# Hooch vs. Bivy



## Sh0rtbUs (3 Apr 2004)

well I spent the last week sleeping under a hooch, and i was wondering if anyone else here hates them as much as i do? I found it to be such a pain, and I told my staff Id rather take my sleeping bag out and sleep in the rain. They laughed, and said they fek the same way. Im aware that they‘re a great thing as far as survival, but honestly..how many people actually build them and sleep in them on ex, and how many will just chuck their bivy on the ground and sleep?

I havent been issued a bivy yet...so i guess I dont have a choice for now.


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## ninty9 (3 Apr 2004)

It depends how long you‘re there for.

While on course I was in the field for 5 or 6 days.  We built a hooch, and I think their a lot better than just throwing your bag on the ground.  You get some darkness and you can stick your head out to get some fresh air.

The ex I was just on last weekend I didn‘t bother setting up a hooch and it was raining.  Just got into the bivy bag and everything was fine.

I‘d probably rather sleep under a hooch, but it really depends on the situation.


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## Cpl. Williamson (3 Apr 2004)

9 times out of 10 I think everyone would prefer a hooch 

I mean Sure the Bivy bags are Great Pieces of Kit But Id Also Like an Extra Layer Over me Just incase 

And a Properly Setup Hootch is Like Nothing Else

Unless of Course you got to Move Exceedingly Fast Come Wakeup / Danger of Being overrun 

Or the Factor of Sleep in general


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## Sh0rtbUs (3 Apr 2004)

well, all week its been raining and for some unknown reason my hooch leaked. it wasnt water proof, more or less water resistant. But steady rain eventually ended up in myself lying there in the mud at 0400 staring up at the massive acucmulating puddle inches from my face. Didnt really see the point of it in such a condition. 

It topped the cake too..when friday morning..my MCpl. kicked my hooch down with me still in it   

Got a nice chilly morning shower..


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## willy (3 Apr 2004)

You‘ll find out quickly that nothing is ever waterPROOF.  Varying degrees of resistance are all there is.  If it leaks a lot, try spreading a liberal amount of silicone all over the rubberized side of it.  And get an air mattress repair kit, and put patches over any tears or holes.  Thing is, that even if it does leak, a hootch provides one more layer against you and the wet.  When I have to (not that we Sigs dudes have to that often) I use the bivvy bag and the hootch together.


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## Sh0rtbUs (3 Apr 2004)

Im gonna go and get some silicon today. What type should I get? Any better/worse types?


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## willy (3 Apr 2004)

Not the silicone seal that comes in a squeeze tube.  The kind I mean is a liquid that comes in a can.  Your QM might have some.  We used to use it on boots, although I think that there‘s some order or another out now discouraging that.  Anyways, if you have to buy it, the best kind comes in a can, and has a long dipstick type doodad with a sponge attached to the end.  You use that to swab it on.  I suppose you could use the spray on version available in shoe stores, though I‘d suspect that the spray stuff wouldn‘t be as good.


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## Sh0rtbUs (3 Apr 2004)

alright thanks alot. Mabye this will help me grow to appreciate my hooch =)


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## Scoobie Newbie (3 Apr 2004)

Thats what mod and recce tents are for.


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## Sh0rtbUs (3 Apr 2004)

our Section commanders had their nice and toasty Mod Tent set up on the biv site, lanterns and all

We‘re just no good grunts...so we got to sleep in the mud   :warstory:


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## Jarnhamar (3 Apr 2004)

If it‘s nice out i‘ll just sleep in my bivy bag or on the ground (unless it‘s bug season).
It‘s funny watching people scramble to put their hooch up at 2 am when its pouring rain.

Hoochies are also great for hiding when someone is looking for you when its your turn to go on picket


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## Scoobie Newbie (3 Apr 2004)

> Hoochies are also great for hiding when someone is looking for you when its your turn to go on picket


I hate those guys.


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## Jarnhamar (3 Apr 2004)

I‘m totally that guy! Im the jerk that cuts into your rack time   

Then again..... a good soldier who is performing the job of sentry would make sure they know who is on shift next and exactly where that person is sleeping right?
I‘m simply teaching young soldiers the bennifits of a job done correctly.


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## Sh0rtbUs (3 Apr 2004)

I havent gone to sleep yet without knowing who is relieving me, and where their hooch is. Nothing more annoying then getting awoken to someone with a flashlight (no filter might i add) pointed in your face, kicking our feed saying "get the @a&^ up, i wanna go to beeeeed OH sorry, what hooch is Burger in then?"


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## Scoobie Newbie (3 Apr 2004)

I was gonna add the part about knowing where your next guy is but some guys take it upon themselves to move or make themselves hard to find.


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## Michael Dorosh (3 Apr 2004)

> Originally posted by Sh0rtbUs:
> [qb] I havent gone to sleep yet without knowing who is relieving me, and where their hooch is. Nothing more annoying then getting awoken to someone with a flashlight (no filter might i add) pointed in your face, kicking our feed saying "get the @a&^ up, i wanna go to beeeeed OH sorry, what hooch is Burger in then?" [/qb]


I still remember Milcon in 1988 (how many stories have started with those exact words, eh!!) - I was actually out for Bandcon which ran concurrently, laugh if you want - but some of the grunts were staying in our "H" hut on their first night at Wainwright before departing for the field.

