What are your thoughts on army ranger type bed rolls? I spent a lot of money on an UL tent and I hate it.

What are your thoughts on army ranger type bed rolls? I spent a lot of money on an UL tent and I hate it. These bed roll systems used by army rangers are light weight and easy to get in and out. It's basically just a plastic sheet. Tested in snow. Looks as comfortable as my UL tent definitely easier to get in and out of but I've never seen these discussed here or within UL forums.

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Army rangers use the same sleep gear as the general Army... They usually get the new stuff first though.
    That aside the Army issue Bivy is breasts but the standard issue sleeping bag is heavier than something civilians use. I've never seen someone set a tarp on the ground when there are trees around to hang the tarp from.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      The RangerRoll(tm) is a GI poncho, casualty blanket/reflective tarp and the poncho liner layered up like a sad underpaid sandwich. It's not meant to be comfortable; it's just meant to keep you from freezing to death. If you're short enough and you don't mind the quasi-fetal position you can get pretty good coverage; otherwise either your head or your feet will be exposed. On the upside, the setup doesn't weigh much (unless you're weak) and you can add blanket layers if it's balls-ass cold. The MSS is significantly more comfortable, but as said, it's heavier than most people are used to.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >The ranger roll is [this nonsense]
        no, it isn't.
        The Bivy, sleeping bag and woobie are good to like -20. I've checked.
        In the field you get a woobie and a poncho. I slept through freezing rain with just that and survived no problem...Rangers also don't sleep on mission 99% of the time.
        t. ragnar

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Is that fahrenheit? Fricken brr. Be honest mr ragnar, did you cuddle a bottle of hot water

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            The woobie/bivy/sleeping bag was all I needed. I used it in Tennessee, Georgia, high elevation Afghanistan and Washington (in the winter) without any issues...quite comfy really.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          >Anything that differs from my personal experience is nonsense
          >Every unit issues gear the same way and don't make moronic changes because they think they know best
          >The MSS pieces don't have labels which specifically lay out temperature ranges based on configuration
          Are there multiple boomers posting "hurr durr this is nonsense" in every thread, or is it just you?

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            You have the reading comprehension of an 8th grader and it's clear you think anyone over 30 is a boomer.
            That tells me two things:
            one: you're a child
            and
            two: you have a very low IQ

            also
            "hurrdedurr"
            lol
            you're embarrassing yourself

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              Shouldn't you be complaining to a fast food worker somewhere about your fixed income, old timer?

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          >rubbish
          >britbong detected
          Keep in mind that a homeless man probably doesn't have a woobie, casualty blanket or various pieces of the ECWCS.

          The woobie/bivy/sleeping bag was all I needed. I used it in Tennessee, Georgia, high elevation Afghanistan and Washington (in the winter) without any issues...quite comfy really.

          What’s a woobie? Is it an insulated poncho liner?

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Yes

            An actual woobie is a poncho liner issued by the military. They suck ass and are not at all warm.

            Lots of people make copies of them that are actually good. I use a Kifaru woobie with Apex insulation and a DWR coated shell. 1000 times better than the one I was issued.

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              >They suck ass and are not at all warm.

              Take that back right now. It's not comparable to the sleeping bag but my woobie was more than enough to get me nice and comfy when out in the field and when I was in eastern europe for a rotation. It's the only piece of gear I will willingly take the financial hit from CIF because I'm not turning it in.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                Somewhere there's a CIF bean counter sitting behind a desk and scratching his head over all the woobies that go missing every quarter

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                Dude
                CIF charges people for lost or damaged gear than reports it as a loss and launders the difference. Woobies on the commercial market 20 years ago were like 200 usd, the only reason they're so cheap now is because so many supply Pogues got in on the scam they killed the market.

