Based upon the many glowing reviews online, I bought a new Military Modular Sleep System Goretex bivy a few years ago for under $100.
Here are my findings:
- As you might expect with something used by the military, this is a very rugged piece of gear. High quality zippers and overall solid construction.
- It's very heavy and bulky.
- A deal killer for most of the camping season in Ontario: no bug screen.
- No tie downs for the corners means when you roll, the bivy can roll with you.
- No tie off loop at the top of the bag means the bivy lies on your face.
- I'm 6' tall and weigh about 225 pounds. I can't use any sleeping pad thicker than a Thermarest Pro Lite Plus, or I'll be squished between the pad and the top of the bivy.
- I'm a side sleeper who splays my arms out in front of me when I sleep. The bag is too narrow for me to do this comfortably.
- You can't properly fit a 6.5 foot long, 25 inch wide sleeping pad properly in the bivy.
- It does make a nice addition to your sleep system in a tent that will add a few degrees of warmth when used outside of your sleeping bag.

Hope these observations help when it comes time to pick your bivy!
 

Just beautiful! Thank you for sharing, Steve.

Fantastic, thank you for sharing!

Hi Rich, that was a really nice report. Thank you for sharing it!

I'm always looking to learn from those who know more, so I've got several questions for you if you don't mind:
- I see you pitched the tarp the first night not in an A frame but in a slope.  Did the slope afford any protection from rain, or just wind? Did you have a place to sit under the tarp? Did you bring a chair?
- You covered a lot of ground during the trip. Is the trail pretty flat up there? Personally, I'm not sure I could do much more than 8-10 kms in a day, which is what is keeping me from trying the full Highland Trail in 3 days. As you know, the Highland Trail has some challenging terrain.
- How much did your pack weigh?

OK, enough questions thank you again.

Tracy
 

I hope the title is not too dramatic but my brother and I were witness to a very scary incident at the Mew Lake Campground on Friday, September 21. That's the same night a tornado touched down near Ottawa.

The two of us were camped at site 105 having arrived that morning for a long weekend of hiking the day trails. After traversing the Track and Tower trail, we returned to our site and started processing wood for the fire. We both noticed the wind picking up significantly, so much so that we pulled down the MEC Guides tarp we had erected earlier in the day. The way the wind was whipping I was afraid the tarp might get damaged, similar to an incident I experienced at Provoking Lake last fall.

It was just before dusk when we finished our dinner. Sitting before the campfire we heard a loud crack and looked around in time to see a pine that I estimate was 80 feet in height topple from its base near the road and fall toward the site next to us. The tree fell down, dragging a smaller neighbouring tree with it. When the two trees landed with a crash, we called over to the site to see if the two campers there were all right. The reply came back that they were safe.

My brother and I rushed over to find the tree had flattened one of the two tents pitched on the site. The campers were standing on the far side of the campsite in a bit of shock. They quickly drew our attention to the fire pit. Not only had the tree hit the tent bang on, the top of the tree had fallen directly across the fire pit. The fire had been going strong and this dead tree was capable of catching fire at any moment. My brother and I rushed back to our site, he grabbed his hatchet, I grabbed my camp saw and we spent the next hour sawing and hacking to clear both the pit and afterward the tent so the camper could access his gear.

One of the campers called the park office, let them know there were no injuries and was told the wardens would come by as soon as possible. It actually took more than an hour fo

I helped "Santa" out a little this year when I saw SAIL was clearing out Les Stroud knives at a really low price. So I am the proud new owner of a Camillus Les Stroud SK Mountain knife. I had my daughter wrap it up for me and put it under the tree I also bought one for my brother, he'll get his today.
 

holycow wrote:

This may be the answer we've been looking for
Title:NC mom invents a spray she says will attract any Bigfoot within a mile and a half
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article173012526.html#storylink=cpyhttp://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article173012526.html

Thanks for this link! I need to order some prior to my next solo trip so that I don't have roast marshmallows all by myself.

Very helpful, thank you!