© Completefisher 2006
A Website for all Anglers, the ‘Completefishers’
JRC STi Two Man Bivvy.
By Chris Cook
The JRC STi bivvy is one of the most sturdy bivvies on the market. I had the bivvy out in gale force winds last Winter which took trees down. I was bivvied up with no protection from the wind and the bivvy stood solid.
Both the inner and outer skins are made from 5000mm Hydrostatic head waterproof skins and despite fishing in some torrential storms I've not had any problems with leaks. The bivvy stands 145cm high which is tall enough to be comfortable but not too tall as to compromise the stability during high winds. The bivvy is spacious inside with dimensions 305cm wide and 280cm deep which provides more than enough room for all the tackle you need for a week long session or enough room for 2 anglers on a short session.
The first problem is getting the bivvy to the swim. The bivvy will be the heaviest
item of tackle you take with you and you would need a barrow to take it any distance
to the swim. Once you manage to get it to the swim, setting it up can be a nightmare.
It is not clear which way round the groundsheet goes but it is important to get it
right! I've seen people make marks on the front with a marker pen to illustrate which
way it should go. The groundsheet itself is heavy duty and there is no danger of
it being ripped, however it only has velcro on the corners and so the points which
the sheet attaches to the inner skin are far too few -
When I used the bivvy in France last Summer, it became much too hot to the point where I felt very dehydrated from sitting in it for much more than fifteen minutes. Condensation on the inner skin is not a problem however there were big problems with condensation forming on the inside of the outer skin and this then came through the mesh panels on the ceiling of the inner skin.
The peg set that comes with the JRC STi are heavy duty and hold the bivvy in place well. The only complaint I have is that the plastic bits to pull them out of the ground snap off easily and if you hit one of them while banging them in to the ground then they snap. The tags on the bivvy that the pegs attach to are not strong enough to withstand high tension and half of mine have broken off through keeping them under high tension.
At the end of the day you can rest assured that the bivvy will fit back in to the bag. The bag is more than adequate in size unlike many which are only large enough to carry an airtight bivvy. That will save you a lot of energy for carrying it back to the car.
In summary, whilst the JRC STi is a nice looking and sturdy bivvy, there are better bivvies on the market but you will pay a much higher price for them. For the average angler this is a good value bivv
What we liked about it:
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What we didn't like about it:
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