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              >Woobies suck
              so, you've never used one
              makes sense

  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    You're going to want to string one of these things up at minimum so you have somewhere dry to put your shit and cook and live. If there is any rain you'll just suffer sleeping like that. Some recon might sleep like that at times and just put an umbrella over their head and bag, but they'll also slurp down a cold feed and keep their boots on rotating in and out of an observation point and sentry point and doing all that just to keep signs of their presence to the absolute minimum.. they're working not necessarily having a good time or sleeping a hell of a lot.

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I never spent more than 48 hours outdoors but I cannot possibly imagine a valid reason to prefer the misery of sleeping in a tarp+bivvy combo over hauling a cheap chink 3lb tent. And that's accepting the premise that a significant weight difference exists to begin with.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      The reason is, that it's not miserable at all. Its quite nice cosy setup. You can whack it up and down in 2 minutes. You can tie your water bottles to the edge and collect the rain. You've got plenty of room under there, enough for 2 people really. You know whats happening in your surroundings. I don't know why people imagine that it's more miserable than being zipped up in a little stuffy tent

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        I can see how it can be cozy in decent conditions, but if the outside goes to complete shit (rain, wind, bugs) I'd just be waiting it out like a mummy in my cuck bivvy sarcophagus with a stuffy mozzy net over my face. I'd be concerned to not have an alternative to that, but again I never did bivvy camping so for all I know there might be ways to deal with that just as well as a tent.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          I've slept under one in plenty of rough conditions, and honestly the worst is using them out in the open when it's windy. If a peg come out and the thing is flapping all over your face and you have to get up and fix it. That sucks balls. And you might have to make it very low to stop it from catching the wind or keep sideways rain out. But not really any need to hide your face inside the bivvy. But if you aren't dictated by someone else where you have to sleep, just go down to treeline and put it up there. It won't frick around if it's tied to trees and you'll be more sheltered there in general. Wouldn't recommend them for too far up a mountain..

          You can pair them with a bugnet if those are a big problem I guess it depends where you live

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            >just go down to treeline and put it up there. It won't frick around if it's tied to trees and you'll be more sheltered there in general

            But look up and make sure there's not a big dead branch going to fall off in the wind and brain you in the middle of the night, goes for tents and tarps alike

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >a cheap chink 3lb tent
      My tent is 3lb and it's ultralight. Chink tents start at 6lb.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        My cheap chink tent is 3.5lb, I'm not too into what goes for ultralight standards but my impression for tents was ~2lb (single wall trekking pole)

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          What tent is it?

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            naturehike cloudup 2

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              This is the same fricking weight as mine with 6 times the room what the frick I'm an idiot

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                >ultralight in a nutshell

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >blocks your path

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      OP isn't even talking about a tarp/bivy combo. The ranger roll isn't that advanced.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        But second post in a tarp and bivvy combo was brought up. There's no reason to sleep like that in the rain if you don't need to for a tactical reason or because you just carried very minimum emergency gear and didn't plan to spend the night. But it's a beautiful night with no chance of rain? Keep your tarp packed away have the open sky above you. If you just had a sleeping bag and tent, that's less of an option because your bag might get wet from dew and shit anyway without being inside the bivvy

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      these days single wall tents actually weigh less than bivy/tarp setups.
      bivy/tarp is more about being able to control air flow and condensation imo. and versatility with campsite selection.
      exposure to bugs and all the solutions to it being band-aid are the main thing that sucks about them. i use a tent in bug season.
      you only see people pitching a-frames in their social media photos but you can pitch a adequately sized tarp into a storm pyramid too or anything between.

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    If you’re under a tarp, why do you need a bivy bag? Wouldn’t a big bivy make more sense? Is it for dew protection?

