Are you and your car ready for the next winter storm? A bivy bag can be the difference between an uncomfortable night and a dangerous one.
The highway that shuts down and leaves you parked in the snow. The ice storm that knocks out power for two days. The hike that runs long. When it happens, warmth is the first thing you lose – and the hardest thing to get back. The bivy bag is built for exactly these situations: climb in, pull it closed, and let your own body heat stay with you instead of disappearing into the cold.
The difference from a regular sleeping bag is that this one is always with you. It takes up so little room that you can keep one in every vehicle, one in the emergency kit at home, and one in your pack – and never notice it until you need it.
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Be ready for the unexpected
The glove box
Stuck in a whiteout with roadside assistance hours away? Cabin heat disappears fast once the engine goes off. The bivy bag sits ready without taking up space.
The emergency kit
In a multi-day outage, indoor temperatures can quickly fall into the 40s °F (4–9 °C). One bivy bag per family member is simple preparedness.
On the trail
It comes along where a full sleeping bag never fits: day hikes, hunting trips, and fishing weekends.
Four reasons to put one in your kit today
Holds in your body heat
The heat-reflective material holds on to your body heat instead of letting it escape.
Just 4.4 ounces
Lighter than a can of soda. You won't feel it in your pack.
Made to be stored
Keep it in the car or your bag all year round. On rough ground, put something underneath – a jacket, backpack or branches – to protect the foil and insulate you from the cold ground.
Visible in the field
Bright orange makes you easier to spot for search and rescue.
Losing heat with and without an emergency sleeping bag
Picture being stuck in a cold car for a full day and night before help reaches you. Here's how the two situations differ.
The foil shields you from wind and wet, creating a sheltered pocket of air around your body. The bag slows heat loss from moving air and evaporation, and the foil layer reflects part of your radiated heat back at you.
Your body gives off moisture, so some condensation can form inside the bag.
Nothing stops the air from pulling heat out of your clothing. Your body keeps losing warmth hour after hour, for the whole wait.
The longer the wait, the bigger the difference.
But doesn't it get damp inside?
It's the question we get most often, and the answer is that some condensation can occur. But how much depends on how warm your body is. A chilled body in the cold gives off far less moisture than a warm body that's working. This bag is used at rest, in the cold – and in those conditions, moisture is rarely what decides the outcome.
Think of a down jacket worn over nothing but a t-shirt. If you're hot and sweaty, the lining sticks to your skin immediately. If it's 20°F (−7°C) out, you can wear that exact same jacket without it sticking anywhere. The emergency sleeping bag behaves the same way: the colder it is, the less you notice the moisture.
And the real question isn't whether it might get a little damp. It's: a down jacket that might stick, or no jacket at all?
Medical guidelines for hypothermic patients specifically recommend a vapor barrier of plastic or reflective foil used together with insulation. The vapor barrier reduces cooling from air movement and evaporation, and keeps the outer insulation dry. Research suggests the effect holds even when the person is already in wet clothing.
How to get the most out of your bivy bag
Important to know
No piece of equipment can guarantee survival in severe cold. What the emergency sleeping bag does is make a real difference compared to going without, and the effect grows the longer the wait becomes.
A severely hypothermic person needs help immediately – call 911 (112 in Europe). Confusion, slurred speech, clumsiness, shivering that fades, and reduced consciousness are serious warning signs.
Be ready before you need it
Being prepared is easy, and it makes an enormous difference when things go wrong.
Specs: Bivy bag emergency sleeping bag
14-day right of withdrawal
You can return your bag within 14 days of delivery, no reason needed, for a refund. If it arrives faulty, you can also return it within 30 days for a refund or exchange. Items should be returned in their original packaging, and you pay the return shipping. See our Return Policy for details.
Note: The Bivy bag is an emergency sleeping bag built for emergencies. If you're car camping or planning to sleep outdoors, we recommend our regular sleeping bag – compact and light, but built for several nights in a row.