After this experience, I didn't trust the bivy alone to provide heavy storm protection and was looking for something lightweight to add that would keep off the worst of the weather. After much research, I settled on the Gatewood cape. My plan was to use it together with the bivy per it's dual-purpose poncho/shelter design. The bivy is necessary where I camp to keep the ants out of your bag, if for no other reason! And I figured it would provide a "dual wall" tent advantage to keep moisture from my down bag. I'd have probably tried the NetTent if I didn't already have the bivy.

I haven't tried the cape as a poncho yet, but earlier this week I heard the beginnings of a thunderstorm outside my home one evening. I grabbed the Gatewood and threw it on, then went outside to see how it would work in the storm. I was able to set up the shelter from inside the cape during the rain without too much difficulty.

There was a brisk wind and it helped to put the back stake in first, to keep everything from blowing away once you remove your head from the hood. The hood seals up well with the drawstring closure and I didn't have any trouble with water leaking in there during my test. I think it would have been much harder to set up from inside if the ground was harder (I was able to just "push in" the stakes from beneath the cape since this was my front lawn).

I had practiced setting it up once before but found it isn't very intuitive for those accustomed to regular "floored" tents. With a regular tent, you can pull each side taut and stake it out. However, without the floor the angle from one stake to the next can be variable and the shelter won't pitch properly if the angles are wrong.

I found that the easiest approach for me to get it right was to put in the rear stake, put the pole up, and then put the front stake (later removed to use for the vestibule line) in the front vestibule loop. With the roof now taut from back to front, you can stake out the four "corners" where they naturally fall.

Then I remove the front vestibule stake from the loop and stake out the vestibule line like you're supposed to (this allows adjusting the vestibule and helps keep the cape taut). I staked the back all the way to the ground and allowed the front to clear the ground a few inches for ventilation, with this arrangement I didn't have any problem with wind or water coming into the tent.

We got nearly an inch of rain in about 40 minutes with heavy winds (and some close lightning strikes I might add made it an exciting test!). There was some "spatter" into the tent around the front (downwind) side where I had left a gap between the cape and the ground, but not enough to cause concern.

I continuously checked the walls and hood area for leakage, and found that the interior of the wall became slightly damp. I don't know if this was from condensation or some of the rain penetrating, but it wasn't enough to form droplets and didn't worry me. I could see that it was important to set up on a site that wouldn't experience runoff during a downpour - the grass I was on did a good job soaking up the rain and nothing came under the edges. The cape did "relax" quite a bit during the rain, and a couple of times I had to adjust stake positions to keep it taut.

All in all, I was quite pleased with it's performance in a heavy rain though and look forward to trying it out "in the wild"!

I set up the Gatewood cape today with the bungee cords and it worked great. I got small ten inch bungee cords from Loews and tied knots and reduced their length to about six inches. The cape sets up much easier/better using the bungee cords, has a better shape when done.

The inside mesh/floor insert has four elastic cords in order to stretch the floor out inside the gatewood cape. I extended these out to about seven inches with a cord on one end. Then I just attached all four to the same stakes that the gatewood cape is attached to.

Finally, I played around with the cape as rain ware, It tends to be wide and long, especially on the sides. It can snag on briers and get the threads pulled on the bottom. Today I found that I can tie the two side attachments where the tent stakes go , up inside the cape where the mesh insert attaches, there is a snap encloser there on both sides of the cape in the inside. This helped a lot.

Then finally I used one ten inch bungee cord for a belt, I just attached it to one side of the cape where the tie out is in tent mode. I squeezed the bungee cord hook shut on this loop on my left side and I can hook it to my right side. This holds the cape tight around my body and I can still move really well due to the bungee cord, it can stretch.

I will continue to test these modifications. Dan

Conclusion: As 3 season long distance or "just-in-case" shelter, I never saw anything like this little beauty ! I was so lucky to have my Cape in the perfect summer-stealth GREEN color. Thank you Ron !

The Gatewood Cape is the result of innovative design executed with superior attention to detail and workmanship. This is my central piece of 'go to' gear for all but the worst situations. I'll still be using a hammock in August, and when a January storm is forecast, I'll fall back to a bigger, heavier shelter and dedicated rain gear. But, for the other 80% of the time, the Gatewood will be what I carry.

The first time I donned the cape as a poncho and then set it up as a shelter, my thoughts were "this guy thought this all the way through".

It pitches quickly and easily, and I got a tight pitch the first time. I'm 6'1 220 pounds, and I have no problem sleeping under it.