JRC Defender Bivvy Review

Well I can't believe it ! ! It's only been a few months since I purchased my Korum Day shelter, when the mention of a Night Fishing session threw me into the dilemma of having to choose a bivvy (definately needed a ground sheet and front).  As you will know, trying to pick the day shelter was a task and a half, so trying to find a suitable bivvy was no small feat ! after much research, I eventually chose the JRC Defender 1 man bivvy - It was a weight that you could carry without a barrow (7kg), had the pram hood style which I knew would take the sort of English weather we usually see in the summer...High gales, Rain and snow and it was described as being "easy assembly" and most importantly was less than £120...

The JR Defender 1 man bivvy comes with a basic carry bag, a light weight ground sheet with Velcro fastenings, an interchangeable door panel that can either be a mosquito net / window / solid material, enough pegs to fit 1 into every eyelet, all the poles pre-attached to canvas apart from the front to back tension-er that needs to be threaded every time...

To put the bivvy up, you just need to snap the 3 Pram hood bar poles together (takes about 30 seconds) - then thread a pole from the rear of the bivvy to a Velcro strap above the door (takes about 30 seconds) - there is a strap that needs to be fixed across the front opening, there are two height settings available however I usually choose the low setting as this allows the groundsheet to fit snugly...The ground sheet is light weight material, and has Velcro straps to fix it to the canvas (not spider / mouse / rat proof ) It's not a fantastic fit, and certainly if your concerned about finding the outside critters on your bed-chair probably is worth missing this one out The best way I've found to get the groundsheet to fit, without loads of spare going up the side wall of the bivvy is to pre-attach the ground sheet to the canvas "before" pegging down all the outer canvas....This way you know how tight to peg-out, and it seems to ensure the bivvy takes the correct form each time.

The front of the bivvy is attached, but you can role up the front and tie back using built in clips to make into an open fronted shelter.  The door has a Velcro square panel that you can attach either a clear window or blank window into...if you attach nothing, then you just have a mosquito net.

The whole bivvy takes me around 5 minutes to put up...10 minutes if I fiddle trying to make the ground sheet fit - The Bivvy does look very good quality when setup, the material is "very" thick and the poles are "very" heavy duty, yet the footprint is small enough to fit on most compact swims.

The main issue I have found with this bivvy is when it comes to packing it up...again it takes about 5 minutes to collapse, but....the bivvy bag ! it's far to small to get the bivvy back into it without a precision packing exercise and a titanic battle usually lasting around 30 minutes ! The fit back into the bag is a precision fit...the only way I've made it fit is by excluding the ground sheet ! come on JRC give us a few more inches of material on the bag please

Overall - I'm really pleased with the JRC Defender 1 man bivvy, it certainly in a very competitive price range where your bombarded by options, however the JRC has the expandability to add Wraps and Extenders if you require extra layers and from the 2 night sessions I've put it through so far...It really does keep you warm and dry!

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