Bivvy Lite

The Arva Bivy Lite is a white emergency bivvy bag that belongs in the safety kit of anyone heading into the hills. It reflects up to 70% of your body heat, it breathes so you do not wake up wet on the inside, and at 200 by 90 cm it is roomy enough to climb into fully clothed or to pull over a sleeping bag.

What it covers

The Bivy Lite is for the night you did not plan: a twisted ankle on the descent, a whiteout on the Main Range, a walk that runs hours past dark. Slide in, get out of the wind, and hold on to the warmth you have. It is just as useful on purpose, as a cover over your sleeping bag on a cold night or as the whole bed on a summer overnighter.

The fabric breathes, so the moisture your body gives off can escape instead of soaking you from the inside the way a sealed emergency bag does. It stops wind and shrugs off a lot of weather, and Arva design it for use in every season.

What is inside

• The Bivy Lite bivvy bag, white, one size, 200 x 90 cm
• A red storage pouch that doubles as an insulated sit pad. Arva make it from offcuts of their airbag balloons, and when you stop for a break in the snow you can sit on it rather than on the cold ground

That pouch is the "insulated seat pad" you may see listed against this bivvy. It is not a separate pad; it is the bag the bivvy lives in.

Weight and packed size

The Bivy Lite folds down into its pouch, compact enough to stay in your pack all season so it is there on the day you need it. Arva kept it white rather than dyeing it, to keep its carbon footprint down, and make it in Europe from European materials.

Looking after it

If you have slept in it, air the bivvy dry before you fold it back into its pouch, and check it for nicks at the start of each season.