I've used this on several outings now. This bag plus an ultralight bag rated for 60° F got me through a 17° night under a tarp lean to. It wasn't cozy and warm but it wasn't miserable. I was able to sleep. This wasn't a survival situation. I had access to a warmer sleeping bag, I simply didn't need it. My big gripe with this bag is that it's too short and too narrow! I'm over 6' and around 200 lb. My shoulders don't fit and the bag is so short that the hood is completely useless! This is straight up BS! THEY NEED TO MAKE A BAG FOR GROWN MEN! Update: They didn't, so someone else did and it's far superior. It's made from the exact same fabric too! 2GoSystems dot com makes the Trifecta bivy, also sold here on Amazon. It's spacious even for me. Two of them can zip together to make a double if you're so inclined. It also unzips flat and can be pitched as a tarp with its many tie out points. The manufacturer HIGHLY recommends use of bungees to prevent tearing. Since it unzips from both ends, a hammock can be threaded through it. They also make a poncho system that converts to a bivy but only the bivvy is sold on Amazon

About 30 state, county, and city campgrounds are within 50 miles of my home in southeast Iowa, so I plan to do as many bike overnighters as I can this camping season. I was looking at lighter gear and ran across the SOL Escape Bivvy. It SE Iowa in the summer, not much sleep gear is needed because the nights are hot and muggy. I thought maybe I'd take a light flannel travel blanket, one of those that roll up into a little pack, and the SOL bivvy. I could pull the bivvy over me toward morning when it cooled. What are the limit for low temperatures, though? I'd watched the YouTube videos, I'd just seam-sealed a little tent I'd bought, so why not try out both? Yesterday, April 24, the forecast was possible rain and thunderstorms with a low of about 45F. I set the tent up outside the house and got in about 9 PM, the temp in the 50's. I set up with a Thermarest pad and a Big Agnes blow-up for support. I brought along a cheap fleece bag liner that I bought a couple of years ago for $10. Some reviews online had said a liner would "up" the bivvy's warmth. I was wearing a light cotton sock hat, thermal underwear, and insulated socks. Soon I inserted the fleece liner, not because I was cold but because I wasn't cozy. There were some areas where I was cool, notably where my shoulders and hips stretched the bag. As the night cooled, the cool spots became cold spots. I put on a light cotton flannel shirt, then my fleece jacket, and then my cotton cargo pants. I slept, never really getting cold during the night, but definitely having cold spots. The low of the night was 46F, but with winds the "Real Feel" was down to 32F. The little tent is a single half-dome, net with a cover. I got some wind. What I feel is that I would have been better off using my down bag. I camped in mid-March on an overnighter, used my down bag, and was cozy all night until dawn when I could feel some coolness rising from the still-frozen ground. Here are some specific comments about the SOL bivvy: *It works as a survival sleeping bag. I never got chilled. *It's a lean sleeping bag. I'm 5'8", 145lbs, and I was fine but with no extra room. Add the clothes and the fleece liner, and maybe I wasn't cozy-warm, but I was certainly snug. *The zipper zips halfway, so with the clothes, the liner, the bag, each bag with a zipper, it was an expedition taking a mid-night pee! *The tightener for the head works great, but the bag's zipper is right at the edge of the tightened face enclosure. I padded the zipper with the fleece liner's top edge. *The inside silver liner feels cold to the touch, so the fleece bag really helped, as did socks and thermal underwear. *The bag's material does breathe. I didn't have any condensation except when while asleep I hunkered down some in the bag. When I woke, there was condensation right at the edge of the face opening when I had been breathing inside the bag. *The specs say the bag has waterproof seams, so if my tent had leaked, I'd at least not been soggy, like I would have been in my down bag. It's raining cats and dogs right now as I write this, so I wonder how that little tent is doing! The bag does retain your heat, but it seems that where the bag is tight one feels the outside temperature more. This was not true for my contact with the sleeping mattress. That was fine. The bivvy folds and rolls into a little sack with a shape of about 5" x 6". It's light. I'm looking forward to using it in warm and hot weather, and I'll update this review when that happens. Last words? The SOL Escape Bivvy Tactical Breathable Survival Sleeping Bag is a useful addition to my bicycle camping gear, but it's one that has its limitations and quirks. By knowing the quirks and using the bivvy within its performance parameters, I believe from my night's experience that the bag will lighten my load and keep me warm. I'm not throwing away my down bag, though, and if you buy the SOL bivvy, neither should you. I'd rate this bivvy bag with three stars at this time, just an OK score because of the cold-spot experience. Once I really come to know the bivvy's limitations, though, and work within them, I think the bag will serve me well. Addendum: I spent another overnight in the front yard with the SOL bivvy. This time the low was 60 degrees. The results were much more comfortable, but I want to detail the process I followed. First, going to sleep at 77 degrees, I just slept on top of my fleece liner (with only the air mattress beneath me and dressed in my light thermals as above), the bivvy bag pushed to the side. As the evening cooled I experimented: first in the fleece bag, then in the fleece bag with the bivvy on top like a blanket, then solely in the bivvy bag, then in the bivvy bag with the fleece on the outside. Finally, around 2:30 AM, I slipped into the fleece bag then the bivvy bag and slept comfortably for the rest of the night. I fall asleep easily, so this experimentation was not an ordeal. I'd just wake, adjust, and fall back to sleep. There were still cool spots, but with the warmer temps, that was not uncomfortable. Now, all the survivalist types might call me a wuss, but I wasn't looking at this bag as survival equipment; I was seeking a high comfort level. When I go bike camping overnight, I'm just looking to enjoy myself in all phases of the experience. My bottom line is I like the lightness of the bivvy, and with the fleece liner it will provide me with many options over the summer. If not for compactness and the waterproof feature, doing it all over again, I would probably look much more thoroughly at summer bags, even with the greater size and weight. However, I'm adaptable and it gets damn hot and humid here in SE Iowa in the summer, so probably in this case, less is more. Posted by Tom Kepler at 7:40 AM Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest No comments: Post a Comment Older Post Home Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) Follow This Blog by Emai

