Tent or Bivy?

Got one of these www.hilleberg.com/Catalog/nallo_2_2005_3873981.htm two years ago and it is one of my best ever gear decisions. When a friend returned from a Baffin Island trip, she said the guide had three different Hillebergs. I also have a hooped Intergral Designs Expedition bivy but this tent packs almost as small and at just under 4lbs does not drag me down. The built in vestibule makes storms easy to ride. All the other light tents were too small for my 6'3''. This is fine for that and easily fits a partner. Their n america main office is in Redmond so one can try different ones there.
Looked at the Eldorado but with the venting and adding in vestibule price, this seemed the way to go but I have seem some very happy Bibler owners. One never regrets buying the really good stuff.
Now to find that ultra lite down bag at 50% off!

Last May a friend and I did the N. Face of Shuksan. While it was mostly a car-to-car kind of trip, we did "sleep" for a few hours at the base of the face before actually beginning the climb. We chose bivy to save weight and space and each of us brought for our bivy of choice, the emergency bivy made from the space blanket material that some such company is making. We also saved weight by taking our big down jackets instead of sleeping bags. We crawled into our bags around 10pm and proceeded to hover right at the bottom edge of comfort feeling the warmth seep away with each gust of wind and each turn of the body. I was happy to get up at 2am and get underway with the climbing so I could get warm. Perhaps it was too much to think this bivy would be cozy in May at around 6K.<br><br>In the future I will probably opt for my heavier bivy unless travelling during the summer or simply need a backup shelter for unplanned overnighters or for sickly long jaunts like Snoqualmie to Stevens in a weekend. The emergency one I think then would work great. It's best just to not expect too much of it or at least be ready to shortchange your sleep in exchange for less weight in the pack.

<br>To follow-up on Kam's comment, I would add that Wee-pay also has a lightweight backcountry 2-hoop waterbed he occasionally brings out.  That's livin' there, Sir.

<br><br>Ah yes, you mean this piece of s#$% ? ;D (it has zero hoops, just a trekking pole with a shoestring and some rocks to hold down the edges). I'm thinking of testing out a new lighter-weight verison, perhaps using a plastic picnic-table cloth instead of a heavy tarp. <br>

Ah yes the venerable blue tarp. The roofing material of choice in many parts of rural america.

. . . perhaps using a plastic picnic-table cloth instead of a heavy tarp.   <br>

<br><br>I'm thinking a red-and-white check pattern with a nice bottle of Tuscan vino rosso!<br>