Tent Vs Bivy - What's the Best Shelter for You?

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** Stuff/Gear I Mention in this Video **

Big Agnes CopperSpur UL2 - http://amzn.to/2yOhHJc

ZPacks Duplex - http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/duplex.shtml

OR Molecule Bivy - http://amzn.to/2yPVPxb

Black Diamond Spotlight Bivy - http://amzn.to/2invkJ7

EE Recon Bivy - https://enlightenedequipment.com/recon/

ZPacks 8.5 X 11 Tarp - http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/tarps.shtml

AZT Section Gear List - https://darwinonthetrail.com/2017/09/22/darwins-2017-azt-section-hike/

AT Gear List - https://darwinonthetrail.com/2016/05/03/darwins-2016-at-gear-list/

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------- Music By: Mike Boren --------

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Tags: Appalachian Trail,AT,AT Thru Hike,Bivy Sack,Enlightened Equipment Recon Bivy,Recon Bivy,Zpacks Duplex,UL Hiking Gear,UL Hiking,PCT,Pacific Crest Trail,PCT Thru Hike,AZT,Arizona Trail,CDT,CopperSpur UL2,Hiker Trash,UL Backpacking,Backpacking,Hiking,Adventure,Camping,UL Gear,Long Distance Hiking

Video Transcription

hey guys it's Darwin today I wanted to talk about backpacking shelters specifically tents versus biddies what is a bivy why would you choose it over a tent the pros and cons of each and what's the best shelter for your next hike

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all right so as most of you guys know I am a tenth person I've never really been into hammock camping or tarp camping or Bibby camping from the Big Agnes copper spur ul - that snuggles and I carried on our Appalachian Trail thru-hike to the tent and I'm currently using which is the Z packs duplex I love tents why because whenever I'm out hiking I like having a little home on the trail I like room to be able to spread out to put all my gear in and just in case there's a rainstorm or some sort of hardcore weather I know that I can stay inside and have plenty of shelter but not too long ago I was looking at doing a completely different gear setup when I went to do my section hike of the Arizona Trail in September I was looking between either a nice ultralight one person tent maybe a tarp setup or a bivy setup since I've never really taken one out on the trail when I was out at PCT days in August I was talking to the guys at enlightened equipment and they showed me a new product that they had come out with called the Recon bivvy and it perked my interest so before I start getting into the Recon vivvy and talking about that one in specific let's talk about Vivi's what is a bivy well a bivy is essentially a sack Vivi's were designed for climbers that want in some sort of an emergency sack to put over their sleeping bag when they were on the side of the mountain to protect him against rain snow in the harsh elements of a mountainside like in the winter or something now when most people think of a bivy they think about the emergency aluminum-foil looking mylar sack that you just kind of keep in your pack just in case stuff goes bad and you need an emergency shelter over the years the bivi has become much more being made of thicker material having more of a bathtub on it having mesh breathable tops and even having a rigidity arc that goes over your face so you don't feel so claustrophobic now one of the reasons I've never really been into the idea of a bivy is I'm a little bit claustrophobic and to me it always seemed like sleeping in a coffin now there are a ton of different types of biddies out on the market from the black diamond spotlight to the Outdoor Research molecule North Face makes a couple of them Marmot makes a couple of them there

a ton of different biddies different styles from your traditional bag bivy to more of a tint style bivvy now the reason i decided to pick up on is the enlightened equipment vivvy didn't seem like your typical sac claustrophobic coffin type style it looked a little bit more like a one-person tent or it had a lot more Headroom it was a lot wider and it just seemed overall more comfortable on the trail if you had to spend some time in it so I decided to pick one up I took it out on that section hike of the Arizona Trail and to my surprise I actually liked it quite a bit now what are some reasons that you would choose a bivy over a tent well there's a handful number one a bivy is much more minimalistic and simplistic so if you're putting together an ultralight kit obivious perfect this thing only weighs a little bit over seven ounces it only takes four stakes to set up it doesn't use any tent poles or anything so it's super minimalistic the other reason is obviously it packs down small so it doesn't take up a lot of real estate in your pack now even though it is seven ounces I did carry a tarp in that setup just in case I was gonna get rain I wanted a little bit of extra shelter over me and the overall weight of the tarp and the bivi together was a pound which is obviously much lighter than most backpacking tents on the market now there are a few tents that do come in at a pound but still pretty damn white alright so biddies are nice and small and lightweight but what are some of the cons of using a bivy well because it is a very small enclosure obviously if you're trapped in some sort of hardcore weather you can't really move much you're kind of just sit in that position so if you're hiking in some conditions that you know are gonna be hardcore like a rainstorm you know you're gonna get some snow a bivy probably isn't the best option and that's where the tent comes in now again I'm a massive fan of tents because I really like spreading out and having my own home on the trail I like knowing that if there is some really hardcore weather and I have to be trapped inside of my shelter that I'm not gonna feel so claustrophobic I can stretch out a little bit and most tents have a vestibule so I know that I can cook on the outside of my vestibule and never really have to get out of my tent and get into the elements and if you are hiking with someone else in your care

a tent like I do the duplex you know that it has enough room for two people where a bivy is made for pretty much one person and then obviously some of the cons of using a tent would be it's a lot heavier there's more pieces of gear that you have to mess with like some tents are gonna have a separate fly tent poles more stakes and it's gonna take up more real estate in your pack so I think it all comes down to what conditions that you're gonna be hiking in now I think that if I was gonna go do another big desert hike like somewhere in the first seven hundred miles of the PCT on the Arizona Trail the first big section of the Continental Divide Trail a bivy works perfect super minimalistic and it's just enough to keep the critters off of me keep the bugs off my face give me just a little bit of shelter but if I was hiking on the east coast like on the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Northwest where it rains a lot and you're in those more hardcore conditions I'd probably reach for the tent so an answer to the question should I take a bivy or should I take a tent it all depends on what trail you're hiking and what conditions that you're gonna be in so what are you currently using on the trail a bivy or a tent what is your preference and what is in your kit leave me something in the comment box below and let me know your thoughts you haven't had a chance yet go over and check me out on Instagram of them posting a lot of new photos lately of some of the things that snow goes and I have going on throughout the week plus some pictures of some past hikes if you found any value in this video go ahead and hit that like button subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and as always guys thanks for watching [Music]