I'm not normally a review guy, but I have to steer people away from this bag. To clarify where I am coming from, I am a cold weather guy, through and through. I wear shorts in the winter and don't grab a light jacket until around the 60 degree mark. For $50, and a host of glowing reviews, I expected a solid, effective sleep sack, but was sorely disappointed. First off, it did a terrible job of reflecting body heat. I spent one of the most miserable nights of my camping life [Temperature was in the 40s] trying to maintain any heat using this bag AND the highly rated "Snugpak Jungle Blanket". FYI, the blanket alone is rated from 36-45 degrees, so the combination of the two should have been more than enough. I tried sleeping in shorts and a t-shirt, as with a traditional bag, where body heat does indeed keep you warm inside the bag. But I never came close to anything near warm or comfortable. Then after a few hours, I tried climbing into the bag fully dressed, and still froze. Thank God I wasn't on a hike, because I finally gave up and slept in my car. Second, the bag is starting to tear at the seam where the sewing stops and the zipper begins, AFTER ONE NIGHT'S USE. I can't image I'll get much more out of this bag, assuming I ever use it again. If you do buy this bag, don't expect much, unless you are camping in (I'm guessing) 50-60 degree nighttime temps. Or you will be sorely unhappy with your purchase (and probably have a very long miserable night)

So, as with other ultralight gear, I was deciding whether to just cram this bivy into the corner of my pack all alone, or fold it up super small and perfectly and try to get it back into the stuffsack. I chose the middle path and crammed it into the stuffsack like I was packing up my sleeping bag. Lo and behold the middle path was incorrect and the stuffsack hella ripped! So my decision was made for me and I shoved it into the pack, which works fine. Saves me 0.8oz too! One issue I do have with some ultralight gear is the tight bags they give you so when you do manage to stuff it in, it's the size of a softball but super hard and doesn't mold to other gear while in your pack. I'd rather have slightly loose packing that compresses into each other than smaller bundles of stuff that don't fill in the spaces. Haven't tested the bivy itself yet though! hopefully soon with a gossamer gear tarp for sub 20oz shelter system

I was hesitant at first to buy this because of the fairly high price. I spend a lot of money on gear and don't care what things cost as long as it's worth it, well made and does what it's supposed to. This hits all those bases. First it's extremely lightweight. Compared to another bivvy option this is a feather and is just as capable. It's not some cheap mylar space blanket. This is a high quality, high tech material that is very durable and considering it's basically a substitute for a $200 five pound sleeping bag it's pretty amazing. I wouldn't take this alone if I was going winter camping but you can easily make it into the fall, mid 40 degree weather, and if you're dressed really well or have a tent, an additional space blanket and/or a fire you can probably go lower. All of that is for a planned scenario in optimal conditions but this is obviously also made as an emergency blanket and I can say that this is definitely a lifesaver. Keep one in your car or get home bag for that unplanned night in the woods, car or elsewhere and it will really come in handy. Now that I have it and have used it a little I feel the $50 price tag is really relative and it's easily worth the investment, for camping or an emergency

A little noisy, but is light weight, breathable, and keeps you super warm. I use it with my snugpak poncho liner and kept really warm. I don't think it would last 3-4 months on the PCT though for every night use, it says escape on it for a reason. I think it was 42 degrees F, and I kept warm all night. I have to say though, my body is like a furnace when I am sleeping, lol. This doesn't get wet inside like then normal bivvy's do. Do yourself a favor and buy this one over anything else, it is worth the gamble. Love it, and recommend it to anyone

