What do you hate about bivy bags?

Question

i want to solve any problems people have with bivy bags because its what i do. thanks!

Answer 1

What most people don't know, and the industry won't tell them, is that no one needs a bivy unless they can only use a bivy.

A bivy sack has one purpose and one purpose only: to provide minimal shelter where it's impossible to set up any other kind of shelter, such as on a hanging ledge while climbing a big wall like El Capitan or in some kind of an emergency while mountaineering or mountain climbing.

You absolutely do not need one to keep your sleeping bag dry, though REI and other places would love to sell you one. If you have any other kind of shelter, from tent to tarp to hammock, you do not need a bivy in addition.

The problem is a bivy traps your condensation inside your sleeping bag, rendering it heavy and damp and eventually rendering it useless in arctic conditions where it can't be laid out to dry during the day, because there's no possible way to allow ample ventilation when the sack is so close to the sleeping bag.

Answer 2

What  the heck is a bivy bag?  I've been camping for over fifty years and I never heard of a bivy bag!

Answer 3

Personal dislikes of bivy bags:

1) cramped space; difficult to change clothes in, difficult to even lay out the sleeping bag in some cases, and I hate having anything in or close to my face when I sleep.

2) condensation; even the higher end bags constructed of breathable materials.

Personal favorites for camping shelter in descending order:

1) tent

2) bivy

3) tarp