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63 About this deal
We recently reviewed the OEX Bush Pro Bivvi and feel we have to include it in this roundup of the best bivvy bag choices. It represents fantastic value for money, and pushes the Highlander Hawk really close for the top spot if you’re looking to spend less. In our view, the hood system is slightly better in the Highlander Hawk, but with the OEX Bush Pro being substantially cheaper, it’s certainly a close run decision. 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. Putting the bivy tent up for the first time took me about 10 minutes, but I think I could probably half that with a bit of practice. A short hoop is threaded through the foot region and a longer one up at the head end. The base structure is then pegged out with 6 pegs and the fly sheet added on top. This is then also pegged with a couple of guy ropes if it is windy. Turkey is huge and has innumerable sights worth visiting so it depends on your interests, the Lycian Way is a popular trail.
The material used for the top section of the bivvy is Rab’s eVent waterproof and breathable technical fabric which is 40 dernier and consists of three layers sandwiched together. The bathtub uses a more weighty 70 dernier nylon waterproof floor – this won’t be letting any moisture up from the ground. There are two U-Shaped openings on the top surface of the Sierra Bivy. The largest is for getting in and out and has dual zips to accomplish this task. Because it can open so wide, getting in actually pretty easy for a bivy. The second opening is on the top surface and forms a little window with a fly mesh and cover. this allows you to lie out and look at the night sky before zipping up for the night. Nice.The Paratex Dry technical material is a breathable and 100% waterproof fabric. It is treated with what is known as a Hydrophillic Polyurathane (PU) coating to raise the hydrostatic head to >5000mm. Exposing the Bush Pro Bivvi sleeping bag to any wet conditions will not cause it to leak or spring a ‘roof-shaped hole. It is made of tough ripstop canister fabric with a water-resistant rating of 5000 mm hydrostatic head, and its seams are fully taped for thorough protection from bad weather.
Downsides are the same as for any bivvy of this kind. If it’s raining you can find yourself having to get into it when you otherwise wouldn’t with a small tent. Using a tarp can overcome that problem, and we would certainly recommend that if you think there will be trees to set it up. Alternatively bring along some poles for the tarp. Outdoor Research should need no introduction. A fantastic company based in Seattle on the West Coast of the USA, they have continuously been at the height of innovation and quality since their inception in the early 1980s. The top of the bivvy bag completely zips up, but there is no way of keeping it off your face, and sleeping can get difficult. On warmer nights this isn’t a problem as you can open more of a gap. As a result, we would say this is three season only, but of course your mileage may vary! We are massive fans of Snugpak gear – they are leaders in well thought-out, rugged outdoor gear. The Snugpak Ionosphere bivy tent is no exception and straddles the line between bivvy bag and compact 1-person tent really well. There’s no wonder it’s often used by the US military – not bad for a company from Yorkshire in the UK!The hood area can be zipped up to obtain complete coverage at night, although this does increase the chances of condensation forming inside. Overnight testing showed no signs of the dreaded condensation, and I did get rained on heavily. I was impressed with the ability to keep dry inside the Ridge Raider and it is now definitely my choice of best bivvy bag if money is no object. 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
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).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 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. The hydrostatic head of the Helium is 20000 mm which is exceedingly waterproof and the Pertex material is also supposedly resistant to rips – however I didn’t wish to test this claim out! If you want to spend more money, then Outdoor Research also do a full Gore-Tex bivvy called the Alpine, but this is actually heavier.
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