This is surely a good and potentially life saving piece of equipment that is a must for any outdoors person. Pros: 1) Very well constructed 2) Quality zipper w/drawstring hood 3) Breathable so to avoid condensation buildup 4) Substantial thickness of protective and heat reflective fabrics used in construction. 5) Warm 6) Easily packable and comes with a great stuff sack. There are a few downsides to this unit that are specifically related to the overall size. I am 6' 250lbs with a muscular build and this unit was a bit too snug for my comfort. I felt pretty confined when attempting to zip it all of way up. Needless to say I was unable to pull the backside of the unit over my head to engage the drawstring/mummy cord. Also, I would not be able to fit in this at all if I had on my outdoor gear (ie coat & boots). The material has almost no give to move around in. It should be big enough to fit at least the clothing that you are wearing comfortably. Cons: 1) Narrow fitment 2) Could use a few added inches in height and width to the entire unit. Ultimately: I believe that this unit is fully able to help protect from the elements in a modified capacity (due to my size and the fitment of the respirant). And I honestly was thinking of returning it because it didn't really fit me as I thought, and believed that it would. But I appreciate the construction so much that I will keep it and use it as a foot print for my sleep pad, which should greatly increase the R value of my entire sleep system. With that said, I do recommend this product but advise that if you have a larger build that you should sample one before your purchase

ITS SOOOO SMALL!!!! Which is perfect! this lil bugger packs up small enough to fit in some very cramped spaces, including my butt pack for my camping/survival kit. Along with a trauma first aid pack, gun cleaning kit, knife cleaning kit, a weeks worth of food, water purifiers... seriously I was grinning for hours when I found out I could get this in there with all that in that bit of space. As to if it works, i've used something similar in a very bad situation and while it was not comfortable, it was survivable thanks to it. I'd be dead if not for this exact design even if its not the exact same product. Added pictures of it in my bag, along with a bit of what else is crammed in there

This is absolutely worth the weight and the money. It's a game changer. I would recommend to anyone, but especially to UL hikers. It has a quarter zip, right hand side, drawstring that pulls the hood tight around you. Just be sure that your nose and mouth are positioned so that you are breathing outside of the bivvy, otherwise you will produce condensation inside. I have never had an issue with condensation inside from the rest of my body though, only when I had my head completely covered over and was exhaling inside the bivvy. This is not some cheap thin mylar emergency blanket material. It's durable and meant to be used over and over. The fabric itself is very similar to Tyvek. At first it may feel a bit stiff, but just use it a couple of nights and it will soften up and I find it's actually a nice fabric feel once it does. I have also machine washed this and the Escape Bivvy Light and they come out fine. The reflective side doesn't seem to flake off and is also long lasting. It may lose a bit of it's reflective value over time, but that's over a long period of use. The price made me hesitate to buy for a while. But after my experience I do not hesitate to recommend it and I will definitely buy another if this one ever gets damaged or lost. I think these should be essential items in every car, for every person, in every bug out bag, in every hikers backpack. I have the Escape Bivvy light in orange, but I really wanted something that didn't stand out so much. So I got this Escape Bivvy in green, and relegated my orange Escape Light to my car. The fabric is noticeably stiffer and feels like it will be more durable than the light version, although I have used my Escape Light for years and never had a tear or puncture. At first I thought it might be too stiff, but after a couple night's use it has softened up. While you could put a very light sleeping bag inside it, it would be a tight fit. What I do, and find it works better, is that I use this as a liner to my sleeping bag, and put it inside. That way this bivvy is closest to my body and reflecting that 80% of my body heat back to me first thing, then the sleeping bag is an insulated layer outside it to catch and retain what body heat escapes the bivy as well as insulating from outside cold. I did an experiement the past two nights since the temperature has been pretty stable. First I slept in my Helikon-Tex Swagman roll, and slept on the coldish side, but still within my comfort range, until early morning when the cold woke me. Our body temp naturally dips at some point early morning, which I think also coincides with the lowest air temp at night. I had to put my quilt inside the swag roll to get back to sleep. Last night, with the same base layers, I used this Escape bivvy sack inside my swag roll and slept toasty warm all through the night. I was not too hot, bu much warmer than the night before. It makes a huge difference. It packs down so small, and is so light weight there is no reason not to bring it. I think it should be in every backpack, every bug out bag, every car. If the weight is an issue, try the Escape Bivvy Light, it's a little less durable, but I've been using it for years and it's never torn or punctured, but I don't put it directly on the ground

I love the size it folds to. It's fairly easy to get it back into the little sack if you know what you're doing. Stuffs to about the size of a pop can. It's super lightweight at a 1/2 oz. And it's breathable. But it's too short, cramped (for taller folk esp. in the shoulders; I'm 6' 4" and not overweight or anything) and most importantly it doesn't keep you warm in chillier weather if you're expecting to get by with it only. I was camping in 33-40° weather for a weekend recently, and it was just not warm enough. I was shivering and HAD to get up and get warm by the fire. I've never had to do that before. I had all sorts of thermals and socks on, but to no avail. Maybe it would've kept me warmer if I'd been able to cinch it up over my head like a mummy sack. But even then the shoulder area was completely tight and cramped on me. I really wanted to make this work as it definitely saved me a ton of weight and space in my pack, but it's truly just a 1 season sack if you're looking to make it your only bag on a trip. Your temp needs to be above 40° to really consider this comfortable and even then that's a tad on the chilly side. It would probably work better as a thermal reflector inside a warm sleeping bag. I'm not sure how this would "save" you in an emergency if it was all that you used. Plus... SOL you need to make a version that's longer and slightly wider for us taller people!!