Cold-weather Camping

“Has anyone ever used a bivvy sack along with their sleeping bag(inside the tent) for winter camping? What are the +/- of doing so? Do you put your sleeping pad inside your bivvy under your sleeping bag, or under your bivvy on the tent floor?
I'm curious, since I have a gore-tex bivvy but haven't yet used it in the wintertime... would it work??”

“I used a bivy sack once inside my tent years ago with the nightime temps in the 20's. It was a Gore Tex bivy made by Alpenlite. After a few hours there was condensation build up inside the bivy sack so I removed it. I was using a down bag and the vapor couldn't make it's way out. I sent the bivy back after that trip and gave up on the idea of bivy sacks. With a good tent, I don't see the need for it.”

“Has anyone ever used a vapor barrier liner in their bag? I've wondered how cold it would have to be to justify using one.”

“Medic Girl, I have used a bivysack (not shelter) over my bag in cold (high teens,low twenties) many times. I dont know what brand, it was issued stuff in the army. It was toasty warm with my bag,again no brand more issued gear. We put the sleepy pad under the bivy/bag combo. The only downside is that getting out of a fartsack into the OUTSIDE was miserable. And if the weather is ugly (rain/snow ) it can be a chore getting stuff packed etc...”

“I've used a vapor barrier suit(shirt, pants and socks) inside my sleeping bag when it was below zero and it works well. You can probably use it when you start reaching the limits of your bag's rating.”