Swags, Bivvies & Tents

Yes, you will need to use a sleeping bag in your bivy bag in order to stay warm. A bivy bag can boost the warmth of your sleep system slightly, but it isn’t a replacement for a sleeping bag and other forms of insulation, such as an insulated camping mattress. 

A bivy bag or lightweight swag (like our Walkabout Swag) acts as a waterproof outer shell for your sleeping setup. Just like a tent or any other camping shelter, it is designed to protect you from the wind, rain and insects as you sleep. However, it is not made to keep you warm – because you have a sleeping bag for that. 

Even if it’s really hot outside at night, you probably will still want a summer sleeping bag, a camping quilt, or even just a sleeping bag liner to help regulate your temperature through the night.

Here’s a quick overview of the differences between a swag and a bivy, as well as how our Walkabout Swag combines the best of both into one unique camping shelter design. 

Traditional Swag

The iconic Aussie swag is essentially a tent-like camping shelter, but with a few key distinguishing features: 

• Heavy-duty construction… and heavy packed weight. Swags are made to prioritise durability over being lightweight and compact, so they’re made from heavy-duty materials, like oiled canvas or tough poly-cotton blends. These fabrics are super tough, but they weigh a LOT. This is why swags are better suited to offroading, moto-camping and even horse riding trips, rather than hiking or other outdoor activities where you may need to carry the swag yourself.  
  
• Fit to size mattress included. Traditional swags come with a mattress included. These mats are usually made from high-density foam and are designed to fit the entire floor area of the swag. Although practical, this feature contributes to how heavy and bulky swags are compared to other camping shelter options.
  
• Low-profile shelter design. While there is a lot of variety out there, most swags utilise a combination of lightweight poles, pegs, and guylines to create a low-profile shelter. They will usually offer just enough headroom to prop yourself up, but not sit up fully. However, while they don’t have a lot of vertical space, swags tend to have decent internal storage space, offering enough room to store your gear inside.
  
• Top and head entry points.  Most modern swags feature zip-up doors with mesh panels at the top and/or head side of the shelter. As well as offering a couple entry points to your shelter, this also makes it possible to adapt your setup to the conditions. 

Bivy Bag

A bivy bag, also called a bivy sack or bivy tent, is basically a single-layer of waterproof fabric that fits closely over your sleeping bag and sleeping mat to keep you dry and protected as you sleep. Like swags, there is a bit of variety between models, but the main features are pretty consistent across all bivy bags: 

• Frameless structure. Bivy bags are essentially a large bag made from thin, breathable-waterproof fabric that fits over your other sleeping gear (e.g. sleeping bag, sleeping pad and pillow), kind of like an outer sleeping bag. While some models utilise one or two small poles to hold the material off your face, bivy bags don’t provide a ‘walled-off’ shelter that you can move around inside. 

• Minimal internal space. There is virtually no space for anything but sleeping inside a bivy bag. This is why a lot of hikers who use bivy bags will also carry an ultralight tarp for added protection in bad weather. 

• Head entry point. Most bivy bags are accessible from the top, where your head will be when you lie inside, but there are also models that have a zip opening along the body as well, similar to a sleeping bag. 

• Associated with experienced ultralight adventurers. Bivy bags are on the extreme end of ultralight camping shelters… They provide protection from rain, wind and even light snowfall as you sleep, but they don’t offer the secure, sheltered feeling of a tent or a more substantial structure. For this reason, bivy bags are typically used by highly experienced adventurers who are comfortable sleeping wild. 

Alton’s Walkabout Swag 

Our Walkabout Swag has been intentionally designed to offer features of both a swag and a bivy, making it a highly versatile camping shelter with some unique advantages for harsh conditions.

• A new kind of lightweight swag for hiking. We love the iconic Aussie swag… but the weight and bulk of traditional swags makes them unsuitable for hiking or other outdoor activities where you need to carry your gear over longer distances. By using ultralight materials and not including a built-in mattress, we have engineered Walkabout Swag to be lightweight and ultra-compact, making it more functional across a variety of conditions and outdoor activities. 
  
• The performance benefits of a bivy plus the spaciousness of a swag. One of the biggest drawbacks to bivy bags is that they don’t have internal storage space for gear. By using our ultralight, breathable-waterproof fabric, Nanopore™, we were able to reduce the weight and bulk of the Walkabout Swag down to the minimum, while still providing plenty of internal space.
  
• Next-level breathability for condensation-prevention. Another common issue with any single-wall shelter (a.ka single-wall tents and bivy bags) is condensation. If you’re camping in cold conditions, the difference between the internal and external air temperature causes moisture to form on the walls of the camping shelter. Rated over 20,000mm for waterproofness and 20,000g/m²/24h for breathability, the Walkabout Swag is specifically designed to combat this issue.
  

Four season functionality. The Walkabout Swag features a top entry door with a built-in bug net. This allows you to sleep with it completely open on hot nights, or partially to fully zipped up in cold conditions. Likewise, by not including a sleeping mat with the Walkabout Swag, you have more flexibility to adapt your specific setup to suit the conditions, adding or removing insulation as needed.

Yes, the Walkabout Swag is waterproof and made for use in wet or even snowy conditions. However, we recommend using your lightweight swag (or any bivy bag) with an ultralight tarp for added protection from the elements.

Yes, all our outdoor equipment, including our campaign shelters, come with a Lifetime Warranty*, our All Good Guarantee, that protects your Alton gear for life. 

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