Bivi vs Bothy For Emergency Shelter

When it comes to actual survival, where quick and easy deployment of gear are coupled with the need to stay warm, dry and out of the wind, a bothy bag wins hands-down. Here are notable quotes from mountaineers who've used them in serious conditions to do just that:

As a piece of winter emergency kit, a Bothy Bag has several advantages over a bivi-bag. The most immediately noticeable is that two or more peoples’ body heat makes for a surprisingly warm environment in which to regroup, sit out the night, or just eat your butties (sandwiches). I have used these on Arctic ski treks and found that two of us could comfortably eat lunch, gloves off, with a minus 10 blizzard blowing outside. Other plus points are that you can keep your crampons on, the sitting position is practical and good for morale and one bothy bag is lighter than two bivi-bags. -Jonathan Lagoe

"My partner and I took refuge in the bothy bag. It flapped around a lot, but provided good protection from the extremely high winds.  It definitely also provided increased warmth.   The four guy-out loops are useful when the are oriented on the inside, as they can be grabbed and secured from the inside to control flapping and "balooning."  On the same trip, I used it to provide a bit of extra shelter and warmth when catching a 45 minute nap, while waiting for the sun to come up.  It provided a cozy, protected shelter that allowed me to sleep." -larsonweb.com

 A Bothy Shelter/ Bothy Bag is the Number 1 Survival Tool: 

If you think a bivy bag alone will save your skin I'm afraid you may be sorely disappointed. Of course by getting into your bivy bag you will reduce the effect of wind, and create a slight rise in your micro climate, but sitting alone in a bivy bag with nothing else is a pretty grim affair. A bothy bag is cheaper, lighter and provides far more protection, both physically and psychologically and should be in the rucksack of every climber or walker in the UK (or stowed in a bum bag for rucksack-less multi pitch climbers). By grouping together you can share body heat, food, water and more importantly moral. Also a bothy bag is a very mobile shelter, and you may find that when the shit hits the fan, stopping for half an hour in the bag will allow you to sort yourself out enough to carry on (eat some food, double check the map, ring for a forecast). Splitting a team into their bivy bags almost guarantees to magnify the problem. Personally I use a 4 man Terranova bothy bag, which I further compress into an XS Exped dry bag (marked bothy bag). -Andy Kirkpatrick

Bothy bags are so light, it's stupid not to think of carrying one whenever you're out and about. You may buy them from One Gallon Survival right here.