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A4 checklist with all illustrated steps. Tick the boxes on paper as you go.

FeatherSticks · Shelter

Bivouac & Bivvy Bag: How to Sleep Out Light, Dry and Discreet

No tent, no poles — just you, a bivvy bag and the sky.

Quick facts

Time
Set up in 5–10 min; with tarp 20–30 min
Difficulty
Easy to learn; rain and condensation need practice
Best for
Dry nights, fast and light trips, discreet overnight stays
You need
Bivvy bag, sleeping pad and bag, groundsheet, optional tarp

What you need

  • Breathable bivvy bag (hooped for trips without a tarp)
  • Sleeping pad that fits inside the bivvy
  • Sleeping bag suited to the night low (synthetic copes better with damp)
  • Thin groundsheet
  • Small tarp, ridgeline, guylines and pegs
  • Dry bag for spare clothes
  • Head torch, water bottle and a warm layer within reach

Step by step

  1. Check the local rules

    1 Check the local rules

    Bivouacking is regulated differently by country and region. Stay out of national parks and nature reserves and check the local rules before you go.

  2. Find flat, slightly raised ground

    2 Find flat, slightly raised ground

    Choose level ground a little higher than its surroundings, away from hollows, dead trees and water courses.

  3. Lay out groundsheet, pad, bivvy

    3 Lay out groundsheet, pad, bivvy

    Clear cones and sticks, spread a groundsheet, slide the pad into the bivvy and let the sleeping bag loft — before it gets dark.

  4. Get in and keep your face out

    4 Get in and keep your face out

    Breathe through the hood opening, not into the bag, and leave a vent open to reduce condensation.

  5. Rig a low tarp if rain threatens

    5 Rig a low tarp if rain threatens

    String a ridgeline at about hip height and pitch a low A-frame tarp over the bivvy, windward edge down.

  6. Pack up and leave no trace

    6 Pack up and leave no trace

    Leave early, take everything with you, fluff up flattened vegetation and dry a wet bivvy at the next chance.

Common mistakes

  • Breathing into a zipped-up bivvy and soaking the sleeping bag.
  • Using a non-breathable emergency bag for planned nights.
  • Pitching in a hollow where rain and cold air collect.
  • Setting up in the dark without checking for dead branches overhead.
  • Relying on a bivvy alone when steady rain or thunderstorms are forecast.
  • Packing the wet bivvy together with the sleeping bag and never drying it.
  • Assuming a bivouac is always legal — and bivouacking in national parks or nature reserves.