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      A bivvy doesnt give you the living space to cook in and dry your clothes and clean your gear and whatever else you might want to do under cover when it rains for a while. A tarp give you enough room you could light a small fire under there if you like. And yes sometimes, you won't need the bivvy bag, but that sleeping bag is your bed. You don't want even dew or frost or any shit getting it wet. Or other times you could do away with the tarp instead if that is more important. Even someone went for an unintentional swim in the river you can even dry his bag under a few tarps even if it is raining a storm, kek

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    They get the job done, but I think the reason you never see them discussed is because the conversation inevitably shifts to UL tents and bivy setups. See: this thread

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      So does a homeless man sleeping in an ice storm in a rubbish bag. Sometimes

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >rubbish
        >britbong detected
        Keep in mind that a homeless man probably doesn't have a woobie, casualty blanket or various pieces of the ECWCS.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Anyone can rough it (maybe not), but takes skills to be at least slightly comfortable for a while. And I'm about 12 thousand miles from Britain

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    It seems like something you do if your in the military and that's the equipment your allowed to use. If your not that unique use case you either own up to the fact you just want to feel what it's like (larp) or you go with a myriad of options available to you for a compact sleep setup that likely works better than the ranger roll does.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >go with a myriad of options
      >but not that one, I don't like that one so if you use it you're larping

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Should have said Myriad of BETTER options than a poncho and a thin insulated blanket.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          This. I only stay in hotels whenever I go PrepHole because I refuse to have anything less than the best sleep system possible. It rained buckets when I stayed at Many Glacier, but I stayed bone dry.

  7. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    i can't imagine using one of these as a shelter under any circumstance (washington state anon)

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      They’re not designed for comfort or anything other than sleeping. They’re also condensation nightmares.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Bro I tried one in the fricking desert on a trip to Big Bend. It was more spiders in there than a motherfricker they made webs all over me had laid eggs on the bivy all kinds of wild shit.

      Bro and no it was not comfortable or cozy or whatever. It was cold and I’m basically just laying out on the ground in the middle of a bunch of cactus and frickin everyone could see me. I couldn’t even change my pants out without people seeing.

      Bro just take a tent. You can sit up and drink coffee buck naked nobody can see. You laying out in a frickin bag it’s gonna be buzzards circling people gonna spy out on you all that shit.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        well duh lol, bring a tent if you camp in a group. use the right tool for the job.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Bro I was solo it was people on the trail could see me.

          You camp way out in nowhere maybe no one see you but most places it’s at least some foot traffic or could be. You out there stark raving naked some family with kids comes up your ass is going to jail. Now you gotta explain to your neighbors for the rest of your life like you a diddler.

          Just to save some weight? Nah no thanks.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            I have never seen another human being where i go hiking. I literally walk around my camp site naked. I have jerk offd while showering in a waterfall. go further off trail mate.

  8. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    tried it. it might get you to 32F if you are a midget that can fit in it. i use the military poncho though and its one of my favorite pieces of gear. I also have the goretex bivy and its great id go for that if you want cheap tough adequate gear.

  9. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Up in Canada we called woobies Ranger blankets. I never should have turned mine in when I got out.

    Anyway, I used my bivvy bag a fair amount of times out in the field and I didn't really mind it all that much. It was better than nothing when it was raining out. Wouldn't hurt to have as a backup I suppose, but for me an Ionosphere or something similar might be a bit better.

  10. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    posting here as i don't like making new thread for every purchase made - ordered a norwegian piece of gear called the Jerven Fjellduk/Jervenduken (Original) a version of it has been used by norwegian military for a long time though recently the patent expired and naturally they switched to a cheaper albeit more modern knockoff.
    it's basically a tarp with a reflective side, grommets, opening for head and arms and a zipper to make it an emergency bivy/shelter.
    it measures 143x143cm and weighs about 750 grams or 1.65 lbs not including cordage
    my current tent is a naturehike cloudup 2.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      correction the opening for the head is just the main zipper opening - only arms have their own holes.
      i also ordered "armings" ( waterproof windproof arms) to wear over my jacked while wearing the fjellduk, plus a set of "endestykker" (end pieces) that combined with fjellduken will make a tent.
      presumably the same fabric and weight. can't find the specs but it does not come with poles, instead hiking poles are used.
      very excited as jerven is somewhat expensive and i've always wanted a set for my own and will use it hunting and fishing year round.

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