User Review: Outdoor Research Advanced Bivy

Outdoor Research Advanced Bivy
Above: The current Advanced Bivy, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Rating: rated 2 of 5 stars
Design: Bivy Sac
Sleeps: 1
Ease of Setup: 5 on a scale 1 - 10
Weight: Less than 2 lbs
Price Paid: about $250

I've used this bivy sac for about four years (when they first became available) about 5-10 nights/year.

Setup: The hoop poles are difficult to snap in place with cold hands. The pole sleeve seams have separated (I've had to resew them).

Water shedding qualities: The gore-tex top half works well. The "coated nylon" basin (bottom half) leaks badly due to the coating rubbing off when encountering friction from sleeping pad, flashlight, or even simply being stuffed. This coating is definately inferior material -- you folks that use this bivy for a couple of seasons will find out like I did.

Miscellaneous: When zipped up inside using the mosquito netting, the zipper can only be accessed from the OUTSIDE. This engineering oversight makes getting out a pain. This sounds picky, but I guess paying $250 for a bivy sac should entitle me to near perfection.

Would I buy another?: Why should I have to? I'm sending this one back and I'll find out whether OR stands behind their products. If not, the Bibler Todd-Tex bivy seems like a good investment...

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Where to Buy

Buy Online We found the Advanced Bivy at 4 online stores:

StoreProduct DescriptionPrice

Moosejaw
Advanced Bivy (Spring 2008)$289.00Buy Now

Backcountry.com
Advanced Bivy$288.95Buy Now

REI
Advanced Bivy Sack$289.00Buy Now

Powderfin.com
Advanced Bivy$280.00Buy Now

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More Buying Choices

Backcountry.com

$288.95 Advanced Bivy

REI

$289.00 Advanced Bivy Sack

Powderfin.com

$280.00 Advanced Bivy