Equipping yourself for an autumn bivouac!

The cold is setting in, but the sun is still shining… What could be better than long walks in the forest among the dead leaves crunching under your feet? The ideal time for a bivouac of one or several nights then… Yes, but well equipped in order to counter the dropping temperatures!

Summary: 

• The backpack 
• Fire
• The sleeping bag

Forty-five liters, sixty liters or even one hundred liters, the backpacks of adventurers, but also of military personnel and all those who hike for several days on difficult terrain, must be resistant, but also practical with capacity and volume perfectly adapted to their needs. You should know that the notion of capacity means the volume of the backpack, including its main part, but also its interior and exterior pockets.

Depending on one's physical condition, whether you're a walker, camper or hiker, you need to know how to adapt the weight of your backpack and this involves choosing its size.

Article that might interest you: How to choose the volume of your bag?

Survivors, military personnel or even hikers, must be capable, for their safety, of making fire on any terrain and in any weather. Ancestral techniques can work, but are still risky (you need to find the right material, the weather and environment must be very dry…). Fire is of course a source of heat, but it also serves to boil water to make it potable or to keep wild animals away and signal your camp and your presence with smoke...

The fire starter, generating a generous shower of sparks Whatever the weather and humidity conditions, is the ideal and therefore indispensable tool for bivouacking, especially in cold weather. Today there are clever, discreet and safe solutions for being able to light a fire like survival fire-starting laces which are made of paracord with flint tips and a metal blade that allow you to make sparks.  

Thermobags, sleeping bags specially designed for extreme cold adapted to the most extreme climatic conditions, appropriate liners for temperature gain, down bags… New technologies and new materials related to outdoor sleeping now demonstrate formidable efficiency.

In bivouac, you should know that a ground mat will protect you from insects or other pests and will also be an insulator against cold and humidity. If conditions permit, a camp bed or hammock also represent a very good alternative.

Using an appropriate silk sheet will of course increase your comfort, but also the lifespan of your sleeping bag!

Finally, a clever object, inexpensive and easy to transport, but which will considerably increase the quality of your sleep in bivouac conditions: the inflatable pillow!