diff --git a/crates/tor-guardmgr/src/bridge/descs.rs b/crates/tor-guardmgr/src/bridge/descs.rs
index 38b485761..c17e91e66 100644
--- a/crates/tor-guardmgr/src/bridge/descs.rs
+++ b/crates/tor-guardmgr/src/bridge/descs.rs
@@ -137,24 +137,24 @@ pub type BridgeDescList = HashMap<Arc<BridgeConfig>, Result<BridgeDesc, Box<dyn
 //
 // TODO pt-client: I doubt that this type is in its final form.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
-pub(crate) struct BridgeSet {
+pub(crate) struct BridgeSet<'a> {
     /// When did this BridgeSet last change its listed bridges?
     config_last_changed: SystemTime,
     /// The configured bridges.
-    config: Vec<Arc<BridgeConfig>>,
+    config: &'a [BridgeConfig],
     /// A map from those bridges to their descriptors.  It may contain elements
     /// that are not in `config`.
-    descs: Arc<BridgeDescList>,
+    descs: Option<&'a BridgeDescList>,
 }
 
-impl BridgeSet {
+impl<'a> BridgeSet<'a> {
     /// Create a new `BridgeSet` from its configuration.
     #[allow(dead_code)] // TODO pt-client remove
-    pub(crate) fn new(config: Vec<Arc<BridgeConfig>>) -> Self {
+    pub(crate) fn new(config: &'a [BridgeConfig], descs: Option<&'a BridgeDescList>) -> Self {
         Self {
-            config_last_changed: SystemTime::now(),
+            config_last_changed: SystemTime::now(), // TODO pt-client wrong.
             config,
-            descs: Arc::new(BridgeDescList::default()),
+            descs,
         }
     }
 
@@ -166,24 +166,23 @@ impl BridgeSet {
     ///
     /// We check for a match by identity _and_ channel method, since channel
     /// method is part of what makes two bridge lines different.
-    fn bridge_by_guard<T>(&self, guard: &T) -> Option<&Arc<BridgeConfig>>
+    fn bridge_by_guard<T>(&self, guard: &T) -> Option<&BridgeConfig>
     where
         T: ChanTarget,
     {
         self.config.iter().find(|bridge| {
-            guard.has_all_relay_ids_from(bridge.as_ref())
-                && guard.chan_method() == bridge.chan_method()
+            guard.has_all_relay_ids_from(*bridge) && guard.chan_method() == bridge.chan_method()
         })
     }
 
     /// Return a BridgeRelay wrapping the provided configuration, plus any known
     /// descriptor for that configuration.
-    fn relay_by_bridge(&self, bridge: &Arc<BridgeConfig>) -> BridgeRelay {
-        let desc = match self.descs.get(bridge) {
+    fn relay_by_bridge(&self, bridge: &'a BridgeConfig) -> BridgeRelay<'a> {
+        let desc = match self.descs.and_then(|d| d.get(bridge)) {
             Some(Ok(b)) => Some(b.clone()),
             _ => None,
         };
-        BridgeRelay::new(bridge.clone(), desc)
+        BridgeRelay::new(bridge, desc)
     }
 
     /// Look up a BridgeRelay corresponding to a given guard.
@@ -215,7 +214,7 @@ impl BridgeSet {
     }
 }
 
-impl Universe for BridgeSet {
+impl<'a> Universe for BridgeSet<'a> {
     fn contains<T: tor_linkspec::ChanTarget>(&self, guard: &T) -> Option<bool> {
         match self.bridge_relay_by_guard(guard) {
             CandidateStatus::Present(_) => Some(true),
@@ -268,10 +267,8 @@ impl Universe for BridgeSet {
         self.config
             .iter()
             .filter(|bridge_conf| {
-                filter.permits(bridge_conf.as_ref())
-                    && pre_existing
-                        .all_overlapping(bridge_conf.as_ref())
-                        .is_empty()
+                filter.permits(*bridge_conf)
+                    && pre_existing.all_overlapping(*bridge_conf).is_empty()
             })
             .choose_multiple(&mut rand::thread_rng(), n)
             .into_iter()
diff --git a/crates/tor-guardmgr/src/bridge/relay.rs b/crates/tor-guardmgr/src/bridge/relay.rs
index 11a606bcf..f5b1fae8a 100644
--- a/crates/tor-guardmgr/src/bridge/relay.rs
+++ b/crates/tor-guardmgr/src/bridge/relay.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 //! Implementation code to make a bridge something that we can connect to and use to relay traffic.
 
-use std::sync::Arc;
-
 use tor_linkspec::{
     ChanTarget, CircTarget, HasAddrs, HasChanMethod, HasRelayIds, RelayIdRef, RelayIdType,
 };
@@ -12,16 +10,19 @@ use super::{BridgeConfig, BridgeDesc};
 /// it traffic.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
 
-pub struct BridgeRelay {
+pub struct BridgeRelay<'a> {
     /// The local configurations for the bridge.
     ///
     /// This is _always_ necessary, since it without it we can't know whether
     /// any pluggable transports are needed.
-    bridge_line: Arc<BridgeConfig>,
+    bridge_line: &'a BridgeConfig,
 
     /// A descriptor for the bridge.
     ///
     /// If present, it MUST have every RelayId that the `bridge_line` does.
+    ///
+    /// `BridgeDesc` is an `Arc<>` internally, so we aren't so worried about
+    /// having this be owned.
     desc: Option<BridgeDesc>,
 }
 
@@ -34,12 +35,12 @@ pub struct BridgeRelay {
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct BridgeRelayWithDesc<'a>(
     /// This will _always_ be a bridge relay with a non-None desc.
-    &'a BridgeRelay,
+    &'a BridgeRelay<'a>,
 );
 
-impl BridgeRelay {
+impl<'a> BridgeRelay<'a> {
     /// Construct a new BridgeRelay from its parts.
-    pub(crate) fn new(bridge_line: Arc<BridgeConfig>, desc: Option<BridgeDesc>) -> Self {
+    pub(crate) fn new(bridge_line: &'a BridgeConfig, desc: Option<BridgeDesc>) -> Self {
         Self { bridge_line, desc }
     }
 
@@ -56,7 +57,7 @@ impl BridgeRelay {
     }
 }
 
-impl HasRelayIds for BridgeRelay {
+impl<'a> HasRelayIds for BridgeRelay<'a> {
     fn identity(&self, key_type: RelayIdType) -> Option<RelayIdRef<'_>> {
         self.bridge_line
             .identity(key_type)
@@ -64,19 +65,19 @@ impl HasRelayIds for BridgeRelay {
     }
 }
 
-impl HasAddrs for BridgeRelay {
+impl<'a> HasAddrs for BridgeRelay<'a> {
     fn addrs(&self) -> &[std::net::SocketAddr] {
         todo!()
     }
 }
 
-impl HasChanMethod for BridgeRelay {
+impl<'a> HasChanMethod for BridgeRelay<'a> {
     fn chan_method(&self) -> tor_linkspec::ChannelMethod {
         todo!()
     }
 }
 
-impl ChanTarget for BridgeRelay {}
+impl<'a> ChanTarget for BridgeRelay<'a> {}
 
 impl<'a> HasRelayIds for BridgeRelayWithDesc<'a> {
     fn identity(&self, key_type: RelayIdType) -> Option<RelayIdRef<'_>> {