The saga of the 'bivvy' has always caused me a wry smile. Don't really know why, perhaps it has something to do with tendency for anglers to cheerfully pay so much for what, afterall, is only a glorified tent, and that such a tent could be bought from Milletts for half the price. Of course the 'bivvy' is no longer a standard tent, more a flexible home from home, more of a fashion statement.

I was in my local yacht chandlers yesterday when this young fellow walks in and asks the assistant whether they stocked anything for waterproofing a bivvy. Of course, as an angler my ears pricked up. Assistant admits that she doesn't know and calls for the manager. Manager comes down and politely expresses his doubts, then, perhaps understandably, for a non angler, asks what a bivvy is! 'Errrr, its a sort of shelter what you sleep in, yer know', says the young fellow. My thoughts exactly!! 'Oh, you mean a tent', says the manager, enlightened, so he thought. 'No', says the youth, 'its a bivvy, yer know'! Manager suggests 'Aquaseal', pointing out that, on the label, it says 'ideal for tents'. Said youth then asks, 'but will it be any good on a bivvy?' Manager says 'I expect so' and the youngster walks out of the shop, empty handed! Don't you just despair at times!?!

Why do anglers call their tents bivvies? Just curious!

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TENT: A portable shelter, as of canvas, stretched over a supporting framework of poles with ropes and pegs.

BIVOUAC: A temporary encampment often in an unsheltered area, to camp in a bivouac.

Shortened from Bivouac, which implies a more temporary stay than a tent.

Whilst, in principal, they are the same, bivvies that have been designed with anglers in mind do vary from tents.

Simple additions, like velcro rod holders for when baiting up, make them much more 'angler-friendly'. They generally have wider openings, too, as most anglers would sleep with the front wide open.

A more temporay stay than a tent!!! Errrrrr, some of 'em are permanant fixtures!! Like the one wot W.B. lives in !

Sounds pretty much like a 'bivvy' to me! Thanks for the enlightenment though .

There are exceptions to every rule.....

I'll let the moderators, especially John, know that !!! Only joking!!

S'okay, Peter. The only exception on here is me. They know that

In my cadet days a bivvie consisted of :

One 58 poncho (the term 58 is a design of military webbing, sleeping bag, poncho and other stuff desighned in 58!!)
Two bungee cords, six tent pegs and some para cord.
Just imagine a tent shaped piece of waterproof material with openings at each end and a bungee or cord at each end round a conveniant post or tree.
If none available we used to wrap sleeping bag in the poncho until we designed some poles for each end in conjuction with a guy rope system.

The great thing about 58 ponchos is that you can clip as many together as you want to make a monster bivvie.

Very handy once they let females into the cadets!!!!!!!

In my opinion a bivvie is a single skinned open fronted shelter.

A tent is a twin skinned fully closable design.

Therefore most of todays modern bivvies are infact tents.

some years back I remember several waters banning tents next to the water as you had to have a proper bivvie.

At one caravan park they tried to kick me off as I did not have a bivvie but had a brolly surronded by a windbreak.

Cimbers have been using the term bivvy for a number of years usually referring to a simple single skin structure (such as a poly bag, waterproof, groundsheet etc.) used as an emergency shelter in lieu of a tent.
Having said that the original Military term Bivouac means: camp, encampment, cantonment, castrametation; barrack, casemate, casern and this includes tents.
Bivouac comes from French bivouac, a corruption of the German Beiwache, "a watching or guarding," from bei, "by, near" + wachen, "to watch."

[ 10. May 2005, 09:38 AM: Message edited by: Tony U ]