Belgian Army Bivi Bag

About 4 years ago I heard a magical tale, a camping trip without the need to setup  a complicated tent?? My typical camping trip included putting up a tent, that somehow got bigger and bigger. My mate was going one direction while I wanted to get the weight and setup time to a minimum plus I wanted to do it on the cheap.

Soooo, sleeping in a bag you say? Well I had to give it a go, I did loads of research with people suggesting it should be tried befor taken seriously as there are some fairly pricey bags out there and it's not for everyone. I therefor decided to start with the Belgian Bivi bag.

First off it's cheap, there are loads of them on Ebay and it seemed the most logical choice with the only cheaper alternative being a plastic survival bag!

The bag is made from a material called seyntex, but has a canvas type top meaning it's breathable as well as water proof. As can be seen in the pictures the waterproof section wraps around the feet and up the sides so the bottom is 100% water proof.

This material has a type of PU coating so feels a bit rubber on the inside, I have slept many a times on the cold wet floor with only a slight bit of condensation in the bag, in fact last year I spent a night on Dartmoor in one with some terrible weather and stayed nice and dry. The top of the bivi has a flap that I use to stuff my clothes or pillow in but also pull into the bag as an extra bit of cover, there is a pull cord but it's a bit too claustrophobic for my liking.

What I find is the best setup is to get the sleeping bag inside the bivi an roll it up like in the picture below (ruler for measurement).

I hang this off my bag meaning it's all fairly water proof but I'm also not wasting space trying to squeeze it all in my bag which you will need as I strongly suggest you add a tarp to keep the dew off in the mornings, not so much the wet mind just that cold you get in the mornings. Perhaps others might not find this a necessity but I certainly do. I also think that this is where the sleeping in a bag idea starts to fall down, not only do you have to carry the bag at roughly 1kg but you then need to add on a tarp, poncho or basha. The more I sleep in these things the more I think there is a better solution.

The next problem I have with this bivi is the PU coated inside, yes it's all nice and water proof but leads to such a problem once you add the sleeping bag. I sleep on my side and due to the hard floor am switching during the night, unfortunately the sleeping bag sticks to the bivi bag due to it's rubber type finish, this causes endless frustration as the whole thing tightens up like someone wringing water out of a towel. For me this is the deal breaker, if I'm unable to get sleep then it's a complete waste with the only possible solution for getting sleep being complete exhaustion or a A LOT of booze (I don't think I could carry that much booze!)

I do intend to give the bag the odd dusting off as I REALLY want to like it and to give credit to the Belgians, the bag is pretty well made. I would however like to look into making my own kit as I like the simplicity and not having to setup the tent. All in all it's a cheap solution and worth a go, but it's not the game changer I thought it would be.

Pro's

It's a bag
It's fairly light an rolled up saves a bit of space
No need to mess around with poles etc, just get in.
It's a bag!

Cons

The need for some sort of cover
Getting stuck over night, horrible!
It's a BAG!

Polish Puma Camo Rucksack

I don’t know about you but I personally can’t resist a bargain, looking for a small rucksack I came across this, the Polish Military Rucksack on ebay for around £7. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_kw=polish+rucksack

I was looking for something that could pack up small and be used as a day bag.

Thanks to the way the bag was put together it folds up to about the size of an A4 sheet about 3 inches thick. The bag is mostly made from a fabric type material so folds fairly easily apart from the base which is poly tarp type of material, unfortunately this also means that the bag is not waterproof rather the opposite will suck up water like a sponge, I know that most bags of today’s age are not water proof but at least with a canvas or nylon bag there as an element of water resistance and it’s a shame the water proof layer didn’t go slightly further up the bag as putting it down onto some wet grass could potential leave you with a bag full of wet gear. 

 

What I did to rectify the situation was chuck in a rubble / heavy duty bin liner, as you can see by the pic the bag fits in nicely.

Unfortunately though this solution wont help from getting a wet back which leads me onto another concern I have with this bag.

If you have done your research and come across some videos or reviews you probably by now have picked up that the straps on this bag can be a bit of a pain in the side, literally! Take a look at this review I found,

http://surplusmania.weebly.com/rucksack-mania/category/polish-wz89-combat-sack

Chris does make a few useful points, the location and shape of the metal clips almost guarantees they will be rubbing on the sides of your lower back, in the pics you can see that they make a type of “V” shape and also have a curved clip all perfect for digging into the wearers side. I have used the bag a fair amount now and I don’t find this to be too much of an annoyance although I currently only use it as a day bag for shorter trips and walking to work etc, if you are into modding your equipment you could make a few alterations to the bag to ensure a comfortable fit, this could mean replacing the metal clips for a plastic alternative or a simple bit of tape around the sharp edges, it is worth noting that some people might find this more annoying than others, depending on build and what it is being used for but that the bag makes an excellent blank canvas for modding, the straps are simple as is the bag itself.

The bag is fairly small as can be seen in the pictures but has a an extra section tucked inside, two separate pull cords allow the bag to be closed in a smaller size or the extra section pulled out and the second cord tightened. The image below shows in red where the two pull cords are located. This effectively increases the back size by a 3^rd.

Once the closed with the pull cords the bag has a flap and two sets of buckles for the smaller or extended. I’m not a huge fan of buckles so have put on some modern plastic clips by attaching an extra bit of webbing I bought off of ebay onto the bottom buckle and then attaching the plastic clip to this and the existing webbing.

I only had to sew the bottom clip to the webbing an then feed through the buckle, the upper clip also feeds through the top bit of webbing, the bag now closes much easier and can be opened on the go, next step is to ty and get some compartments, any ideas?

The mod is well worth it as it can be a bit of a nightmare opening a bag with buckles especially as the bag has no internal compartments, which is a bit of a let down, even a single divider would have been nice to see but I suppose this might have led to a compromise on what could be carried.

Quality wise the bag is fairly well made, my example appears to have been issued but is still in fairly good condition, the picture below shows how most of the seems are double stitched along with a backing fabric. All in all the bag is not too bad for £7 and I would be impressed if anyone could add in a few alternatives at this price.

Summary

50 x 37x 25cm
Weight: 1.0Kg

Pros:

Folds down to a fairly compact size

Can carry a fair amount of wait

A fantastic blank canvas for mods etc

Would make a comfortable sleeping pillow

Cons:

Potentially annoying metal clips

No internal or external compartments

Water proof only on the bottom