No bivy

[Reid]

I live in a warm environment and I was wondering if anyone has experience using a tarp without a bivy? I've always used the bivy, and always thought I could go without it I just never man'd up too it. I got rid of my last bivy and was just curious if anyone's ever had problems going without. I mostly tent camp now because it's very seldom I get to hike out for more than 5-20 miles so weight is not a huge issue anymore. I don't much care for bivy's either unless it's just the bivy either.

[Alligator]

I've never used a bivy with my tarp. (I've never used a bivy either, although I have a solo tent about the size of a coffin.) I do use bug netting when needed in conjunction with a bivy. What are you worried about? What size tarp do you have?

[Reid]

8x5

[Passionphish]

Let me tell you what,
I have tented, tarped w/bivy, and without. Plain and simply given a choice. I don't care what the weather is. I will tarp without a bivy every time!

When you think about how to build your gear. Most everyone purchase a sleeping bag with a DWR layer/coating anyway. Why not use it and sleep in a great place with a great view! My wife could not stand to camp. She endured me and my backpacking ways UNTIL I took her with just a tarp. She is madly in love with backpacking now!!!!! But then, I have rekindled my love for the sport with a tarp myself. Learn how to manage moisture and the tarp is your very best friend in most environments!!!!!
Check out backpackinglight.com for some articles on moisture management.

[Tinker]

Big enough tarp - no bivy needed.

Bugs can certainly be a problem, especially ticks and spiders. Both bite, the first because that's how they make a living, and the second because, if you roll over on them, they will defend themselves.

Here's a personal experience I had once: My son and I had set my Walrus Bug Hut II near a shelter in Maine in the middle of a hot early fall afternoon. The mosquitoes drove us into it. While we were in there, a white-faced hornet repeatedly tried to get at us through the mesh (they are ornery - we were probably too close to his nest for his liking). After about 1/2 hour he finally gave up and flew away.
No nylon bivy, perhaps, but I'd opt for bug protection if I slept on the ground again.

[JAK]

I live in a warm environment and I was wondering if anyone has experience using a tarp without a bivy? I've always used the bivy, and always thought I could go without it I just never man'd up too it. I got rid of my last bivy and was just curious if anyone's ever had problems going without. I mostly tent camp now because it's very seldom I get to hike out for more than 5-20 miles so weight is not a huge issue anymore. I don't much care for bivy's either unless it's just the bivy either.

I use a simple bivy bag and small poncho/tarp all year round. I've switched the bivy for a kiddies tent in summer. In winter I've left the tarp down. Something I never leave home is a blue foam pad, though it is smaller in summer, and on dayhikes now I just bring a wool blanket instead. Give it a try. Day hikes and single nighters are an especially good way to test ideas. Some ideas are best tested at home, indoors, like sleeping near naked. So far I've gotten down to 55F on the couch. It takes a few minutes to adjust. You have to resist the temptation to sneak some cushions onto your back. It's surprising how you warm up though, or at least it feels that way.

There must be some weight and some temperature at which a light blanket and single shell is actually warmer than a quilt or sleeping bag of the same weight, because of the weight of the shells. I'm not sure what it would be, and it would depend on ground conditions as well I suppose, what was needed. I would guess that sleeping bags really only need to kick in 2 pounds and perhaps 30F, quilts at 1 pounds and 40F, and just a minimal blanket and shell at 50F, but it depends on clothing, and what the ground is like, and wind and rain of course, but I would imagine that some people can sleep naked on the ground at 50F, or even lower. Next summer I might try just minimal hiking clothes, plus a wool blanket and rain cape, just to see. We can get frost in July however, but you can dodge that depending on where you make camp, and you can always sit up and make tea. I would have to check the climate extremes. Cold rain and wind would be the worst, rather than frost. I would have to do some sort of combined search, for coldest temperature in July over the past 50 years, with at least so much rain, or perhaps some formula involving rain and cold and wind, then figure out the minimum protection for something like that, and still get some comfortable rest.

[Dogwood]

Tarp quite often without a bivy. Also, bivy without a tarp quite often. As some have already pointed out, having a big enough tarp, a sleeping bag with a H20 repellant shell, and knowing how and where to pitch a tarp should solve most weather related issues.

[Alligator]

8x5

Without the bivy I'd suggest something a little bigger. I personally wouldn't go with a tarp less than 8 ft on the smallest side. Other people do go smaller than that, it can certainly be done, but IMO it tends to get a bit restricting at less than 8.