Outdoor Research (OR) Helium Bivvy review and setup 

Really great Kajsa , informative, humorous as expected and to finish it off extra Kajsa humour a caterpillar crawl

Just looking at bivvy bags as I have been using tents. Thanks for the ultra cute review! Nice set up too, I like how you have everything sorted ... Greetings from Canada!

I wanted to buy one of these, but could not find it for sale in my country. So i continued looking around, and ended up with the "Bivanorak" from Hilleberg. It is designed for the Sweedish air force pilots, and can be used as a bivy, raingear, and windbreaker (weight 550g/19,4oz - length 240cm). I have always thought that the "poncho tarps" are too small to be used as tarps (although they are plenty big enough if you have a waterproof bivy), and so when i saw this "Bivanorak", my first thought was that it probably sucks. But as i looked more into it, i found that its design have some nice benefits over regular bivvys, like the option to sit up straight with the head and arms outside the bivy, a big zipper which makes it easy to get in and out of the bivy, and adding an extra layer of clothing to provide some extra wamth during the evening. Sleeping with the head in the hood should keep condensation at a minimum (this is not practical if you use a sleeping pad inside the bivy, but you could still open the zipper as much as needed for some good ventilation). A headnet is a lightweight and compact option to deal with bugs. If you need to go outside the tarp when it rains, you can just open the bottom to get the sleeping bag out of the bivy, and walk around with just the bivanorak. I have not been able to find what denier (thickness) it is, but i suspect it is best to use a groundsheet or foam pad underneath. I got a nice thick foam pad, which should be comfortable enough when im tired after a long hike (especially when placed on soft ground). My small 1x1,45m tarp (100g - $5 on ebay) makes sure no rain hits my face, and provides a dry space for cooking when its raining. I also got a Zpacks "Duplex" tent, so i do *not* do this to get my weight down... "Minimalism" facinates me, and i believe this type of camping will provide a much stronger feeling of being out in nature than i would get from sitting inside a tent.

The bivy crawl! Good practice for getting out of bivy when the need arises.

You're adorbs. Thanks for the review. This is one bivy I've been considering

You are nuts!! Great review, all the very best from Scotland

i got really wasted once and decided to drink and cook in my bivy. i ended up spilling the vodka all over the place and tipped over the propane stove and the whole bivy caught fire. because of all the plastics, then ended up melting and clinging to my body causing burns. it was pretty much the craziest camping trip i've ever had!!! i don't cook directly in the bivy anymore. I usually just put the propane stove immediately outside the bivy entrance, and then i also use a shot-pourer for my liquor bottle in case it tips over :) !!! great vid!!!

Wow this looks awesome! I’m going to buy one and use it for military exercises. Having the bugs off and spiders not crawling on my face when I sleep is worth the money

I think I’m more intrigued by your upside down bicycle tarp shelter. Any recommendations on that? And thank you for the review.

Awesome review, thinking on buying one now.

Hi. I have this bivvy too. I find if you peg it out it holds the shape better. Sometimes 1 guyline at the top of the door too. 5 pegs and a guyline only about 80g heavier if weight is an issue 😁👍👍

Answered almost all my questions - excellent, thank you. How would you rate it vs the Alpkit Hunka you had before?

Lovly your review and very good! Thank-you!!!

Great review, which bag/compression sack did you use to store the bivvy?

Great vid! I've been following you on Twitter for a while but this is the first time I've seen your RU-vid content - really enjoyed it! I've only ever done a couple of camping trips on the bike, but had always thought lower weight was more important than lower volume, so I was surprised at that comment. Perhaps it depends how fast you go, I'm not concerned about aero but prefer less weight for the hills :)

Very informative thank you.👍

Thanks for the review. Good suggestion to use a smaller sack and load the pole separately. I’d take a couple of binder clips instead of clothespins to hold up the cover. No risk of breaking, they’re strong, and you might use them for other purposes.

Great review.

