It looks like won't need to camp during my entire trip as I just booked sleeping bag accommodation in places I thought I'd have to camp. So as I'll be in either hostels, farm houses or hotels in the "big" towns should I leave the tent, sleeping pad and cooking equipment at home and go light and fast? Or is it best to take it all to be safe as some of the roads are quite remote?

...bring a small siltarp instead of the tent, they pack up the size of an orange.

in a pinch you can simply wrap yourself in it and grovel until it gets light again.

I'd still bring the stove.

SOL Bivy + a small tarp?

I'd still carry the stove and some ability to cook. Hot tea, soup, or oatmeal on a windy, cold, wet, mid morning stop would be a nice perk.

picture of SOL bivy and siltarp on UL trip.....

I have that Bivy and interior condensation is a big issue. It certainly is warm, but a night in it and my bag is pretty damp.

I think you'd only use it as insurance...

Yes, but if I go the bivy route I want to take something that will be as comfortable as possible so I'll look for something a bit more breathable than the emergency medical bivy. I'm tending towards taking the sleeping bag, bivy and cooking gear and leaving the tent and sleeping pad at home.

and then


Now I'm confused. I'm more comfortable on a sleeping pad...

Yeah, I was thinking of clamminess rather than the cold hard ground, I can deal with that, but I hate a damp bag. As you say the bivy will be for insurance so I want it to keep me dry and be an effective wind barrier. I think the REI minimalist bivy looks like a nice compromise between function, weight and cost

https://www.rei.com/product/794292

how often have you slept on the cold ground? i used to, when i was a teenager. it sucks the life right out of you. you can deal with that?

hmm. and have you ever slept in a bivy like that? there is condensation inside EVERY bivy.

a laminate bivy always packs huge. that thing is going to pack up the size of your tarptent, Nun. avoid.

6x8 Siltarp, sleeping pad, sleeping quilt. you can wrap yourself in it if needed. the SOS bivys will keep you alive in a bivy situation.

getting damp in an emergency bivy situation isn't the worst.

you're only going to maybe need it.

what if its nice, beautiful, calm, and you WANT to camp out?

+1

Same here, when I was younger

I picked up the REI bivy last night as it was on sale and slept in it on the porch. It was dry, but there was a big temp difference between inside and bag and outside and I had still had no condensation. The inside air definitely got humid, but not uncomfortably so, and being able to regulate my temp by taking my feet out of my quilt helped, also I used the zips to vent the bag. The material is like that used in Marmot Precip so a bit plasticy, but for $50 I'm quite happy with it. It also packs down well. With a bit of pushing it actually fits inside the SOL emergency medical bivy bag.

I like camping, but I prefer a room if I have one and I've already have one booked for each night. The bivy is definitely just for emergencies.

i don't know why you'd pack a bivy like that if indeed, you might only need it for an emergency.

the SOL works better as a ground cloth and can double as a warm, emergency bivy that's a fair bit lighter.

Having spent many nights in bivies in the mountains, on mountain rescue teams or just climbing, you will find a bivy is a damp place to spend the night. particularily if the weather has sent you packing into the bivy in the first place.

No matter the brand or type of laminate, laminate bivies are sog machines in typical "I needed to get into the bivy" conditions.

but to each his own, once it becomes ultralight its just parsing hairs about what needs to be taken anyway. Just hoping you make the right decisions about gear

Did you have to do this site-by-site, or was there a clearinghouse where you could set up multiple accommodations?

Do you have a daily itinerary, then? As in you have to be at a spot on a given night?

Just curious: Iceland would be a manageable trip for me this year, but I haven't put much thought into it yet.

I started out by booking hotels in Reykjavik and Egilsstadir (half way mark). Then I discovered that Iceland has quite a few Hostels that cost $20 or $30 a night for a bed so I booked a few of those keeping the daily distance between them around 60 miles. After that I though that I'd be camping the rest of the days, but then I discovered that the campsites I planed to stay at have "sleeping bag" accommodation where you get a bed without linen for about $30. So I decided to book those and I've ended up with a place to sleep each night. I have an itinerary, but I like having a defined goal each day and usually ride early in the morning so I arrive early afternoon.

Having to be somewhere each night is a bit confining, but gives the tour structure and if weather of injury stops me from keeping to my plan I can always take the bus.

The REI minimalist has some nice features and packs quite small

.

i don't think pound is worth the volume carried, when a siltarp carried for the same purpose and serving more, varied purposes would weigh less and pack to 25 percent of that.

and why not the bivy that came in its sack? you think you only might need it, and it weighs a third of the minimalist, and will still pack smaller. i know its a bit damper, but again, its only a maybe you're going to need it.

a third of the weight of the other shelter is significant for an ultralite bikepacker.

you'll have fun regardless, just offering my input on the gear.

If you've booked accommodation every night, the bivy seems excessive. Like Bekologist suggests, a siltarp could provide emergency shelter.

In the summer, Iceland never gets dark. You can ride around the clock if needed. And since you're sticking to the Ring Road, there will always be motorists passing who could help out in a real emergency.

I like the bivy more than a siltarp for Iceland because it's bug proof. I'll be off the ring road for one day so at 1lb and a small volume the bivy is good insurance if I'm not taking the tent.

Sorry to play Devil's advocate as I know you're an experienced tourist, but I can't imagine where you'd be able to use a bivy unless at a campground, in which case it sounds like you'll have a bed. The terrain is so rocky/volcanic, trying to tuck into a bivy and sleeping bag on the side of the road sounds like torture.

Also, the only bugs you'll see are around Myvatn. The island does a great job of blowing away almost all insects. The birds, however, are a different story. You'll need eyes in the back of your head!

A tarp or tent would be even more difficult to use away from campsites. My take is that I'd rather get into the bivy and zip up than wrap a siltarp around me. Putting a tarp (or tent) up on volcanic lava would be difficult, but if I have to rest it will be easy to get behind a rock and zip up the bivy. Say a nasty fog comes down and I have to stop riding in the middle of nowhere, then it will be nice to wait it out in the bivy. Probably not fantastically comfortable, but it would keep the wind and wet out well. Bugs are something that I hate, so I always have DEET and knowing my luck if I had to spend a night out it would be in the middle of a lot of bugs which is another reason for the bivy.

It really is an emergency thing and at 1lb and similar volume to the Thermolite I think it's the way to go if I don't have a tent and sleeping pad.