Lightsabre

I used this bivey over the course of a couple of nights while climbing Mt Massive and Mt Elbert.



With out the instructions figuring out how to set the poles up on this bivey was not intuitive and took me a while. If I had had the instructions it would not have been hard at all and once I figured out the squence the poles were easy to set up.



The poles are the best feature of this bivey as they keep the fabric off your face and make a nice livable space over your chest and head. The entrace is well designed allowing for the opening to be open for venting and still offer weather protection in all but the most driving of rain storms.



Both nights were in the upper 30s and I did not want to have to open and vent too much. With the vent only open a small amount the space around my head was very livable staying free of condensation and very warm. After 2:30 am I woke up to find that the bivey from the waist down was full of hanging drops of condensation. Annoying considering I have a down bag. To deal with the condensation lower down I had to open the top much more which droped the temperature in the bag a lot, near to the temp outside.



The bivey would be better with a pole holding the fabric off your lower half and feet. It would be warmer and proabably vent better.



It is very light weight and much better than any other of the non pole type bivies I have used in the past. I only woke up once feeling clausterphobic and I nearly always wake up multiple times feeling that way in a non pole bivey.

Overall, a very good bivy sack if you want to travel light and fast, but not without issues.

Pros:
- Ultra light (may be the lightest bivy sack with poles)
- Poles that provide ample space around your upper body
- No or little condensation inside the sack

Cons:
- Inserting poles is not intuitive and takes some time getting used to. I failed to figure it out without a manual (which is a very rare occasion). Even with manual, I struggled a bit before working it out
- Full length zipper would be nice. It is a bit awkward to get inside the sack if you are tall
- BD wants you to seamseal the sack yourself with a provided kit. Two issues here: this kit sucks and the 'sealer' gets clogged up very easily; for nearly $200, BD guys could do it themselves.
- Don't even think to cook around this sack. It is not treated against fire hazards and theoretically will go in flames in seconds.

I bought the bag on good gear reviews. I was looking for something to give the head space that triditional biv sacks don't give. I too had some dificulty figuring out the pole system and didn't expect to seam seal. I like to mess around with my gear and am all right dooing my own seam seal, I will be able to enshure that it is done right. I would have liked to know that before incase I had been in a hurry to go out and use it. Thoes are my downers. I like the short zipper because it is just that much easer to stuff and weighs less. I know that that might seem crazy but I believe in hard light and fast,and every little bit add's up. The sack is very light and compact. It is all right to learn how to use a new ploe system but treating you gear is time consuming so don't get this bag unless you have the time to care for it. If you do then I think that you will be satisfide.It is after all nice to have the room to breath.

Being tall (6'4") I have a heck of a time finding bivys (or tents) that fit me, but this one does with room to spare. That aside, its one of the lightest shelters I've seen with poles, and packs smaller than my Gore jacket. As mentioned before, you do have to seam seal it yourself, which is troublesome at best, and the fabric does seem to collect condensation if you don't leave the vent open quite a bit.

I've used it year-round, on the snow and in the heat of summer, and it is still my favorite of the many shelters I've owned.

I've used this bivy 8 times over the last 3 years in the Sierra and I love it. It's got plenty of room for my 6'body, it's lightweight, and I haven't had any problems with condensation. However, I have yet to get caught in a rainstorm...

I purchased this bivy 2 years ago. I used in for 10 days straight in St. Regis, NY during rain season. Then again the next year in the same rain season, same location. I stayed dry. I've also had it buried with snow and it's design kept it from collapsing on me.
Overall I love this bivy and it is possibly the lightest one with poles, as stated by Misha. I had to mail order this item and had some difficulty having it shipped to my home state of NJ due to the fact that it is not treated with a fire retardant of any type. Apparently NJ and a few other stated will not accept freight ship tents that aren't treated, so check into it before you mail order this one.