UKC

I am planning on walking from Slovenia through the Balkans and Turkey to the Caspian Sea, completing the trip before mid-October. (I will be accepting lifts every now and then though if offered, which will make the journey a little shorter.) I plan to stay in hostels most of the way, however I want a backup bivvy bag which I can use if I whenever I don't complete a segment by nightfall.

I have an oex fathom sleeping bag (ev300 I think), and an oex self-inflating camp mat. I am hoping to fit both inside the bivvi bag, or maybe I can just have the self-inflating mat underneath the bivvi bag. 

I am looking at:

Oex Salamanda (gooutdoors.co.uk/15987150/oex-salamanda-bivi-bag-15987150)

Oex Bush Pro (gooutdoors.co.uk/15901518/oex-bush-pro-bivvi-15901518)

The Salamanda can be pointed into the wind and has supporting poles to keep the tent off your face. However, the Oex Bush Pro might help me to use a smaller rucksack (which might ideally fit in hand luggage on the plane - otherwise I have an 80-litre Karrimor rucksack).

This part of the world is not particularly windy. (see https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Global_Map_of_Wind_Spee...).

It has a lot of stray dogs, which I anticipate having to fend off not infrequently with pepper spray in the middle of the night if I am sleeping in the Oex Bush Pro. I am sincerely hoping I never get discovered by a bear at night: that would be incredibly stressful. In that case I think having my head peeping out of the Oex Bush Pro would give me better situational awareness/readiness to use the pepper spray, and in this regard I suppose the Oex Bush Pro would be safer. What is the deal with very small tents (or bivvy bags with supporting poles) vs more basic bivvi bags in regards to safety from bears and dogs, including from a situational awareness perspective?

What might be the better bivvi bag overall in my case?

Big orange plastic bag

I haven’t used it in earnest but if there are a lot of trees have you considered a lightweight hammock instead of the sleeping mat? It might keep the dogs off you! 

https://www.google.com/search?q=dog+dazer+uk&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB947GB94...

My friend swears by this and I've read about a cycle tourer finding one invaluable/life saving in Turkey.

You cant sleep in it but could still be useful. 

I have actually. However I don't anticipate that there will be a lot of trees in some parts of southeastern Georgia or parts of Azerbaijan (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_shrub_desert_and_steppe). I could be wrong as I have never actually been there, but my impression is there will be extended stretches without suitably spaced pairs of trees at all.

I am also not clear on the legal restrictions to fastening a hammock to local trees in each of the nine-plus jurisdictions I will be travelling through, how strictly this is enforced, and what the penalties are. I would have thought a bivvi bag would be less controversial among the locals.

I have a stupid question about bears when using a hammock: would you need to actually dismount the hammock in the middle of the night in order to see past the tarp and have the situational awareness to use the bear spray? Could this introduce any new challenges of safety, giving yourself more to do in an already stressful situation?

Thanks, looks like a handy piece of kit!

Anatolian mastiffs are scary enough during the day....

A bivi bag can be a real joy in the right conditions but utter misery when the weather turns against you. 

The size and weight of even modestly priced 1 man tents are comparable to some heavier bivi bags, but are enormously more comfortable. A small tent also makes the use of campsites easier as you have some privacy.

I have encountered dogs in Georgia and I would be frankly terrified of one approaching me if I was lying down in a bivi at night. A tent doesn't offer practical protection but being out of sight is still beneficial.

I wish you success in your walk but I think being discovered by a bear at night is likely to more than stressful, potentially closer to terminal.

While pepper spray is effective against bears(in the USA the success rate is high) I'm not sure when you are trying to get some sleep how useful it would be.

Do you have means to keep your food well away from you when you are camping or bivvying?

Dave

So the man in the store described to me: the Oex Salamanda is basically a small tent. The fabric is held well away from some parts of your middle body (eg torso) by poles and tension. It also has more or thicker layers of material than the Oex Bush Pro.

I am treating the bivvi or tent as a redundancy item, because I am expecting to be sleeping in a youth hostel hopefully at least 90% of the time.

The larger the surface area of the tent or bivvi, the more inconsiderate this might be to air and dry it in a cramped hostel bunk room, which will in a few cases be packed full of migrant workers. If the hostel is in an urban centre, it may not have a garden to air the bivvi or small tent outdoors. Which gives a bivvi or tent with a smaller area an advantage in the practicality of airing it to my mind. I am actually not that experienced with how to approach airing a tent in a cramped urban hostel, maybe there is some practical advice you can give.

The Oex Salamanda costs £115 and weighs 1.25kg (already 0.8kg more than the Oex Bush Pro). What alternative small tent would you suggest?

