Black Diamond Light Sabre Bivy

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Customer Reviews

Great for ultralighters

I've used this bivy shelter for a month straight now and can still say that I like sleeping in it. It easily knocks the socks off of a traditional bivy, while still giving (most) of the comfort of an ultralight tent.

Some of the good points are:
*Its longer than it looks. I'm 6'0 and have enough room to put a small pack (Golite Infinity or Six Moon Designs Starlite). Granted, there isn't much room left, but its plenty to sleep and read.

*Its comfortable for sleeping. I had great reservations about this tent, thinking I would wake in the night feeling claustrophobic. I never have. the bug netting is far enough away from your face that it feels more like sleeping in a tent, and the leg room is plenty (much more than what you'll have in a sleeping bag anyway.

*Its pretty darn waterproof. It doesn't come factory seam sealed, so you'll have to do that yourself, but I've never had any trouble with rain, whether its snow, sleet, misty rain or even long thunderstorms. Its technically classified as water resistant, but it has been perfectly waterproof for me, even when standing water reached the seams.

*Its light. Lighter than a tarp tent (1 lb 4 oz). You'll probably want a tarp (see below), which will add a few extra ounces, but, even with the added weight, its still about the lightest tent you can get. Plus, being free standing, and only a few inches wider than my shoulders, you can set it up inside shelters for extra protection if need be.

Despite the good points there are some bad design flaws:
*Condensation. For the most part it does just as well getting rid of condensation as any tarp tent (and some double wall tents). You will have trouble with condensation on your chest area depending on the weather. A good driving wind (from the head) will pull most condensation out, even with the bug netting closed and the outer material mostly zipped. In other weather you will have to experiment with leaving the outer material unzipped, and even the bug netting partially unzipped.

*Its hot. That's not such a bad thing in cold weather, but it does limit the use you will get during the summer. Since there is only one opening you will never be able to get a cross-breeze going. This means that, with the bug netting zipped, the bivy will get stuffy without a strong breeze. Leaving the bug netting partially (or even fully) unzipped helps, but kind of defeats the point. After all the bugs will be bad when the heat is.

*Changing clothes is a bit of a chore, if you have to do it inside the tent. It's certainly better than changing inside of a Hennessy Hammock, since you can brace yourself against the ground, but its still harder than it should be. There is one seam in particular, which usually runs directly over the chest (in the bug netting) that gets in the way. For some reason this seam doesn't stretch as much as the seam in the outer tent material. I would suggest unzipping the bug netting and turning on your side if you need to change. There is a bit more lateral room to kick around.

*The number one complaint I have about the bivy is that you have to be inside before it rains, and can't get back out until it stops. The opening is a J zipper that runs along the side and top of the bivy. Opening both the outer material and the bug netting, then getting inside, then zipping them back up again without getting both yourself and your gear inside (mainly the sleeping bag) wet is just impossible. You can solve this problem by bringing a small silnylon tarp with you, and setting it up just over the opening, but that adds a few ounces to the tent weight. I can't think of any other way they could have designed the bivy to escape this problem, but it is an annoying one.