During the recent road trip to Fort Bill a couple of us got talking about bivvying at some point this summer.

I have a sleeping bag, so just missing the bivvy bag and mat.

Are the Alpkit stuff any good? They seem good value £30 for the bag and £20 for the mat, just wondering if anybody has had experience of either.

Ta

Dave

I have the Fat Airic and it is great. Anything else is too wee for me – comfort all the way.

too wee in terms of thickness?

I have the small Airic version of the mat (can't recall the name) – seems to be very comfy and I've no probs sleeping on it. Packs down small enough and easy enough to 'inflate' – if it is feeling a touch soft you can manually inflate it as well – which could be handy. I reckon it is good stuff, but I only use it about 6 times a year so not something that gets used and abused constantly.

imo for occasional use they are fine.

if relying on it for a long trip spend a bit more.

Arric sounds ideal for your use.

I use them all the time, even for week long family camping trips. Find the short length one a bit cold sometimes cos obviously your lower leg/feet are touching the ground direct,but the regular airics are fine. Not tried the fat ones, but they presumably will be even finerer?

At the price point they are at they are fine, however i dont think they are as good as a Thermarest, the blurb says they are as light as a Thermarest but i dont think they are (i have a slim airic and 2 Thermarests) and to me they dont seem to pack as small as Thermarests either.

If you do more than 20-30 nights a year under canvas then personally i would go for Thermarest.

to back up my statement above
I had 2 in different colours – 1 for me 1 for missus bought at the same time.

Both were fine for the first night use in the uk to test them

they then lasted 2 weeks before delaminating.

They then told me i should deflate when in the tent during the day – but i was packing them up every day and sticking them in my panniers

They refunded me and i bought kathmandu mats which both lasted the remaining 10 weeks

i have a wee airic and a hunkka. The wee airic is only 3/4 length and thinner than my normal thermarest, but is fine for a summer bivy. The bag seems fine, but i have not had to test it in horrible conditions. My thinking was that for the occaisional use they will get from me, they seemed like a good price for the size/weight. also got a gourdon 30 rucksack, which is spot on for a lightweight overnighter.

i do like my gourdon – so im not just a kit snob 😉

I've got a variety of Airics – 2 fat Airics for car camping with the missus, 2 slim airics for winter climbing, a short airic for me in summer.

We had a problem with one which delaminated – it was replaced by Alpkit without any quibbles.

We also use the Hunka bivvy bags – I got the XL version to give a bit more room. If you're ever looking for a sleeping bag, the Alpkit one's are excellent for the price too. I think the only bit of kit I ever bought from Alpkit that I thought was totally crap was their wire handled folding spoon – it folds up randomly while eating, so I ended up gaffa taping it open.
Beyond that, all the other gear of theirs that I've used (down jacket, down body warmer, synthetic jacket, Gourdon, drybags, ti cup and socks) have all been reliable kit and good value for money.

makes joke about 3/4 size mat fitting you and leaves

makes joke about 3/4 size mat fitting you and leaves

not far enough away IMO. 🙂

R U riding with Lowey on Sunday?

yes

Might see you then, then.

Just need to establish when is the best time to break to news to Mrs V that on our first day of our family holiday I will be spending a couple of hours with you two dodgy characters

🙂

with all this flirting with junkyard i forgot to say ta gents for the reviews, looks like Alpkit is the way to go for the small amount of bivvying i'll be doing