Ultralight Bivy Sacks

Hikers on the trail are asking more out of their lightweight gear than ever before.

Most of all, they’re realizing that no shelter covers your lightweight backpacking needs like a bivy sack. They’re light and very compact and consequently take up very little space in your pack.

As a result, you do lose a bit of comfort compared to a tent.

Yet when your goal is to cover more ground and not to cook marshmallows and to tell ghost stories, the best bivy sack will get you through the night while easing the strain on your body from hiking.

They’re particularly easy to set up, and by and large, protect you from harsh weather conditions.

In this article, we hope to help you find the best bivy sack for your journey in addition to giving you some tips on how to shop for these lightweight shelters.

How To Choose The Right Bivy Sack

It’s probably safe to say that if you’re even entertaining the thought of sleeping in a bivy sack that you have a decent amount of camping experience and can tolerate sacrificing some modern-day luxuries.

Therefore we don’t recommend bivy sack camping for the beginning backpacker as it can require a lot of adjustment.

However, once you start checking the features you’ll notice that newer bivy sacks offer a decent amount of luxury.

What To Look For

The Aqua Quest Bivy Sack is loaded with great features like stakes and bug netting.

Up until recently, finding a good bivy sack was easy because there wasn’t much to them other than just merely using it as a waterproof sleeping bag cover.

The original bivouac shelters were designed by the military to provide waterproof, lightweight shelter for soldiers.

Since then, the technology has only gotten better because of companies like Gore-tex, who created their patented waterproof, breathable bivy exterior.

Nowadays, bivy sacks are built like mini 1-person tents.

While we do believe these newer specs have made bivies usable by more people, you, the backpacker, have to have an accurate gauge of what you can tolerate.

Can you stand the confined space of a bivy sack, or do you need extra space to sit up and move around?

Due to their lack of space, a lot of campers are initially turned off from camping in bivy sacks.

Yet there is more beneficial to them than meets the eye.

Bivy Sack Features

Even though the Bivy sack seems like an easy thing to shop for, there are some features that you can miss out on if you don’t do your research.

These ain’t your granddaddy’s bivy sacks!

Features to keep in mind include size, weight, headspace, bug nets, coated floor, color, insulation, Gore-Tex, internal pockets, etc.

Bivy Sack Size:

Most Bivy sacks run from 6-7 feet long and average between 34 and 38 inches in width.

Even if you’re on the larger side, you should be able to fit inside the bivy with a sleeping bag.

Bivy sacks earn their keep when packed down in your backpack.

Even the bigger sacks can compress down to the size of a small thermos.

Bivy Sack Weight:

The point of the Bivy sack is to keep weight off your back and take less space in your bag.

Consequently, they’re made with lightweight materials including lightweight polyester, thick denier RipStop nylon, high thread count polyester, laminated polyurethane coating in addition to the Gore-Tex mentioned above.

Bivy sacks run anywhere from seven ounces to just under three pounds.

Anything over 3 pounds and you might as well upgrade to a tent.

In many cases, the line dividing tent and Bivy sack is becoming more and more blurry.

Bivy Headspace

One of the biggest bivy buying decisions you’re going to have to make is whether to get a bivy sack with a hooped rod for the head or not.

This small feature can make a huge difference in comfort.

Without a hooped-dome headspace, you can’t close the bivy sack without the materials rubbing against your face while you sleep.

No matter how rugged and experienced you are, this can be a nuisance to deal with.

Nevertheless, hooped rods themselves are super lightweight and don’t add much to your pack.

Bug Netting

This Outdoor Research Bivy Sack comes with bug netting which allows you to let fresh air circulate inside the bivy while keeping the bugs out.

The bivies with the hooped head dome rods will also come with a layer of mesh bug netting that lays over your face.

This mesh is great for those nights where you want to keep the top open but also don’t want to spend your night with mosquitos buzzing in your ear or creepy things crawling all over your face.

On a beautiful, clear night, you can stargaze yourself to sleep.

This feature really enhances the experience.

Gore-Tex (Or any other waterproof, breathable coating)

Gore-Tex is a breathable, waterproof membrane made from a thin layer of polytetrafluoroethylene that contains over 9 billion pores per square inch.

This process helps to keep moisture out while fresh air is circulated in and out of the fabric.

In addition to bivy sacks, you’ll also find Gore-Tex on ultralight backpacking tents, hammocks, and hiking boots.

We highly recommend sticking to Gore-Tex products as their level of performance is the market standard.

Although there are other great waterproof products out there.

Bivy Sack Negatives

Of course, there are a handful of negative aspects of sleeping in a Bivy sack.

If they were perfect, everyone would use them, and the tent industry would crumble.

They might not even be right for you.

The hard truth of a bivy sack is that you do sacrifice the space that you get in a tent.

As an illustration, think back to when you sat in your tent and thought about how you were cramped.

Many smaller bivy sacks, like the S.O.L don’t offer much space.

Now imagine not even being able to sit!

Once you’re in a bivy sack, you have to stay lying down the whole time you are inside.

Laying down can get old, fast.

That being said, if you’re like a lot of ultralight backpackers and don’t anticipate spending more than your sleep time inside, by all means, a bivy sack might be perfect for your needs.

The fact is we all have different sleeping requirements.

Some people need more space than others to sleep.

Heck, some people have specific pre-sleep rituals before they fall asleep that they bring on the trail!

But then some lie down, close their eyes and don’t open them for 8 hours.

In either case, after a long day of backpacking, even if you’re a light sleeper, you might be so wiped out that you could sleep through a tornado.

In this case, a bivy sack is all you need.

Location

Where are you going and what time of year is it?

How cold will it be? Is the terrain rocky or grassy?

If the terrain is a bit more hilly and rockier, a bivy sack might be the best option.

Unlike a tent that needs to find a space to fit its exact footprint, a bivy sack can provide a more flexible solution.

Generally speaking, what is the bug situation like?

If it’s more humid, you might be in store for more mosquitos, so bug netting will be a must, otherwise good luck getting any sleep at all!

Weather

Above all, no matter what kind of weather you run into a decent bivy sack can handle it.

One of the best qualities of the bivy sack is its versatility.

Especially if you’re venturing into unfamiliar territory, the bivy will serve you well since it can be set up quickly and on the fly.

If you plan on seeing a lot of rain, then a tent might serve you better as it will be more comfortable to stay inside for more extended periods.

On the other hand, why are you planning to hike somewhere only to stay inside your tent for long periods?

Bivy Sacks Keep You Warm

Temperature can also be a deciding factor.

Bivy sacks are built for warmth, so needless to say; you won’t need one in July in Arizona.

Even when the weather dips into the 60’s and 50’s a bivy will keep you very warm.

Especially when paired with a cold-weather temperature rated sleeping bag, a bivy sack can keep you toasty in frigid weather conditions.

If you get hot quickly while sleeping, make sure your bag comes with Gore-Tex as this will keep the temperature regulated, and you’ll avoid overheating.

Sleeping with the head zipper open is also an option.

Sleeping with this open is where a hoop and bug netting comes in handy.

Once you’ve considered all these factors, you’re ready to find the best bivy sack for your lightweight adventure!