Bivy Tent

There are tents and then there are bivy sacks, but there are also a few shelters that fall somewhere in between those two. A bivy tent is a bivy sack with some rudimentary amount of support. One thing that many people don’t really like about a bivy sack, after all, is that it lays on your sleeping bag, which can lead to problems like puddles in bad weather. With a bivy tent you don’t have to worry about that as much, and can rely on your bivy in much the same way that you would a tent.

Bivy Tent

What to look for when reviewing a bivy tent.

• Weight – The main advantage of a bivy sack over a tent is that it weighs quite a bit less. So while you may want a bit of extra support with a bivy tent, you should try not to go with a heavy bivy tent, because if you’re going to do that you might as well just go with a tent. Fortunately, there are some excellent, lightweight bivy tents out there.
• Material – The material that your bivy tent is made out of matters. Because there is so little room inside a bivy tent, and little opportunity for weatherproof ventilation, you need a fabric that will both keep water out and also breath well. Gore Tex is one option, but it is by no means the only option.

Best Bivy Tent

Some of the very best bivy tents, based on the above criteria.

• Outdoor Research Alpine Bivy - The Alpine is less a tent and much more a bivy. It has the same basic design and shape as a bivy does, but with a single pole across the upper chest which elevates the bivy and gives you a bit of breathing room. The whole thing is made from 3 layer Gore Tex on top, to give you breathable but waterproof protection from the elements, while the bottom is waterproof nylon, to protect from ground water. The opening is also big and covered in mesh, so that ventilation is easy, provided that it's not raining. It weighs 2 pounds, or 907 grams.
• Mountain Hardwear Sprite 1 - The Sprite is a small, enclosed tent that shares many things with a bivy but more resembles a tent. It has a mesh interior and a rain fly, for starters, and two poles, on hooped across the top and a smaller at the bottom, to provide structure. The rain fly even creates a small vestibule where you could store a few things, like shoes. The whole thing weighs 2 pounds 15 ounces, or 1.33 kilograms.
• Nemo Gogo EX Tent - The Gogo is the ideal combination of tent and bivy sack. Like many other Nemo tents it actually uses an inflatable tube, rather than a pole, to provide structure. But despite it's small size it actually uses a mesh interior and a removable rain fly, which makes it ideal for ventilating that small space. The rain fly also creates a small vestibule space where you can store a few things you want to keep dry for morning, like shoes. The whole thing weighs 2 pounds 8 ounces, or 1.13 kilograms.

Find more tents over at the compare tents page, and more bivy sacks at the compare bivy sacks page.