Exped Bivy-Poncho, Utralight
Price: $149.00


Product Feature
- 90x62"
Product Description
Why carry more than you need to? Exped's Bivy-Poncho UL is a rain shelter that not only protects you on the trail but when you want to hunker down for the night too. Its unique design allows it to be used over a backpack when you are on the move with snaps, cinches, and a waist belt and a tarp shelter at night with multiple guy out points. When it needs to go back in your pack, just stuff it into its own pocket that can be used to create ambient light in your tent by simply dropping a headlamp into it.Exped Bivy-Poncho, Utralight Review
This is hands down the best poncho you'll ever buy. There are already several excellent video reviews of this product on YouTube, so I wont go through all the details of it here. I will say that it functions true to its word, and that an impressive amount of thought and careful design went into every aspect of what is usually a pretty basic piece of kit.It can cover both you and your pack when in poncho mode, is more comfortable and restricts movement less than most ponchos, forms a truly excellent emergency bivy bag, and is large enough to cover me completely when set up as a shelter (I'm 6'1"). And that's the whole idea; this thing replaces several pieces of gear with one super light and compact piece. If you are an ultralight backpacker or the like, this product was designed specifically for you.
That said, the price point on this one hurts. I don't care how cool it is, paying $100 bucks for something that could technically be replaced with a heavy garbage bag REALLY stings. You could quite easily buy a real bivy bag (new Gortex military surplus on Amazon about $30 bucks), a couple tarps ($10 ea), and several cheaper ponchos (dollar store) all for less than what you spend on this one item. The "ultralight" market amazes me sometimes.
That's where you'll have to make a judgement call. If you care about packing light more than anything else, then there is simply no better piece of weather protection that you could get. Or if you're a shameless gear hog (me), buy this thing and bask in its multi-function awesomeness. Expect a slight twinge of buyers remorse, you'll get over it. Also, several ponchos can be snapped together to form a larger shelter, so there is some value in the idea of your whole family or group being equipped with these. Again though, a simple large tarp will do the job better and cheaper, but not lighter.
On the other hand, if you are not an ultralighter and will be hauling a tarp or tent anyways, this might not be your best bang for your buck when it comes to rain gear. I stand by saying it's the best poncho ever made, but it's SO much more expensive than a regular poncho that it's hard to justify.
All in all, I would say skip this one if you're still in the process of building your kit. Get your basics covered first, then circle back to this one farther down the road when you're looking to upgrade your gear and have some money to spend. It's absolutely a 5 star product, I love it and take it everywhere, but it is just plain unrealistically priced.
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