We were woken up at 0530 one morning by a Queen‘s Own Cameron Highlanders NCO bellowing out "get the f#$& up!  It is now 0630!  Get the f#$& up!"  Followed by some brave soul yelling out "You‘re still on Winnipeg time!!"  Moron.

What could be worse than waking up an hour before reveillie.  Though I‘ve come to like it, especially when in shacks, since you can beat everyone to the sinks and shave in peace.


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## Scoobie Newbie (4 Apr 2004)

That is priceless.


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## Infanteer (5 Apr 2004)

Hoochies suck.  Nothing like screwing around with a piece of snivel kit complete with tent pegs and what have you when you got to get out of there quick.  I havn‘t used one since QL2.

It‘s either a tent or the stars.


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## Sh0rtbUs (5 Apr 2004)

thats what i was leaning towards...

Ever try to get dressed in one of those? Talk about a challenge..


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## chrisp1j (5 Apr 2004)

Thats why Bivvy bags are so nice, you don‘t have a choice where your getting dressed. 

When you guys use your bivvy bags, do you throw your poncho over your faces to cover them or make any small shelter(assuming there are no vehicles to lay your heads under...lol)?


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## portcullisguy (5 Apr 2004)

I prefer the hooch if it will be an extended stay.

I keep 6x black bungee cords, and 6x aluminum tent pegs, and set up is quite fast, as is the take down.

I no longer mess around with para cord and all that ****.  If I can‘t bungee it up, I won‘t bother.

Properly set up, a hooch keeps the water off you, and your vital kit.  The rest stays outside.

If I had a bivvy bag, I would consider using one, but they are only issued on a TI basis at my unit.

On SQ, we had a very silly "surprise" attack one morning in our platoon hide, and of course, with painstaking predictability, the orders-shouters (NCOs) wanted us to take down our hooches as part of the bug out drill. I honestly can‘t see detaching rifles in the middle of receiving a hasty attack to goand tear down a hooch in real life.  In fact, even stopping for rucks is a bit of a stretch.  You should have the minimum to survive and fight on your webbing, which should be with you always, along with your rifle, and if you gotta run with it, then so be it.  If it were up to me, at least the hooch and sleeping bag, and possibly the ruck, would‘ve been left behind.  Otherwise, our entire platoon would‘ve been destroyed, had it been a real attack.

That said, bivvy bags make sense when you‘re not staying in one place very long, like a weekend ex.

I don‘t much like tents, either the mods or the 5-man, except when it too cold for sleeping under the stars.  It‘s a pain to move or get anything done properly inside a 5-man, and the mods just suck to set up and take down, and in those situations, a hooch will do just as well.


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## Phillman (5 Apr 2004)

Crew tents are the way to go. Fast to set up. Fit 3 or 4 people, and it keeps you dry and out of the wind. Well, keeps alot of the wind out.


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## patt (5 Apr 2004)

hehe my father buit me a hooch and all i can say is that that thing could be used in the winter and youd be still too hot cuz it traps the Body heat very well! Gotta love Mat Techs!


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## portcullisguy (7 Apr 2004)

Patty, that‘s fine if you can bring dad out on an ex to build another one for you.  Failing that, I hope he showed you HOW to build one, not just set one up FOR you.


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## Fishbone Jones (7 Apr 2004)

portcullisguy,

His dad‘s a Mat Tech. I think he means his dad built (sewed) him one literally. I don‘t think he went in the woods and built it for him.


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## Scoobie Newbie (7 Apr 2004)

recceguy I read it how you did as well.


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## Jarnhamar (7 Apr 2004)

With a hoochie you can make a makeshift stretcher and also use it to make a map model


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## Cooper (8 Apr 2004)

hooches are terrible, I was just on an ex where I decided not to use my bivvy bag, and let my hooch do the work of keeping the slush, mud, rain, snow and sleet off of me (yes all these weather phenomenea occurred in the span of a night). I woke up at zero dark thirty shivvering with my legs and arms half numb ontop of a frozen muddy water pool that had collected around me overnight.


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## Doug VT (9 Apr 2004)

The only action my ground sheet had seen is morning inspection.  Heck, it still looks brand new!  I‘ve used the same Bivi bag since 93‘  It‘s never leaked and I‘ve never had a problem with it.  I carry a poncho in my ruck (it‘s lighter but does the same job) to cover my gear at night and maybe to prop up over my head.  The last time I actually used a "hooch" was probably in Gage town when I was in Army cadets...


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## meni0n (9 Apr 2004)

So you got nothing covering your head except the bivy? Doesn‘t it get a little wet at times?


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## MJP (9 Apr 2004)

No he sleeps in his bivy bag and has his poncho over his head.  I agree with Doug, I hate carrying around a heavier groundsheet when a light poncho does the trick.


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