well after a week of a MYOG sweatshop last week to catch up on all the projects that had been building up as I approached my college finals for the quarter. I had a fun time trying to figure everything out with this bivy... and I got to use it in spider meadows this weekend. It started out with an RS180 bivy pattern, I shortened the hood by 8", and widened the pattern by 3 inches in the shoulders and hips area to increase room for the neoair, I eliminated the velcro closure and stiff bill overlapping flap in favor of a full closure zipper with side zip and zippered skeeter netting. Between the minima vest I made awhile back and this I have a bunch of scrap coyote momentum. Contemplating making some no frills wind pants to conplament a rain wrap for cooler windy weather. Anyhow, here's the pics, the tarp is the 5yds to SUL tarp I made and posted pics of last week.

Edited by rooinater on 06/21/2009 15:02:50 MDT.

Jared, great looking bivy. I'm envious that you've had a chance to use yours. The zip in netting is pretty boss. I like it. Nice tie out at the foot end. I looked at the Rain Shed bivy pattern too, and I thought a zipper would be the better way to go as well. How do you like it? On the other hand, I swim in a bivy that size so I made a few changes and cut mine short. What's the weight?
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Edited by Matt_Mahaney on 06/21/2009 16:44:18 MDT.

Jared,

Looks great! Nice job.

Curious what you went with for foot end dims? 40" enough or should I be looking to go wider?

Looks like a nice complement to the rest of your shelter/sleep system. I actually purchased the minima vest kit based on your build a while back. Love the function of a vest and your build looks great.

Very nice my man!

> How do you like it? On the other hand, I swim in a bivy that size so I made a few changes and cut mine short. What's the weight?

The finished weight is 8.55oz, a little on the heavier side, but I needed the room to sleep with the Neoair inside with my wider shoulders. I wanted the bug protection, and side zip, because I wanted to easily be able to get in and out and the skeeters in a lot of the places I hike get real bad in a couple more weeks. Basically I needed an all around bivy.

>Curious what you went with for foot end dims? 40" enough or should I be looking to go wider?

I went with the pattern dimensions on the foot box. I use a small neoair so the pad doesn't go down that far into the bivy, and I just stuff my rain gear in the golite ion and stuff it at the bottom for my feet. I can't find the pattern at the moment, my work area is a mess. I knocked out the Ion, Tarp and bivy and ran for the hills. I shortened the 33" long hood down by 8" and it's just about right, I wish I would of added more depth to the mosquito netting though.

The one thing I forgot to do when I seam sealed it was to put a couple lines or an x pattern of sealant on the floor to keep the pad in place. So it was an interesting night as the pad wanted to slowly slide inside the bivy since I was sleeping on a slight incline. Other than that I really like sleeping in a bivy again as long as there is just enough room for me to toss and turn.

I also have some aircore pro left over from another project along with some of the adjusters for the line. I think I'll rig some up for the foot and head tieout points to run them to the stakes or the tarp edge to pull the bathtub floor of the bivy taught for stromy conditions. I figure it'll weigh less than carrying 4 extra stakes to stake it out.

Edited by rooinater on 06/22/2009 12:16:07 MDT.

That is really neat! Good job! I'm about to embark on my first MYOG tarptent project and it's been nice to look at pictures like yours from other members to get an idea of the different features I want. I really like your set up though. Tell me, how does it do condensation-wise inside of the bivy?

It was slightly raining and around 40 degrees the night that I used it. I slept without the netting or hood hung up and I didn't notice any condensation when I opened it up to pack it away. But that was only one instance and I constantly adjust to reduce my sweating throughout the night. Especially since I prefer to sleep on the colder side since I'm a very warm sleeper. There was also a slight breeze.

Edited by rooinater on 06/22/2009 16:58:07 MDT.