside the bag. I stood in the mud, soaked to the skin in the lashing rain, thunder and lightning crashing around, wondering how my life had led to that.

If it's raining before you get in, a small plastic sheet over you and your rucksack will make life a lot more comfortable. Shock cord loops with squeezy toggles on the corners help. Put a small round object like a hazelnut into each corner of the sheet and tie your cord around those. Then put the cord around rocks, a tent peg or whatever. Your rucksack lifts it off your face/shoulders

In reply to Nick_Merriman:

I bought a military surplus bivi bag. It seems quite different to the types your buy in the shops which seem to be simply a waterproof sleeping bag over jacket. The one I have has a large flap (3ft square?) of slightly heavier material that goes over your head. So you get in the bag and your head is under this flap. Makes good sense to me. I am not really sure why outdoor bivis don't have this because without something to go over your head, they are useless in the wet which surely defeats the purpose?

In reply to Nick_Merriman:

I just use my rucksack for a pillow with the hunka hood over the top. If it's wet I put it in the dry bag I use as a sack liner first.

I never plan for a wet bivvy though. It's a dry weather activity.

In reply to Nick_Merriman:

I have a small Hunka and an army surplus bag. The Hunka is ok, but if car camping I take a mini umbrella with me. If it rains, I just expand it and put it over my head! Or sleep in the car which is usually my first choice.

With the army bag I dismantled a wire coat hanger and threaded it through the drawstring tunnel around the hood. This then gives a framework and you can make the hood stand up over your head like a mini awning. This works quite well but the wind direction is important.

In reply to Nick_Merriman:

I did once see someone in a bivvy with a cheap looking foldable brolly! facing into the wind, and with one edge lying on the ground.
Not sure where the put the handle either.

( but I did not see if it was effective or not !)