Reviews > Shelters > Tarps and Bivys > Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape > Andre Corterier > Long Term Report

Six Moon Designs "Gatewood Cape"

Personal Biographical Information:
Name: André Corterier
Gender: M
Age: 34
Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight: 80 kg (175 lb)
Email: andreDOTcorterierATfreenetDOTde
Home: Bonn, Germany

Backpacking Background:
I have started out with backpacking slowly – single-day 24 km (15 mi) jaunts by myself or even shorter hikes in the company of my little daughter. I am getting started on longer hikes, as a lightweight packer and hammock-camper. I’ve begun upgrading my old gear and am now carrying a dry FSO weight (everything carried From the Skin Out except food, fuel and water) of about 10 kg (22 lb) for three-season camping.

Year of manufacture: 2006
Manufacturer: Six Moon Designs
URL: http://www.sixmoondesigns.com
MSRP: 110 USD

listed weight: 11 oz (312 g)
measured weight: 11.3 oz (320 g)

Introduction:
The Gatewood Cape is a silnylon rain cape which doubles as a tarp. You can find a more detailed introduction in my Initial Report. I have carried the Gatewood Cape on many day trips and a few overnighters. Testing was conducted in hilly terrain, generally low elevations (100 to 500 m / 300 to 1600 ft). Temperatures ran from 5 to 20 C (40 to 70 F) in both low and high humidity. Wind speeds were low during all of my testing. The weather has not been very varied, but I have attempted to vary my use of the Gatewood Cape nevertheless, as outlined below.

RAIN WEAR:
There is little to report beyond the information provided in my Field Report. I have continued to carry the Cape with me wherever I went, as long as I took my backpack. It has come out at any sign of a shower. I have worn it in many small showers, a bit of drizzle and even in actual rain. As long as temperature and humidity were not too high, I have found it to be a perfectly adequate rain protection. Drizzles were reliably kept from soaking me (as they otherwise eventually do), brief showers were a breeze. Real rain was a bit more of an issue. As neither the Cape's dimensions nor my own have changed appreciably since the Field Report, my legs continue to get wet in rain. I have found two possible methods to deal with this. The first is to stop complaining and take it like a man. Wet legs aren't really that bad a deal, particularly in summer. I could see myself taking this option whenever rain isn't likely or at least isn't likely to be a long-term occurrence.

The second option, of course, is to take a pair of rain pants (or a rain skirt or kilt or what have you) along. Because my current pair of rain pants weighs as much as the Cape, this is an unsatisfactory option and a blight on my gear weight-calculating Excel-spreadsheet but seems to be my own fault. High gaiters might work just as well (but I do not own a pair so was unable to verify this). This would seem to be the option for Fall or Spring, when having rain on my trip at some point or another is quite likely. The benefit of that season is that it is less likely to be particularly humid (at least around here), which makes this option attractive.

In both instances, I find the light weight of the Cape a convincing argument to use the Gatewood Cape in place of other, heavier, rain garments - particularly as it doubles as a shelter.

The one situation in which I have found the Gatewood Cape's performance to be unsatisfactory was in very high humidity combined with high temperatures. I experienced a very high amount of condensation underneath the Cape in these circumstances. While every other piece of raingear I have ever tried out has also recognizably encountered its limits under these circumstances, I feel that every bit of "breathability" (water moisture permeability) would have been very welcome in these circumstances.

I thus expect to be using the Gatewood Cape as my (only) just-in-case rain gear for all trips on which I expect mostly nice weather. I will likely also resort to it (in the interest of weight savings) on those shoulder season trips on which I consider saving weight to be particularly important.