This seems rather melodramatic! I'm no bear expert but I'm given to understand that they're not particularly inclined towards harming people and would normally only do so if feeling threatened e.g. if startled, especially with cubs. A sleeping, or at least prone and stationary, person seems pretty unlikely to startle them or make them feel under threat. In fact, a quick Google suggests that the advice in the uncommon event of a Brown Bear attack is to lie down and play dead so that they stop perceiving you as a threat. If a bear did happen to encounter a sleeping person, I'd wager the most likely outcome is that the bear notices the person and goes elsewhere long before the person has much chance of even being woken by the bear, let alone attacked.

I think the Bush pro is actually a great solution for you here. Hoping you have an incredible adventure!

BB

No wisdom or insights from me, just an appreciation for the obvious deep thought that you've given to this endeavour - hope that it all goes well for you !

Thanks Dave, I will just have to adjust I suppose, buy food in the supermarkets or village shops which does not go off easily in the heat and which I can keep in a bush or in a waterproof bag in a stream some distance away from where I am sleeping?

Yes if a bear did find me one night and the pepper spray worked I doubt I could sleep anymore that night, I would probably pack up and find the nearest village with a park bench and sleep there instead.

https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/8142/what-do-i-do-if-a-black-b...

I do wonder if the Oex Bush Pro would be safer from bears in the sense of always being able to use the bear spray because you are never inside a tent. (The Stackexchange answer says "Do NOT spray it inside of your tent".)

I would definitely not take a bivvy for this trip, especially if it weighs 1.25kg. In my experience, a bivvy bag will not keep you dry in bad weather. In rain the material sags and is lying against your sleeping bag, so it will get wet. It could work with a tarp though. I think they are more useful in the mountains where you don't have room to pitch a tent (even there a small bivvy tent is much better if you can find space for it.) 

I cycled across the Balkans and Turkey and hiked across the Caucasus using a silnylon MLD Duomid (~500g), which offers far more protection and comfort than any bivvy bag I have used, for the same or less weight. I would recommend this or some other UL trekking pole tent (Durston X Mid gets good reviews, but there are many options). You might use it more than you expect, hostels can be few and far between in some areas when on foot. 80l is completely overkill for a pack, a 40l pack should be fine but would still be pushing it for hand luggage.

I have never had problems at night with dogs. I honestly wouldn't worry about bears, it's incredibly unlikely they will come near you. I wouldn't carry pepper spray but trekking poles are useful for fending off sheepdogs. If they do get aggressive, the best thing is to stand your ground, pick up a stone and raise your arm as if to throw it. The worst thing to do is attempt to run away!

The alpkit elan is lighter, and cheaper, but less tent like, while still being more substantial than just a basic bivvy bag

That sort of question is beyond my level of knowledge I’m afraid, the main wildlife terror I’ve experienced with mine being midges or the potential for dead branches falling…

Is the advantage of the Alpkit Elan over the Oex Salamanda that Alpkit is a better brand? 

Good advice for the dogs! At least I am vaccinated for rabies so don't need to worry too much about getting bitten.

I hadn’t realised accommodation is few and far between in some areas. In that case a tent or bivvi/tarp combination seems to be the logical choice. 

The Durston X-Mid 1 seems really good, although more expensive than what I am used to and seemingly unavailable within the UK (I’m off in less than 2 weeks, giving not that much time for postage). 

A tarp like the MLD Duomid would probably be too expensive for me: I am quite stingy and won’t buy a phone for more than to £150 for example. The best phone I ever had was a second-hand google Pixel 2 which I bought unlocked for £115, and in theory the ideal tent for me would be to other tents what a second-hand google Pixel 2 is to other smartphones, If that tent exists!

Of a few options I am now leaning toward the 3fulgear Lanshan 1 for £135, although I have heard one reviewer complaining that they get woken by dripping from condensation. I would be interested to hear if you know of any combinations of tarps and fully enclosed bivvis (to protect from condensation dripping and from mosquitoes) available in the UK that could compete with the Lanshan for a comparable price altogether. Also if you know any good summary of the best cheap ultralight tents or tarps/bivvis available in the UK (eg if a magazine which reviews them produces an annual roundup of the best ones, or if there is a particularly good reddit thread on the subject) I would be keen to check it out. 
 

