So the last element of my Sleeping system arrived today and I'm going to test it out in the garden.

System is
- Sleeping quilt: Sestrals Quilt
- Sleeping pad: Exped Synmat 7-LW
- Pillow: Exped Pillow Pump
- Bivy Bag: Snowyside eVent Bivy
- Tarp: Alpkit bicycle 7

Rain forecast from 4am

Tarp is up and ready.

Looking forward to it.

Good luck.

Dave42w wrote:So the last element of my Sleeping system arrived today and I'm going to test it out in the garden.

Watch out for Gnomes!

Seriously, have fun.

You appear to be missing Slug repellant.

Good morning! Hope you're rested, dry and about to tuck into a big fry up.
(and don't worry about neighbours' curtains twitching; they'll never understand... )

and good morning to you all

Yay it worked!

I decided to test the bivy fully by not sleeping under the tarp. Despite a couple of hours of heavy rain I stayed dry. Some dampness on the bivy floor under the sleeping mat. I am pretty sure that is the seams which are not currently sealed.

I was surprised that I felt comfortable with the bag completely sealed up (and without a line lifting the top of the bag off me). I need to take a little more care closing the Velcro neatly as at one point I moved and some water ran in under the storm flap and through a gap in the Velcro onto my nose ;-)

I didn't notice any condensation on the top half of the bag (that is the Pertex) and am reasonably confident the damp in the bottom was just from the seams. It wasn't enough to cause a problem anyway.

I need to practice my tarp pitching as I noticed the side has sagged with a large pool of water.

I slept pretty well and that included just enough space to sleep on my side with a fair bit of tossing and turning as normal for me.

I can see the tarp being useful for getting in and out the bivy bag in the rain as well as for storage.

Yippee!

I didn't notice any condensation on the top half of the bag (that is the Pertex) and am reasonably confident the damp in the bottom was just from the seams. It wasn't enough to cause a problem anyway.

I thought the top was eVent? I'm pretty sure the damp on the bottom will be condensation .. conditions sounded perfect for it.

s8tannorm wrote:

I didn't notice any condensation on the top half of the bag (that is the Pertex) and am reasonably confident the damp in the bottom was just from the seams. It wasn't enough to cause a problem anyway.

I thought the top was eVent? I'm pretty sure the damp on the bottom will be condensation .. conditions sounded perfect for it.

Oop's wasn't properly awake. Yes it is eVent.

I assumed that as the eVent felt dry to the touch all night and the damp in the bottom only appeared when it started to rain hard condensation less likely.

I assumed that as the eVent felt dry to the touch all night and the damp in the bottom only appeared when it started to rain hard condensation less likely.

The fact that you were sealed up, plus the rain (the top won't breath as well if it's wet) and the temp difference between the bottom of your mat and the ground, would point to condensation.

Are you sure the seams aren't already taped? Seems mad to use eVent and not tape the seams.

Thanks that is helpful.

It wasn't much and the sleeping quilt didn't get damp so not enough to worry about.

I was trying the fully sealed out outrather than needing it for most of the night. With the velcro is is easy to open a any sized gap wherever you fancy it.

The seams are not taped. Lack of a commercial tape sealer and inconsistency of iron on are the reasons John gives. His suggestion is a silicone based sealer.