How Do You Put Your Sleeping Pad Inside of the Bivy Sack

Bivy sacks, also known as bivouac bags, are very lightweight shelters. These sacks are typically no bigger than a sleeping bag and have mesh faces to allow moisture from your breath to escape. Bivys are used in mountaineering, fast-packing and ultralight backpacking. A bivy is not the most comfortable method of sleeping out under the stars, because they are nothing more than lightweight fabric. One way of making the ground a little "softer" is to use a sleeping pad along with the bivy. You should put the sleeping pad inside the bivy because placing the pad under the bivy usually ends up with the nylon fabric slipping off the pad.

Instructions

    • 1

      Turn the bivy sack inside out and make sure it is as dry as possible for the conditions. Shake out all debris and grit.

    • 2

      Remove your sleeping pad from the storage sack. If your sleeping pad is a self-inflating pad, push the tail end of the pad into the end of the bivy sack (the toe end.) Open the air valve on the sleeping pad. If your pad is not self-inflating, turn the bivy back into the normal position and set it on the ground.

    • 3

      Pull the bivy sack up and around the sleeping pad as it begins to inflate. Pull the bivy sack back into the normal position so it ends up with the sleeping pad inside it as you pull it back from inside-out. Twist the valve closed and place your sleeping bag on top of the sleeping pad inside the bivy.

    • 4

      Push a non-inflating sleeping pad all the way into the bivy ,and pull it so it is aligned with the floor of the bivy. Place your sleeping bag on top.