Bivy setup

[Scoot]

I mentioned in a previous thread that I'll be doing a bivy hunt this year. I figured since I haven't mastered any other type of hunting, I might as well pick up another form of hunting to be mediocre at!

Bivy hunting is likely foreign to a lot of folks around here, as it's something that's primarily done "out West". I thought I'd post a few pics so people can see my setup and make comments, ask questions, criticize (it is the internet, afterall), etc.

FYI on bivy hunting- The term "bivy" is short for bivouac. In a nutshell, it means to hunt with your entire camp on your back so that you don't need to go back to any particular place at the end of each day- you just set up camp where ever nightfall finds you. It's different from hauling your camping gear out somewhere and hunting out of it (this is commonly called a "spike camp"). So, here's my bivy setup.

Here's the whole kit and kaboodle, which will be stored in/on my Sitka Bivy45 pack.

Here are a few shots of the above pic, but zoomed in a little to see the specific gear a little better.

In the pic below you can see my sleeping bag (Big Agnes Crater- this is a 15 degree bag, but if it's going to be warm, I've got a warmer temp ultralight bag that I'll bring that is rated for 30 degrees and unzips full-length for comfortable sleeping when it's warm), tent (Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2), sleeping pad (Big Agnes Insulated Air Core mummy), and rain gear (Cabela's space rain suit).

In front of the gear I mentioned above, you see game bags, duct tape, chapstick (a lifesaver), windicator, safety whistle/compass, bag with new skin/superglue/Advil/ floss/lighter/matches/tooth paste/iodine tablets for water treatment, watch/compass, surgical tape, space blanket (I'll remove the packing to save space), toothbrush, and scentless wipes.

In this last pic you can see most of my food and food prep equipment- I've got a Mountainhouse meal for supper, a titanium snowpeak pot/cup with a fuel canister and spork inside it, my snowpeak gigapower TI stove with autostart (slick little deal for sure), and a candy bar that won't melt. I'll have to add a little more food for my two day, one night trip- I'll likely be adding some oatmeal for breakfast, a couple bagles with peanut butter, and trailmix. In case anyone's wondering about water, I've got a 100 oz. bladder in my pack. The other items in this pic, from back to front are my binocs, range finder (Nikon with angle comp), saw, knife, 25' parachute cord, and headlamp.

Besides all of this, I'll carry with me the clothes on my back, a compass pinned to my shirt, a spare release in my pants pocket, possibly some very small maps of the area I'm going into, and my bow/arrows. I think that's it.

That's it- my bivy set up. I'm excited to get out this year and give it a test run. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

[Jim Uran]

Cool post Scoot, takes a heck of a man to haul all of that gear! How much or what's the estimate on the weight of all of it?

[Scoot]

Well... I'm no "heck of a man"- just an plain ol' average dude really (particularly when it comes to physical strength and the ability to haul a big load).

I haven't put the whole thing to a scale, but I promise you it'll be a whole lot lighter than the loads of elk we hauled out in '07 and '08. The '07 trips, in particular, were man killers! This will be nothing compared to that.

I can tell you this- my pack is about 6 lbs, my tent is 3, my sleeping bag is just over 2 (or just under if I go with the warmer weather one), pad is just over 1. All the rest adds up quickly though, so I really need to put it to a scale. I'd like to keep it under 40 lbs for sure. Closer to 25 would be better though. That'll let me get around without too much trouble. Slow and steady... I'll put it all in there and put a scale to it and get back to you.

[Powerstroke]

Scoot I doubt that will go more than 30lbs, except maybe with heavier clothes and some camp shoes. I am also an UL camper, but mostly for camping. I am very interested in trying this type of hunting.

I really like the BA copper spur tent. I debated long and hard about it, but I chose a cheaper $$ tent. That is one slick tent. Also the stove too. My MSR dragonfly is a little overkill for this type of camping, but thats when you start counting ounces.

The only thing I would add is the Katadyn water bottle/purifier. You can dip and drink, its purified and you don't need iodine tablets. I prefer to use the tabs as backup.