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?

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.

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?

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.

A link to a pic would be useful.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

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

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

Richard Ferguson wrote in
:

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?

I forgot to mention in the previous post. The primary advantage of the
orange survival bag to the kind of bivy bag you're talking about is that the
former is small enough that you can put it in a pocket in your PFD. If
you've got a fancy gortex bivy bag it would likely be packed in with your
sleeping bag which won't help if you capsize and become separated from your
boat. When considering safety gear think of what you would need if you
became separated from your boat and carry it in your PFD.