Seyntex Army Bivi Bag Design Review (£10 / 750g)

From time to time I go into an Army Surplus store looking for inspiration and design ideas. The armies around the world spend more time outdoors than almost anyone else so I figure they've probably solved many of the outdoorsy issues that I look to solve. Sure their solution might weigh a ton but my version doesn't have to. Sometimes I look at something and think "maybe that could be modified to make it lighter". Looking at this bag was one of those moments.

In this review I'll explore what I was looking at in the shop and then later what I've learnt from this bag's design. Finally in another feature we'll look at turning this bag into a light bargain bivi bag for tarping and summer lowland use.

Overview

So this is the bivi bag as I discovered it in the store. It was so different to what I'm used to seeing that it took me a bit of playing to work out what I was looking at.

It's labelled as manufactured in 1990 by Seyntex on the sticker and says "Aluminium fabric - Do Not Iron" in German. There are no obvious signs of wear or dirt and so it's either Grade 1 or Unissued.

Base

The base material is a silvered proofed nylon. I very much doubt that it's breathable - it is after all just a single layer of fabric and rests on the ground (or a mat). The fabric feels light and so is probably something like 2-4oz PU coated nylon. It's probably closer to 4oz than 2oz given it's army issue. But still as army bag goes this is incredibly light for a fabric choice. How did they think it would be used? Is it always going to be placed on a mat?

Footbox

The footbox is unusual in that the base fabric is formed into a waterproof footbox.

Overnight the feet are the coldest part of the body and this is where most condensation forms on an exposed sleeping bag. This footbox would help to keep feet warmer and should reduce condensation.

A waterproof footbox, together with the untaped seams and a different fabric for the top panel also suggests that the footbox may be exposed to more weather than much of the bag.

Top

The top of the bag is something I've never seen before. It's a water-repellent fabric that reminds me of cotton or cordura. Water beads on it very nicely. It's different from the base so it must have different properties. I suspect it's a DWR style of fabric which is very breathable but not storm-proof. I've yet to see an army bag without at least some breathability and if it was 100% stormproof then I'd expect to see taped seams and a proper hood or other protective measures.

How is it designed to be used?

So far the design suggests to me that this bag is designed to be used under a small tarp. That would explain the footbox. That would explain the choice of a different fabric for the top and the untaped seams. It might also start to explain this large square pillow area. That area is not the sort of thing you'd expose to rain. I tried experimenting with the ties to see if I could make a hood out of it and it isn't pretty so it's not a hood kit. Clearly it's for something else.

Once I had the sleeping bag inside the bivi bag I tried to roll it all up - like a bed roll. Now it all makes sense! All the ties line up and do sensible things. The result will be waterproof. Finally, this exposed fabric will be as tough as an army pack and so will survive a rough outdoors existence.

Conclusions - A Bivi Bag for use with a Tarp?

So this is a bivi bag that's also a bed roll. It looks like it would be ideal for use under a tarp. It looks like it's ripe for customizing. We'll give it a make-over here.