Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape with Katabatic Gear Pinon bivy

[dirtbag]

Just got the Katabatic Gear Pinon bivy this morning. Layed it out in my yard to see how it looks, then I pitched the Gatewood Cape over it to see how that would work. I went with the 6 ft length/ Wide version and I am really liking it. First off, I do use a wide pad and there is plenty of room in there for my self and some gear. It also lays out nicely as a ground sheet under the cape. I was supposed to head out today for a short overnight trip,  but life happens.. so my next trip should be in about 3 weeks and I will probably be bringing this with me.. not 100% sure yet.. but I am liking the simple and fast setup and break down along with the minimal weight and pack space of this..  Anyway.. it does look promising and here are a few pictures from my yard…

[dirtbag]

Mind you, it is NOT necessary to use that guy out on the head side of the Gatewood Cape like I did with my trekking pole.. however it does give me much much more head/face room If I was planning on spending some time relaxing in there during the afternoon or whatnot.

Here is a picture of it without that side pulled out, and also one of the Gatewood Cape doors closed.. you can see it does pull the bug netting up a little bit.. enough to get it off my face.. but not as much as with the side pulled out. In all reality, If I was just pitching to sleep, i would not even bother either way.. I would just lay in the bivy and go to sleep… the options are nice though..

1. 

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

Why not also use a guy line on the foot end?

[dirtbag]

Totally could.. but really no need.

[dirtbag]

Here it is with the Bristlcone bivy.. I had no need to tie out head or foot. Basically, I just lay in there and fell asleep within 10 minutes.

[Brad W]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Nice. Just got my Pinyon yesterday. 6’6″ wide. Came in 0.3oz under at 7.9oz with stuff sack, 7.6oz with out. I am waiting on a Borah solo tarp to pair with it. I will use this on solo peak bagging and trips with limited sites.</p>
What guy lines are you using and how are they attached to your bivy?

 

[Dustin V]

I have basically the same setup, but with a Bristlecone bivy. I happen to live close by, so I picked up my bivy from the shop. I told Aaron about the Gatewood and described how it might connect. He gave me a length of shock cord, which I cut up and use to connect the bivy corners to the corner stakes of the tarp. The loop on on the head of the bivy matches up perfectly with the tie-out snap on the tarp. Sometimes I raise the tie-out, but not always. This keeps the bivy mostly in place, but with no stress on the fabric. I’ve had a couple of mornings where I’ve slid downhill, but it works okay.

My Bristecone is a left-side zip, so I put the head end the opposite direction from @dirtbag, but otherwise the same.

[dirtbag]

The only guy lines i use on the pinõn bivy are 1.3 mm Z line from zpacks.. to lift the head end up and tie it to bivy or cape…

[dirtbag]

Yes about the shock cord for bivy ends to clip onto the cape. I am planning on doing that next time i set it up…

[dirtbag]

Ps.. the Borah solo tarp is beautiful and works nicely with the bivy.. you will definitely like packing and using that!!!

[Brad W]

@dirtbaghiker Thanks.  Last hike I did someone had the Bristlecone and dcf tarp and I was really impressed and jealous at how small it packed.

[dirtbag]

Fyi,I had MLD solo and duo grace DCF tarps.. eventually sold them both when I started hammock camping. I still like sleeping on ground, there is something I can not explain, but something about sleeping on the earth… I dunno..  so I picked up 2 Borah silpoly tarps.. the single and double.  I prefer silpoly over DCF. It packs much smaller and only weighs a few ounces more.. and of course the price…

[Brad W]

This is my first venture into tarps. Can’t wait to figure out a quick setup that works pairs with this bivy.

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