Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Bivy observations

I'm looking for a bivy for 4-season use. I went to REI and saw a couple of them, namely the REI minimalist and the OR Aurora bivy.

A couple of bservations:

1. The REI bivy is not suitable for winter, IMO. Portion covering the face is mesh and does not have a wp/b backing. I would get this, except for that factor. The bivy has four sliding zipps and thous I could create armholes, headholes, etc.
2. The OR Aurora's zipper goes only to about mid-chest. There are two zippers, not 4 and there is no drawcord to concealing my face. It is made with Goretex, which seems just fine.

I'm looking for all-weather protection that I can trust my life with. I would like to be able to fully-enclose myself, or at least minimize my face's exposure the elements. If there was a drawcord, similar to what is on a sleeping bag hood, for sealing up the bivy, I'd jump on the chance.

I'm currently looking at the OR Alpine bivy and anything else my local REI stores (3) have in stock. I'm heading to their Bloomington store, which is one of the national flagship stores and apparently is huge.

More report later.

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