One of the rules of the bivi - don't bivi where it's windy?

Generally I lose more sleep to flapping tarp / tarp-tent fabric than anything else. I rate my ability to pitch one as competent to fairly good but the fabric flaps in higher winds no matter what. Since I can't get a Whillans Box that's compatible with bike touring, is my only option to stop camping on hill tops where it's a bit breezy? I love a hilltop view and breeze is good for keeping bugs away but bivis at the edge of low woodland have been better for sleep quality, much more sheltered.

I thought about some magnetic strips that could pack into a bag and be placed on the offending flappy area (I thought about things like that for quite a while in the small hours of Saturday night). Also thought about hearing a flapping noise in the same way I hear wind in the trees or waves .. that didn't work and I doubt the magnetic strips would either..

Any tips, advice or solutions for the challenge of the flapping tarp ?

And the other Q - is a Tyvex groundsheet slippy when used with a silnylon bivi bags? i.e. less so than a bit of plastic shower curtain (I assume PEVA or similar)

Is a Tyvex groundsheet slippy when used with a silnylon bivi bags?

Very.

https://bsky.app/profile/bearlegged.bsk ... 2oxhq5ps2m

I probably shouldn't google rubber bed sheets ..

Silly question: isn't that (flapping sheet) more a tent issue than bivvy issue?

Unless we're talking hooped bivvis which im yet to try

Sorry, yes - I say 'bivi', I'm in a bivi bag with a sheet tarp up, problem can be tarp flappage.

Is that still a bivi out?
I already have no idea whether I go bikepacking or touring, now I don't know if I bivi or camp
edit, dunno how to spell it either ..

Unless we're talking hooped bivvis which im yet to try

Long may it remain so. They look like a place only someone exposed on the side of K2 would rather be

Do you have any photos of your tarp set up, type and suze?

There are so many ways to pitch them.

jameso wrote: ↑Mon Jun 23, 2025 10:44 am I already have no idea whether I go bikepacking or touring, now I don't know if I bivi or camp
edit, dunno how to spell it either ..

Er, are you alright there James old mate? Anything we can do to help at all? How long have we known you now? One of our top operators too . It must the heat .

Goes off to check spellings.....

fatbikerbill wrote: ↑Mon Jun 23, 2025 10:59 am Do you have any photos of your tarp set up, type and suze?

There are so many ways to pitch them.

Will look one up. It's either a 6MD Gatewood tarp tent or a 2.8 x 1.5m tarp pitched with a pole 3/4 along the front edge, seems that wherever the fabic creates a corner or bend there is a bit of rippling that sets up the wind noise, so I think it'll happen no matter what I do? Hence thinking of a damper strip that could be applied. On sat night I would have tried a strip of gaffer tape, if I had a piece long enough on the pump.

RIP wrote: ↑Mon Jun 23, 2025 11:00 am

jameso wrote: ↑Mon Jun 23, 2025 10:44 am I already have no idea whether I go bikepacking or touring, now I don't know if I bivi or camp
edit, dunno how to spell it either ..

Er, are you alright there James old mate? Anything we can do to help at all? How long have we known you now? One of our top operators too . It must the heat .

Goes off to check spellings.....

I think I'm good Reg, better than in ages tbh : )
ride / sleep / repeat .. that is all eh?

I've had this problem before too: I remember one particular night last summer or the summer before when I was careful to find a high exposed spot to avoid the midges, which would otherwise have been a fantastic quiet, flat spot with a great view on a beautiful warm night, but every time I dropped off, a gust of wind flapped the tarp and woke me up. I'm sure some will say you just need to be better at pitching it, but even in perfect circumstances (which bivis almost never happen in), I don't think it's possible to completely eradicate the risk of noise at some point - even if you've got it just right, changes in temperature/wind/moisture will loosen something somewhere. If someone has a real solution to this, I'd love to hear it too.

jameso wrote: ↑Mon Jun 23, 2025 11:23 am … It's either a 6MD Gatewood tarp tent …

After one too many nights being woken and/or kept awake by my Gatewood Cape flapping I've bought a couple of additional guy lines to attach to the loops on either side, but not had the chance to use them yet to see if that improves things. I always look to follow their 'point the rear wall into the wind' guidance when pitching but if or when that wind shifts it seems particularly susceptible to flapping.

It's all part of the experience....
One particularly bad night was under my DCF tarp (aka crisp packet). I ended up just stretching it out over the ground and crawling underneath.

If you've big panels, they are going to flap, no matter how tightly pitched. I generally find somewhere sheltered if it's breezy but have often been caught out pitching in an exposed spot to avoid midges, only for a gale to blow up.

My solution is either earplugs or whisky.

jameso wrote: ↑Mon Jun 23, 2025 11:25 am

RIP wrote: ↑Mon Jun 23, 2025 11:00 am

jameso wrote: ↑Mon Jun 23, 2025 10:44 am I already have no idea whether I go bikepacking or touring, now I don't know if I bivi or camp
edit, dunno how to spell it either ..

Er, are you alright there James old mate? Anything we can do to help at all? How long have we known you now? One of our top operators too . It must the heat .

Goes off to check spellings.....

I think I'm good Reg, better than in ages tbh : )
ride / sleep / repeat .. that is all eh?

Pleased to hear it, had us worried there for a moment

Hyppy wrote: ↑Mon Jun 23, 2025 12:13 pm After one too many nights being woken and/or kept awake by my Gatewood Cape flapping I've bought a couple of additional guy lines to attach to the loops on either side, but not had the chance to use them yet to see if that improves things. I always look to follow their 'point the rear wall into the wind' guidance when pitching but if or when that wind shifts it seems particularly susceptible to flapping.

They can help, but they can also increase the creasing or fabric ripples where the noise starts. I don't think it's possible to pitch it (or anything similar in fairness) tight enough or flat enough not to have those creases somewhere. The solution I think is in stiffening the fabric or changing the way the airflow and those ripples behave, hence the magnetic strips idea.

My solution is either earplugs or whisky.

I've tried both :) One for the noise and the other 'just because'.. Even wax earplugs don't solve it for me though, it's just too close and loud at times.

Not the most accessible but it allowed me to get a few hours sleep....