The link did not take me to the product, only to the homepage, but
looking around a little on the planetfear.com site, I found something
called a Survival Bag, available in a couple of sizes. It was orange,
but not much info on the website. So is this really just a big orange
plastic bag? How small is it folded up? I found something similar at
www.campingsurvival.com, for around $3 US, weighs around 9 oz (about
0.25 kg).

I carried something similar for years, the only time I used it was when
my partner's bivvy bag leaked in rain on the side of Mt. Robson, at a
desperate bivy site, and he was astounded that I had a plastic bivvy bag
in addition to my Gortex bag, to keep him dry. I guess I am a belt and
suspenders guy.

I understand the concept of having something attached to your PFD,
although I also understand that you can hang so much on your PFD that it
becomes a problem in terms of weight and/or bulk.

Historically I have made fun of tiny survival kits, usually mocking them
by picking up a medium size backpack full of warm clothes, food, and
water, and saying something like "Survival Kit my A**. This is my
survival kit!"

I am not saying that it is not a good thing to have, just that I am not
sure that I want to attach more stuff to my PFD. I generally travel
with other boats, especially in non-trivial water, so you don't expect
to lose more than one boat on a trip.

Richard



John Fereira wrote:
Gary S. Idontwantspam@net wrote in
:


On Sun, 19 Dec 2004 22:31:35 GMT, Richard Ferguson
wrote:


Expand a little on this bivy bag. The bivy bags that I am familar with
are usually made of goretex, and go over one's sleeping bag, or body if
you do not have a sleeping bag with you. What you describes sounds
very different. Is it just a large orange plastic bag?


Yes, it's basically just a large coast guard orange plastic bag.

richard

John Fereira wrote:
snip A

bivy bag may also be useful. It's a large coast guard orange bag that
you can climb into if you become separated from your kayak. It can
be partially inflated and used for floatation, and used as a
signaling device. It can be folded up and put into a pocket on your
PFD.


You are describing a bivy bag as used in mountaineering.

I believe John is referring to some type designed for paddlers.


They're not really designed for paddling. They're also called "survival
bags"

A link to a pic would be useful.


Here's one (sorry for the wrapping)

http://www.planetfear.com/product_de...s_id=579&p_id=
1819