I set it up much like I would a tunnel tent. First, however, I take the centerpiece which takes up and distributes the stress from the center hiking pole and thread the hooks on the center piece into the loops provided around the neck opening of the Cape. Then I put two stakes through the extender loops on one side of the Cape - I have a tendency to start with the two loops that are to my right when I'm wearing it. By pulling up on the neck opening, I can easily judge whether the stakes are the right distance apart. Once they are, I maintain a bit of pull on them while I insert the trekking pole (pre-set for about 45 in/115 cm) into the centerpiece (tip pointing up) and place its grip on the ground. I then take a step back and put a stake through one of the two loops on the other side from the two that I put in first. If I did it right (and I always did - either I'm a natural at this or it's really pretty easy) the result is self-supporting (in the absence of strong wind). The three stakes delineate an acute triangle, with the center pole, well, in its center. I can then put two more stakes through extender loops and then stake out the guyline. I can and do fiddle around with the latter a little. I have found that when I use the Cape by myself (which is mostly), I like to place it a little off-center which allows me more space to lie down in towards the center of the Cape. By having the trekking pole slanted away from the point at which I stake out the guyline, I was always able to achieve what felt like a reassuringly firm pitch, yet allowed me to sleep almost in the middle of the resulting structure. I have found it easy to move the pole around a little even from inside the tent - all I needed to do was unlock its length adjustment. Then, while holding its top part up against the Cape canopy, I could move it around until I was happy with its placement. Then I would lock it so that its length would provide for a firm pitch. Easy as pie.

I was shipped a replacement guyline complete with sliding hook after I lost the sliding hook in the dark during my Field testing. The new guyline has a thicker diameter and a reflective thread woven in. The sliding hook is pre-attached with a Prusik knot, which should prevent it from getting lost. Using it has been easy - I hooked the sliding hook into the loop at the base of the Cape and staked out the guyline. I could now slide the hook towards the stake in order to tighten the pitch of the Cape. The result was that the side of the Cape with the opening was the furthest off the ground. This might be an issue with wind coming from the direction of the Cape's entrance. With wind from any other side, I should be able to stake down the loops at the base of the cape rather than the extender loops, thereby windproofing that side. I have not had enough wind to test this. On the entrance side, this would require an additional stake. As the hood of the Cape also has an opening facing the Cape's entrance, my conclusion is that the Cape has a high degree of indifference to wind direction, but should still be set up so as to keep the entrance out of the wind.

Set up properly, with the extender loops fully extended, I have been able to sleep under the Cape without touching it anywhere. I had doubted this in my Field Report. I am assuming that it is a combination of the Cape's nylon having stretched some and my better use of the available space which has given me more room inside the Cape. In fact, I have been able to share the Cape with my daughter and can say that it will fit one and a half people in a pinch. My daughter was sleeping on a slim Kid's Mat which made this possible. She liked this a lot.

The Cape does not have a floor. This is a familiar concept to tarp campers, or so I am told. It was a new situation for me. It's a mixed bag for me. It means that if the ground is wet when (and, more importantly, where) I set up the Cape, I am sleeping on wet ground. Having a thick pad was a benefit there. Things can easily get lost at night and most things I place anywhere get dirty to some degree or another. On the other hand, no floor means the floor weighs 0 g (hardly any ounces at all) and I can take down the Cape without having to wake my daughter first. I liked that (but she complained, she likes seeing it). What I mean to say is that this is a shaped tarp - its shape gives it a lot of tent-like properties, but it remains a tarp.

I have only encountered small amounts of precipitation, and in the sheltered spots I set up camp, it fell vertically. None of this touched me or my equipment while I slept.

Possible Improvements:
Nothing much. The new guyline already incorporates better visibility and a Prusik knot. With proper pitch, I have not found interior space to be wanting, so have not experimented with additional extender loops. A "breathable" version would be nice (though likely more expensive).

Summary:
As much of my hiking is (at least intended to be) undertaken in nice weather, the Gatewood Cape now comes along "just in case" instead of the jacket and pants combo I used to take, dropping my FSO weight by almost 500 g (a pound). If and when I take the stakes along, it provides a shelter as well - for a weight "penalty" of the weight of a few stakes. If I am to travel for more than one night, outside of summer, I would likely pack my rain pants as well. The Gatewood Cape has served well as a poncho and remarkably well as a tarp.

Reviews > Shelters > Tarps and Bivys > Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape > Andre Corterier > Long Term Report