Front view
Made by customer Graham Holmes.
Here we have my home-made bivy
sack using Tyvek ‘soft’ style 1443R (for Top panel), more durable/higher
hydrostatic head Tyvek 1460C (for Base), no-see-um mesh and a one way non-separating coil
zipper (all project materials available from Quest Outfitters). The project took
maybe 3 hours to complete end-to-end (I work quite slowly and all seams are
triple-stitched). Total weight for the finished article is slightly less than 7oz.
Soft Tyvek is a useful material
for a bivy sack, it gives a good balance between durability, cost, water resistance and
breathability. Initially it feels a bit like paper but after being scrunched-up into
a ball it softens and feels like cotton. From some remnants of Tyvek I made a 0.6oz
pillow case/stuff sack as it feels so comfy next to the skin.
If you would like to try making
your own gear, soft Tyvek fabric is a good place to start. It is easy to handle,
patterns can be marked-out accurately in pencil, it cuts well (edges don’t fray) and
seams are easy to sew as you can use the initial slight stiffness of the fabric to fold
seams without the need to pin.
I’ve used the bivy
multiple times now in the