I have a rule - never start hiking in the rain.
If rain is likely I will pack over-pants, jacket, Bothy bag and a 3m x 3m tarp.
I have operated from inside the Bothy bag a couple of times and found it cramped and difficult and unexpected water dripping from my coat has spoiled the experience.
Other times I have set the radio and phone under the tarp and sat in the rain. I’ll work only 40m SSB and then pack up and get off the hill.
I have carried a 2 man tent to the summit, a short walk, and operated in light snow a couple of times but I am a few years older and perhaps a little wiser so that is no longer an option.
I remember the day well @G6PJZ, Andy, and 3 people in a 4 man bothy was uncomfortable.
I have recently discovered that my Helinox ground chair fits nicely inside my Terra nova 2 Bothy bag. This enabled me to operate for over and hour from inside the bothy bag and eliminated the inelegant staggering around trying to get feeling back in my legs after sitting on the ground without a chair. Even with the chair I can’t pretend it was comfortable in the bothy bag. As others have said, they get hot, they drip condensation, they rustle and they flap in the wind. I find it disorientating sitting inside a small bag, not having a decent view. People have walked right up to me on a couple of occasions while I have been in my bothy bag without me being aware until they are right next to me.
Bothy bags are a life saver and super quick to deploy, but if it’s definitely going to rain and I’m going to spend a decent time on the summit, give me a shelter every time.
I have operated in terrible conditions using a DD Hammocks 3x3 tarp set up as a tarp tent. This was my shelter of choice for last year’s ‘midweek madness’ activating with @GW4BML, Ben. We operated comfortably in blizzards, gales and torrential rain. They’re pretty light weight, sturdy, and give you a bit of room to move around.
For sheer convenience and value for money it’s hard to beat the Decathlon, Quechua, Camping Shelter. Ever since I saw @G0WPO, Neil’s I have been a convert.
I prefer to operate without a shelter if the weather is good enough, but I don’t like getting cold and wet.
**UPDATE to correct name
Hi Kevin, your post perfectly encapsulates what I don’t like about using a Bothy bag for activating in the rain.
But it’s good to know that my recently acquired [Christmas present] Helinox Chair Zero will allow me to endure sitting for long periods should the need arise without the usual back pain (legacy of a prolapsed disc 30 years ago) that I get sitting on my rucksack inside my Terra Nova 2.
I would give this a try before you go. My chair is a Helinox Ground Chair, which is quite a bit lower than the Chair Zero. Hopefully this works for you.
Just want to add to the conversation a little sumpin’ … called … (clear) showercaps. Weightless, 100 for three schmorgs, elastic edged, I put it over my radio. I can still see the radio through it. All the knobs can be operated including the attached paddle, radio remembers what I sent along with time and FQ stamped, giddyup. - fred KT5X / WS0TA
Shower caps, toilet bags - I think there might be a theme emerging here.
I usually carry my rig [in bubble-wrap] inside a large transparent toilet bag. If I didn’t take a tarp and it rains unexpectedly, the toilet bag also serves as a rig shelter whilst I’m QRV.
I run the cables for headphones and [Palm] paddles out through the slightly-open zip. Why don’t the paddles get wet? I use a 2m-long cable so I can key them inside my winter jacket pocket with them on a small steel plate. It doesn’t take long to master ‘pocket paddling’.
If it’s not raining too hard, I open the zip wider and use the KX2 paddles.
I tried both together (at home) and it’s fine. If I had to use the Terra Nova 2 bothy bag for more than half an hour, sitting on the Helinox Chair Zero would be much less of a discomfort than sitting on my rucksack.
I would never activate from inside the bothy bag proper for the reasons I and others gave above. But I tried wrapping the bothy bag around me like a large blanket with my head and lower legs out [at home as a test] and reckon this might be a great way to keep the wind off and prevent my core temperature dropping as it has been on recent activations. I’ll try the combo on tomorrow morning’s activation (on G/LD-051) - a good test with forecast temperature of 1-2C and dry but no shelter at summit.
