Hi,
My summer kit my coast ride last year consisted of Off the top of my head-
Cheap synthetic bag two season 600 g
Cheap breathable bivy bag 350 g
Really cheap 5 mm thick foam mat 100 g
Pillow Which is just a pillowcase made from fleece half normal size that you use at home, stuff with your clothes overnight.
One early morning I was a little bit chilled, but it was tolerable.
Six night in bus shelters, two on the bench the rest on a concrete floor.
You knew floor was flat and hard but not that uncomfortable, surprising how comfortable with just a 5 mm foam mat.
Also although open at the front Overhead I was protected from any rain.
The night I was cold was probably on the floor of the glass shelter.
If you are going to camp on grass, once you have located your site I would normally lay the tent on the ground, And lay on the ⛺️ to see it was not uncomfortable and downhill.
This is the trick if the ground is soft grass et cetera then the mat does not need to be that good.
In my youth I found you had to sleep three nights before you actually got a good nights sleep.
Bivy verse tent, it's very simple if it rains and it's windy you will need more gear to match a tent.
If it doesn't rain you can probably get the weight down to about 60% of the tent pack complete all in with a bivy.
I took a waterproof balaclava in case it rained and I was in the open, I didn't need it so I'm not sure how effective it would've been?
Using tent as a pole is a total waste of time, not light and cumbersome to, definitely no weight saving there just a novelty.
One night you're not gonna get much sleep anyway are you, unless you're a really heavy sleeper, As I said further up post Surprising how comfortable just a thin foam Matt is, On grass say 6-9 inches moorland An air bed is simply just extra weight, and not as reliable either.
On the ground on the grass in the open, you are definitely going to need more bedding than any tent, as said.
So if it does not rain it's just temperature you need to worry about.
my gear up post cost me about £40 new.
If you spent £100 on some more quality I can see you using it again for sure.
Sleeping bags you need several and pick the bag for the season and the conditions.
I keep thinking for ideal light weight set up, you need a large bivy where are you can store some of the gear off your bike to protect it from weather and keep it secure.
then all that's needed is some protection for your head, like a light weight umbrella of sorts.
I am still working on the idea
Bivy bag needs no groundsheet
500 m up in a bivy you probably need at least a 1200 g bag in the summer.
