UltraLite Alpini Shelter 200

Over the years I have used a lot of kit. Much of it home made. Not because I was cheap but because you simple couldn't always buy the gear you needed in the US. Back in the '70s I made my own bivy sacks (bothy bag) from coated nylon on my Bernina sewing machine.



A quick search under goggle images for "bothy bags" will turn up a pot full of them



But here in the US you would be hard pressed to come up with a proper bivy sack. I am not talking sleeping bag covers here, but real climbing bivy sacks. The kind that will make the difference between survival and death if caught out in really bad weather in the mountains.



Thankfully I know one place that can square that situation away, Brooks-Range.



http://brooks-range.com/home.php



Half the size of a Nalgene 1 liter bottle and 8 1/2 oz on my scale for the two man version.



http://brooks-range.com/UltraLite-Alpini-Shelter-200.html





Simple idea, coated nylon generally, keeps heat and moisture in. Works better than you would ever suspect keeping you warm. They were made from silk or canvas before nylon and used on most ofthe big north face in the Alps as standard survival gear from the '30s on.



Not bad in a pissing cold rain either.