Ever since someone recommended I get all my river guide gear from Army/Navy surplus instead of paying ridiculous amounts for name-brand crap I’ve been partial to learning about what the military does before making any final gear decisions. The truth is, most military gear is produced by the same companies but in massive bulk and for far less.
Bikepackers traveling at “race touring” pace through hostile bear country could learn a lot from marines sleeping in a “non-permissive environment.” This is the military term for one level of comfort beyond just leaning up against their rucksacks with their guns in their hands. The military preferred gear choices the soldier to be ready to move and fight instantly but protect them dying from exposure to the elements or even losing precious time unable to sleep when they are actually allowed to do so.
By the way, the US military has officially stated that soldiers cannot maintain their required level of performance without 7-8 hours of sleep per day (for years it was 4).
SpiritusSystems video goes over a sleep kit with military priorities in mind.
Always have a “terrain feature” to support yourself as if you were startled awake and needed to fight.
I’m always baffled by the fact that soldiers lug that heavy shovel around with them everywhere, but it is a critical piece of survival gear when there is absolutely no cover otherwise and they need to dig their “ranger grave” to sleep in. Digging it surely raised body temperature and being out of the wind helped as well.
This is one thing I don’t think most bikepackers need provided they bring a very solid wind/rain layer. At most I might bring my MSR tent peg hammer to dig holes to poop in and defend myself when needed.
The idea of crawling into a restrictive mummy bag is absolutely ludicrous to soldiers. It appears the military doesn’t even issue sleeping bags, individual tents, or even bivy sacks to soldiers. This is one thing I wish I had read about thoroughly before dropping well over $1000 on that shit. I have yet to test it, but two really good military-grade ponchos look like they are better than a $700 all-seasons MSR tent.
Raining out? Sleep in your poncho. Z-Light has something like this for $400. It’s doubles as a ground cloth and isn’t nearly as heavy and robust as the military alternatives.
I’m really curious about using a poncho instead of a tent or tarp. Having a staked shelter from the rain and wind allowed me to change out of my wet layers into something dry. But doing something like that is simply impossible in a “non-permissive environment” when potential combat looms. The dynamic nature of sudden, serious rain storms make me thing pulling out a poncho and throwing it on immediately and finding the best shelter is always doing to be a better solution. It took me forever to setup the shelter in the rain storm and most everything I had got wet while attempting it. I even ended up carrying extra weight for water-proof dry bags to hold my “dry layers” to change into. But what if I just didn’t get wet and even if I did had the roominess and ventilation of the poncho to allow my layers to dry. When I did manage to change out of my wet layers, I still had to dry them out later and they were just sitting there in the corner with no hope of every drying out.
I’m not sure that would ever be possible sleeping in nothing but a poncho, even the best poncho. Then again, very few terrains have absolutely zero cover from the elements and those terrains can usually be avoided in volatile weather.
The military base layer has thick, raglan sleeves for lots of patches and abrasion. The main chest and back material is the same as most thicker wicking or full-sleeve sun-protection layers like the one I have from Patagonia. I’m not so sure carrying two of them is still worth doing if I’m going to be sleeping in it and working to make sure it either stays dry or gets dry before I sleep. If it is raining it would be impossible to change into it using the poncho technique.
A puffy to a soldier is much more puffy than to a bikepacker. These flimsy, can’t get wet, ultra-light, overpriced down gear items are the subject of ridicule from those who have braved the elements while protecting their lives in combat. The level 7 parka is waterproof and longer so it doubles as a sleeping bag as well. Paired under the pants and a woobie and rain poncho, there really isn’t a need to pitch a tent at all even in the coldest conditions. In fact, the tent or bivy is a waste because they only have one use.
This is one area where Patagonia synthetic Nano-Air has made huge progress and apparently several very close knock offs are become standard issue in the military as well. I’ve long said that my Nano-Air hoody is the most versatile piece of cold weather gear I have in my kit. Combining it with a Nano-Air vest that easily pairs with it or works well with just a base later is really a huge win. So glad I made that discovery.
So happy to see wearable bug nets make it into the list although apparently the military doesn’t issue them.
Thankfully the military sees the need to insulate soldiers from the ground. The marine issue is literally a brown Nemo thermalite with built in elastic straps to hold it together (unlike anything you can buy). The army issue is a Thermarest Ridgerest. In anything but cold climates using a pad at all for sleeping is what gave it the nickname, “the puss pad.”
I feel like very few soldiers would ever take the ridicule for bringing an inflatable pillow with them, but given how low the weight is and how much better it would make the quality of sleep I’m gonna keep bringing mine.
Everything should be packed and ready to go. The reason for soldiers is obvious, but for bikepacking it also makes sense since when you wake you want to get on the bike immediately and get that blood pumping to maintain heat and get to a place where you can cook and eat your food.
Don’t have your poncho and sleep pad blown off the mountain when a helicopter lands to resupply.