I have used an advanced bivy for 2 hunting seasons during autumn (fall) and winter in New Zealand. Its a great asset, its only drawbacks beibg it offers little if any protection from the cold, and the foot area has no poles or functionality to keep the bivy bag up right. Otherwise 10/10.

Customer Service

Haven't had to use them. One of the problems of being overseas.

Terrible design. Really sucks setting it up, you'll be swearing if it happens to be raining at that time. Zipper constantly snags. Warm, but it doesn't breath. Rain will pool up on the fabric outside.
The only good thing I have to say is that it is super light, small and if in good condition warm and dry, good thing to keep in your car as a emergency shelter. Other wise do not buy...

There is simply handfuls of better, more comfortable, much bigger, much cheaper solo tent for only 1 pound more. Heavily over-rated tent.

Customer Service

NA

I used this bivy for many years while in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and Iraq (color doesn't matter if you only pull it out in the dark) and on regular backpacking and mountaineering trips all over. While I have always had condensation problems, this is a tradeoff with all bivys ive used. I turn it inside out in the morning, wipe it down and let it dry off and its good to go.
For regular camping and hiking, it is plus to use it in combination with a poncho or similar sized tarp to make sort of a vestibule, but I am convinced this is the best bivy on the market until you start getting into one person tents. Some complain of the tunnel entrance but you get into your sleeping bag like that anyway.

Customer Service

Have not needed to use it but OR has a great reputation for service.

Similar Products Used:

Bibler hooped bivy. Many other OR products (gaiters, parkas, gloves)

I'm writing this review to warn people that the design changed radically, sometime before April 2008, so watch out for old reviews. The problem is the weight, which went from 28 to 39 ounces!! (yep, 40% heavier) Outdoor Research has a GREAT warranty - when the seam tape came loose on my old one they (without a hassle) sent me a brand new one. Stiffeners around the zipper and heavier fabric seem to be the weight difference, but it might also be bigger overall.

Customer Service

Stunning. Got a problem? Call them, get an RMA, get a replacement. That's how you build customer loyalty!

I am a serious alpine climber. I purchased my OR advanced bivy from Marmot in 1997. The bivy was dry, comfortable and has plenty of space since I'm 5'9". In the rain perhaps the best feature is the hood. It allows you to keep your head dry while providing plenty of ventilation. You can even store your boots under it. The hood configuration also allows you to stay protected from the weather while reaching out to run your stove. The early models have a known defect in the hydroseal flooring. By 2000 my hydroseal coating was on the bottom of my sleeping pad and I could see through the floor. I felt I had gotten my moneys worth out of it and put it away in favor of a 4lb single wall tent for summit bids. In 2005 I found myself in need of a bivy again. I called Outdoor Research, told them about the floor delaminating and they said they where aware of the problem. They gave me an RA# and 3wks later my 9 year old bivy was replaced with a new one free of charge. That kind of customer service is the reason that paying a few extra $$ for the OR name is well worth it. I have always felt the floor material and coating was (and still is) too lightweight. However on snow it doesn’t really matter. As long as the new hydroseal does not become gummy with age or rub off like the previous version it should not be a problem if your careful. Pros: Very good construction on the top gortex half of the bivy. Hood provides a protected work space which sets this bivy apart from others. Unless you are in a snow cave, on a wall or surrounded by some other failing shelter system this is a must. You can even read a book in a storm. Outstanding customer service. Cons: Flooring fabric should be of a heavier weight and the floor coating could be improved by moving to a tougher, thicker coating. For my applications the added weight would be worth it. If it can't keep me dry it doesn't matter how light it is. However others may prefer a lighter material under more moderate use. In an outdoor market where serious gear is going down the tiolet in favor of cheaper materials and designs for the masses I give it a 5 star rating.

Customer Service

I'll say it again: OUTSTANDING customer service!

Similar Products Used:

Noth Face Assault 22, BD Mid, Wildthings Bivy.