Some of the trekking pole tents I have been looking at:

£155, 1060g: 3fulgear Lanshan 2

woodtowater.co.uk/product/3fulgear-lanshan-2-tent-khaki/?utm_source=Google%20Shopping&utm_campaign=wood%20to%20water%20feed%20&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=14162#read-more

£135, 910g: 3fulgear Lanshan 1

woodtowater.co.uk/product/3fulgear-lanshan-1-3-season-tent-khaki/?utm_source=Google%20Shopping&utm_campaign=wood%20to%20water%20feed%20&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=14166&gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9deiBhC1ARIsAHLjR2Bdf9x4AEiJ0xFsXWEXEJXIFLoG-fNpW_J9w2n_gMpECXGgexCydA4aAsaLEALw_wcB

£136, 980g: Alpkit Polestar (Footprint £25, 150g)

alpkit.com/products/polestar-trekking-pole-tent

I think a lot of it depends on your route, if you aren't going to remote places you can usually find guesthouses. Also if you aren't intending to go to mountainous regions you could get away with just a bivvy bag as it is summer, but there's always the chance of getting caught in thunderstorms etc. I haven't heard of this Lanshan 1 but it looks decent enough on paper. I haven't used the Polestar either, my experience with that style of tent is condensation can be an issue but YMMV.

If you really want to bivvy then any cheap rectangular tarp in A-frame will keep you dry. I would still choose a mid+inner over tarp+bivvy though, because I find enclosed bivvys claustrophobic and if they have mesh uppers mosquitoes will still annoy you anyway. Saying that, I used the Duomid without an inner and don't remember mosquitoes being an issue.

Well put it this way, I have read a bit about ultralight tents over the past two days, and I have decided that I want the flexibility to camp because I don't want to plan out everything in my journey (I don't think of it so much as an expedition as a walk into the beyond). The Lanshan 1 allows more traditional camping and isn't heavier or much more expensive than the Oex Salamanda.

(There is a review of the Lanshan 2 which also mentions the Durston X-Mid-2 at sectionhiker.com/lanshan-2-tent-double-wall-review/ - hopefully these are sound reviewers!)

Since you have already planned travel in the Balkans and the Caucasus. I have been in both regions but have been making do with fairly basic sources of information like wikivoyage and the lonely planet books/website/forums when planning. I would be keen for tips on whether there is anything more helpful or more specialised, eg if you could came across any helpful forums, websites, guidebooks, or russian language tutorials in the course of your research and planning. Eg oriented toward specialised topics like cycle touring, or travel in that that part of the world.

Those tents are around 1kg. Admittedly more expensive! have you considered "Lofoten 1" https://ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/lofoten-1-ulw-tent/ which is less than 500g (excluding pegs) and packs very very very small. A mate of mine has the 2 person version of this ("Telemark 2") which I've used and it was fantastic. Being in an actual tent may give you some shelter from dogs etc that a bivy and tarp wouldn't. It'd also weigh less than most bivi and tarp combinations.

I have a 6 Moon Design tent that is basically the one the Lanshan 1 is a copy of, as I understand it. Reviews of both together suggest there's not much difference and I've generally read good things about the Lanshan.

Its a very spacious little thing, and well ventilated to minimise condensation, but you will get some. I don't find it drips, but haven't used it enough in calmer conditions. When there's a breeze, you can set it up so there's plenty of venting, or leave the porch side wide open. This also means you're contained in the mesh, but can still see out. 

There's enough space to keep your bag inside with you, which could be useful. 

I've got extended guy lines on mine, which allows me to use my second trekking pole to change the direction of pull of one end, slightly increasing headroom over one end. The headroom is pretty good anyway though, you can sit up inside.

If you're taking trekking poles anyway, something like this seems to make sense to me.

On a bicycle it doesn't take much planning because I was usually on roads so it is rare that you go too many days without somewhere to buy food in Europe. On foot you do need to consider it because you can only carry so much.

Turkey is huge and has innumerable sights worth visiting so it depends on your interests, the Lycian Way is a popular trail.

In the Caucasus I walked across Armenia following the Transcaucasian Trail (https://transcaucasiantrail.org/en/home/). Val Ismaili hiked this route in 2017 and has some good tips: https://valismaili.org/advice-to-future-tcters

In Georgia I pieced together routes from https://www.caucasus-trekking.com/ to make one continuous route along the mountains. https://www.goingthewholehogg.com/ has a lot of trail info and nice photos from around the area. 

For Russia I just drew a route using Google Earth and followed it. I usually carried 4-5 days' worth of food, walking around 30-35km/day.

Google Earth is the best tool for planning IMO, you can draw on routes to export to a mapping app on your phone (I use OSMand with downloaded contours for hiking and MAPS.me for cycling). You can also get a good idea of the elevation etc for each section. 

I didn't take a guidebook, just ask people you meet along the way.

Very good advice. I could ask you an unlimited number of questions (reducing risk from mines, whether Azerbaijan will be angry with you if you visit Armenia,  etc etc etc) but these types of top tips as you have given above are more valuable

Thanks Mal Grey, I am about to order the Lanshan 2 (slightly more space!)

Cheers, it is above my limit I am afraid. Thank you very much for the recommendation. I am going for the Lanshan 2 (the original, not the pro). Here is the Lanshan 2 Pro on the Andrew Park Outdoors channel

youtube.com/watch?v=s39dI2VtdSE&