This was great! Everything I wanted to know before buying it (which I now have done). As a side note, I love seeing gear reviews by fellow women, it makes such a nice change :) So excited to get my new bivy and take it out on the track

This is a really great review. Do you think this bivi would be waterproof without the tarp?

Great video! What kind of tarp are you using? Could you please tell me the measures :-)

Thanks for the review!

Brilliant video, I am going to buy one! A question about the stuff sack before I buy that too, is that the size an XS? I believe I have found the website and brand, Exped, they seem to do an XXS, XS, and S. Could you help? Love the channel!

I have one of these. The hoop tends to flop over constantly, so I had to fit a guy rope to keep it upright.

I’d love one but the issue would be where to put bag and shoes. I could set up a tarp but if going to that length may as well get a tent. Any ideas?

Interesting review Kajsa, thanks. Just a quick question; I randomly watched a past video of your where you mentioned having problems with your legs...were these knee problems and if so how did you overcome them? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I've recently turned to bone broth and that really seems to be helping quite a lot but would be greatly for any advice you might have. Either way, God bless

New subscriber 👍 I'm looking at buying one of these bivi's for winter time. It looks just the job👌atb Taff 🤠👊

If money and weight were not an issue, which would you rather have..the OR Helium or the Rab Ridge Raider?

If you have the appropriate mat and sleeping bag, could you use this Bivvy in a North Yorkshire downpour in winter without that extra canopy you used in this video ? Thanks.

Great review. Do u have any idea how long the poles are when folded? Thanks.

I can get mine into an integral designs siltarp stuff sac. It's just 9ver 1L and I dont use the big tarp anymore.

Thanks for sharing very enjoyable

Absolute RIP to headphone users on the intro

4:12 "nice and big" says Kajsa. Erm just how.... 'big' are you again? Don't want to sound rude. Hahaha. Loved the caterpillar crawl at the end. How big was it overall? Do they come in more my size please?

A bit of an unrepentant question. But which TT bars do you use? The arm rest look very comfy

Wow you are a genius! Using a bike for your A-Frame 👍

Hello, I know you said you had the outer up all night, did you have any condensation inside when you woke up? Thanks

You need one of those bike campers like on Sightseers.

I bought one of these in 2019 but had to return it as most of the external tabs and loops shown in the manufacturer's images were not present (it had one each end but they were in odd, offset positions!) and it'd have to be tied taut with guy ropes for my purpose as it'll be the sole shelter (no tarp) in potential winds and I'd need it not to lay on the sleeping bag for condensation avoidance. Can I ask, Kajsa, how many external loops yours has? I see your post is recent so I'm hoping the manufacturers might have corrected the problem, though no-one seems to have any at the moment anyway!

Great review. What was it like for condensation in the end?

what is the net you're using in front of the bike? looks like it would be great to dry clothes out while riding

Hi,interesting vid,I’ve got the new alpine version which is as slippery as hell if you don’t pitch it on perfectly flat ground,the 2 guy out points are insufficient in my opinion and the pad strap inside has gone also from the earlier version for what a 50gram saving.A novel way of hanging the tarp from an upside down bike,personally I’d never disrespect my bike by doing this.👍

Hi, I am writing from Ukraine. (Translating in google) Please tell me this Bivy has no condensation in the morning? Is the fabric disheveled well? Would you recommend him? I want to buy it myself) Thank.

I couldn't stop laughing when you said you need to use a clothes peg to hold open the fly

Any further trips planned this year?

Great video Kajsa! I'm torn between the OR Helium and the Alpkit Elan which is half the price but twice the weight - in your (and anyone else's) opinion, which should I go for??

nice!

This bivy vs REI passage 1 tent ?

Do you still like the bivy?

Great video but it's sold out everywhere!

👍

Younger and much lighter me would have thought a bivy would be great. Older (63) and heavier (105kg) me look at it immediately get claustrophobic. :-(

👍😎🇨🇦

Volume is all over the place in this video D:

I can't hear you, had to turn on the subtitles

I cannot believe you voluntarily sleep on an Xframe mat. Lol. Were you forced to? 🤣🤣