I have read some of the reviews here and i will either refute or support some of the critisms i have read. Bag deteriates over a short time during storage - I have stored my bag at room temperature for 2 years. I have had no significant problems. Bag is too small - It is a bivy, it is supposed to be small. However, I understand that tall and/or fat people will hate this bivy. Made in America - what the hell kind of judgement is that. If I made my purchasing decision based on that 100% of my high end electronics would never had been purchased. furthermore my life would be busy constanlty fixinf a broken down Ford. I buy the best from the best people. I could care less of the race, politics or religion. Condensation - In the fall or spring this bag is great. However it will be way too hot in the summer and a problem in the winter. In the winter one may want to close the head of the bivy to cut out the draft. This causes a great deal of condensation inside the bivy and there isnt enough air in the bivy to breath. Hence, this bivy must be used with the head at least partially unzipped, especially in the winter. Bad deisgn - the poles are a bad design, it often comes apart and the placement of the poles makes it difficult to use the zuppers. The zippers themselves are TOOOOO small. Very hard to use. There should be a vent opening on the top head area designed such that it does not let the rain in but allows for ventilation. Camo - hmmm... I guess this might be useful for people wanting to hide or attacking in stealth. I often wanted a camo tent when I camp near very rural towns with a population full of red necks all of them fully armed and hate stickers all over their pick up trucks. Finally, improvements I would like. A third pole for the floor of the head to prevent the floor from folding under and getting the sleeping bag wet on wet grounds. A 2 inch wall on the floor head area to prevent dirt, leaves and water from entering the bivy. It would also help prevent the pillow from falling out of the bag. This happens everytime i use it. I wake up to find my pillow outside the bivy. straps under the bivy to hold the pad/floor protection in place. I always slide off the external pad which I use to protect the bivy and add cushion. Bigger head area !!!! A little more room in the head area so I can read a book, work my transceiver or do anything. With a roof vent and bigger head room the bivy doesnt have to be such a coffin.

Customer Service

I never used customer service at OR.

Similar Products Used:

Other bivies but not gor tex.

I love this bag. Granted, I hear alot of complaints that it is "too small" but hey, its a bivy, thats the point. I use it for both my own recreation and for military use and my only complaint is that they dont make it in OD or camoflauge. For army operations I have to throw a camo net over it (its blue, not very tactical) but it has protected me in sandstorms in Iraq, blizzards in Afganistan and nearly anything I have ever encountered in the Appalacians or Alps in any season. I usually string a poncho or small tarp over the head end to make a little vestibule for changing and protecting the inside when I get in/out and to me it is the best shelter imaginable for the ultralite mountaineer when all they do in their shelter is sleep.

Similar Products Used:

Walrus Microswift. Army issue goretex bivy, OR standard Bivy.

I bought this bivy foolishly thinking I was going to use it (can't have too much outdoor equipment). The bivy remained stored for a couple of years in a closet, not packed tightly. Nothing unusual about the storage except maybe the heat (Florida). Anyway, I discovered that the hydroseal on the floor had deteriorated to the point where it would easily rub off. So much for the durability of a product that I never used!

Customer Service

Sucks! Sent the bivy back. USPS indicates it was delivered, yet Outdoor Research claims, "We never received it" They do not return calls or e-mail regarding the situation.

Similar Products Used:

first bivy sack although I've used numerous tents.

This bivy is a 3-layer JGI 1.1 oz. Gore-Tex fabric upper section for maximum vapor transport, 1.7 oz. taffeta, complete with bombproof Hydroseal-200 coated floors, and every seam completely taped with Gore-Seam tape for total water-proofness.

Length = 90 inches,
Width at Shoulders = 25 inches,
Foot Width = 21 inches,
Pole Height = 19 inches.
Weight 31 ounces.

MADE IN U.S.A. Important to some. I'm one of them.
---

The "go lighter bug" has bitten me. (Not to the extent that my five day pack weighs sub 14 pounds, but it has bitten me none the less.) I read magazine articles, surfed the web, browsed bookshelves, talked to experienced backpacker and mountaineering friends and trailmates, and decided that my stuff weighed too much to lug most of the time through the Rockies. I let it sink in for about a year. Earlier in the season I gathered my gear, stood over it, and began to ponder which of my necessary, recommended, and too often expensive gear was in direct conflict with my quest to go lighter.

