Looks like a good deal:

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=343512&pn=1

Hi kharrell

I would actually caution anyone buying this bivi shelter. I think it could be potentially dangerous. The reason I say this is because of the design and the materials it is made from. The spec on the website do not give any value for the materials breathability but only the hydrostatic head value. As the design appears to be able to be fully sealed up, there could be an issue of dying from suffocation during the night. It would also be a rather uncomfortable nights sleep even it wasn't sealed up being wet and clammy and therefore being eventually cold. The material used in very important in the design of bivi's. I would only really recommend a MVP material such as Goretex or Event in the design of a bivi bag. The most cost effective bivi I have come across is the British Army MVP (Goretex) bivi available in OG and DPM but yet is still 4 times the cost of this bivi.

Thanks!

This is the type of feedback I am look for.

Uhm... It breaths through the zipper, just like a "waterproofed" tent?

Mine is the same design as this, and as much you might wish it, I've never run out of air in the night. If people were dieing in them, the hiking community would have abandoned this kind of design years ago.

With a no see um mesh at the hood, I am guessing ventilation is probably not a concern. I don't think you'd want to open the no see um all the way in a heavy rain, and it would pretty much cancel the insular effects, but it should work. Might not be bad at all to include with the bedroll/swag.

There was one occasion long ago when camping with the family and we had one of those cheap nylon cabin tents. It happened to be a steady rain for a full day at camp, and when we called it a night we zipped it up and stayed nice and dry inside. Meanwhile, the soaked thru fabric of the tent became airtight, and I awoke about 1:00 am struggling for air, as were the rest of the family. I unzipped the door flap and let fresh air and the rain come in. We recovered, although we did get a bit wet.

It can happen.

i would suggest that you think of this or any kind of bivy
as just one layer in a shelter..after sleeping under a canoe
with a tarp over it for a few trips i could see i needed
something bug and mouse proof..i got a tiny tent that was
more of a bivy and used it under the boat and tarp and
got got total shelter..in a longer term sitution your $19
bivy would just be the inside layer of some sort of plastic
and brush shelter..

For $5 more, this might be a better choice from the same catalog:

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=329275

I would agree with what bentirran said. Cold and clammy and possibly dangerous. There has been at least one fatality from
asphyxiation in a zippered up bivy. Condensation would be bad
in a close fitting unbreathable fabric tent or bivy. For that
kind of money, choose a tarp and a headnet.

Would you be able to provide any details on that incident? Even an approximate date and location?

I've heard a lot of silly things involving camping gear, like a story about someone who tossed and turned and eventually garotted themselves on the draw cord for his mummy bag- but none of those who have told that story around me has ever been able to document it. There are a lot of urban, suburban and rural legends out there.

I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying it is improbably. If it happened, there must have been something more going on. I don't doubt benjammin's experience, but there was a combination of factors at play.

That's true, we were in a very wet, exposed environment. We had the tent all closed up, and there were 4 people in there sucking air. Everyone was affected; when I got up, I tried rousting the girls, and they were just as brainfogged as I was.

After that little stunt, I used a tarp suspended over that tent to keep it from getting so saturated, and never had another problem like that.