Overheard a guy at REI say the word 'bivvy' and it sent me down a rabbit hole

I was in the REI in Denver last Saturday, just browsing sleeping bags, when this older dude told his friend that a bivvy sack is the only way to camp on a ridgeline in wind. I laughed it off at first, but then I looked one up after I got home and watched three videos about condensation management. Turns out he was right about the wind thing, but now I'm stuck deciding if I want to trade my tent for something I can barely sit up in. Has anyone else made the switch to a bivvy for exposed sites, or is that just a masochist move?

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1 Comment

robinson.paul17d ago

Three nights in a bivvy on the JMT taught me that condensation isn't just a problem, it's basically a shower you can't get out of. I'll take a tent that flaps like a flag in wind over waking up with my sleeping bag soaked from my own breath every single morning. That ridgeline guy might love his bivvy, but I'd rather carry an extra pound and sleep dry.