My TFN tent, weighing in at approximately six and a half pounds packed, stuck out immediately. It's a great tent, don't get me wrong. It has served me well, and still will on occasion no doubt. Especially when my wife ventures out with me. It is just that I couldn't help but think that I could replace it with a lighter alternative, saving at least a couple of pounds.

So I began researching smaller, lighter tents. I scaled back and sized down, shaving ounces here and there. There are some great lightweight tent options out there, but I though as long as I'm looking into light weight tents, I should look into the lightest weight shelters available. Which eventually brought me to bivy sacks... Looking at biviy sacks, I eventually found the OR Advanced Bivy. Actually, it found me first, thanks to a guy on a trail earlier in the Rockies. He was nestled between two boulders just off the trail, in a place no tent could have hoped to have fit. I stopped, chatted, then moved further along in search of a local better suited for pitching my shelter. A made a mental note to check into it after the trip.

I checked. I asked. I borrowed. I considered the weight savings: a whopping 70%! (Not to mention the space savings. The sack takes up little space in my pack, and its generously sized stuff sack allows for fast stuffing.) I couldn't move off of that fact. My 6.5 lbs TNF tent or a 1.9 lbs bivy? Easy! The 1.9 lbs bivy. I was hooked. (The Advanced Bivy weighs 1.5 lbs without poles and bug net, incidentally. There are lighter sacks out there. I compared features and decided that a few ounces of weight was worth the clamshell. See next paragraph.)

The OR Advanced Bivy is destinquished from other bivies on the market by it's clever clamshell opening. This opening is achieved by using two poles, and allowes the top (including the bug net) to range from closed to approximately 90 degrees. Ever used a bivy that lays on your face or barely above it? I have. Ugh. Never again. Nice evening? Open her all the way up and stare at the stars. Storming out? Close her up and stay dry. WARNING: You should never close a bivy all the way. Always leave a couple of inches open to promote air flow. The design allows for this. You will still remain dry. "Breathable" is a relative term, after all.

(I had my wife hose me down in my backyard. I know I'll never encounter rain like that in the mountains. I zipped up, left a few inches open, and stayed dry. Untill she shoved the hose in the opening, but that's not exactly a design flaw. Trust me, I got her back.)

As with any bivy sack, space is limited, and about the only thing that you can do in it is sleep. I'm 6 feet tall and weight about 195 pounds. I can fit a sleeping pad, a four season bag, and a few necessities inside and sleep comfortably. Tossers and turners probably will not claim the same. Changing clothes can be tricky. Practice before your first use. Actually, practice before you buy, if you can. A friend of mine loves the concept, but hates the reality. It isn't for everyone. If more space is something you crave, or "need," then step up in weight and size to a one man tent. You heard it here: Claustrophobes and clumsy folk beware!

(Actually, I find that if I string a tarp or poncho over my head things are quite comfortable, should I need a more "tent like" experience.)

OR gear has a reputation of being bomb proof. OR bivies, and the Advanced Bivy in particular, have been around for years, and I have yet to have heard or read about one wearing out. For that matter I haven't heard mention of any of their gear wearing out in less than reasonable timelines.

Setup is easy. You simply roll it out, slide in the poles, and add your pad, bag, and body. The pad is held in place by two velcro straps inside. A nice touch, but I'm not convinced that they are necessary. You should be done in at least half of the time it takes to set up the average free standing tent.

The drawbacks? They're expensive. (Expense is relative. What's technical rainwear cost these days?) Space is limited, as I've already mentioned. Your gear, but for a few small essentials, will remain outside. You wouldn't want to weather a lengthy storm in one. (A properly strung tarp largely mitigates the last two, imo.)

So, if you have been thinking about saving the significant space and weight that a bivy sack affords, and aren't detered by needing more space, place the OR Advanced Bivy on your short list of possible purchases.

Erik

Similar Products Used:

None

Wonderfully light waterproof and breathable. The green color is nice if you like camping in graveyards undetected.

My only complaint is that this bivy is *TOO SMALL*. I am 6 foot tall and I have no leg room which means that I have to bend my knees which is a piss off.

Customer Service

Everything from this company rules.

Similar Products Used:

None