Totally in love with my Gatewood cape as recommended on here. I am using an Alpkit Kloke bivy but have seen the Borahgear Bivi mentioned as well as inners that fit the Gatewood. Anybody have advice about these ? My main niggles at the moment are getting in and out the Kloke and I feel it's overkill under a tarp and also no bug protection. I tried the sea to summit bug net but I end up eating it in my sleep.

I'd buy a Borah or similar. Very light and roomy.

The inner for the Gatewood is rectangular, it doesn't fill the space at the back.

Difficult to explain, I've got Deschuttes tarp, the inner and also a Lunar Solo. The Deschuttes and Lunar Solo are the same size, there's loads of room, use the inner in the Deschuttes and you lose loads of space. The Gatewood is essentially a slightly smaller Deschuttes, you'll lose headroom and storage with the inner. I keep meaning to take pics of both setups.

No experience with the Borah.

Although I just got it and only set it up in the garden only, the borah bivvy fits in terms of surface area but the head tieout is a bit tricky. The panel is not under tension and the inner attachment is not really high enough. I was meaning to experiment a bit but just didn't get round to it.

It can work but is not ideal. Still, I have a solid inner from ali that also fits the tarp but sucks because of the sloping walls. The borah seems nicer, but this is just garden use.

Boy these garden-only experiences are getting depressing already.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 8:52 am I'd buy a Borah or similar. Very light and roomy.

Next question. Where the hell do I buy a Borah bivy in the post brexit minefield of international postage. I had to go have a lie down after reading the postage instructions from Outdoorline.sk.

I'll just add here that when using a lightweight bivvy with netting, I never bother to tie / hang the thing. I simply get in, zip it up and go to sleep. As a side sleeper I rarely notice the netting resting on my head.

Next question. Where the hell do I buy a Borah bivy in the post brexit minefield of international postage. I had to go have a lie down after reading the postage instructions from Outdoorline.sk.

I've no idea. Outdoorline would have been my suggestion.

Direct:

https://borahgear.com/products.html

Duties etc are same as usual (as it's US rather than EU).

I bought direct from Borah, it was easy enough but don’t expect quick delivery.

I don’t use a bivi with my Gatewood unless I know there will be very wet, very windy weather - and on these occasions I’m more likely to carry my TNF Mountain Marathon tent.
I always use a Tyvek ground sheet to keep my sleeping gear ff the floor.
I have the Serenity net inner for my Gatewood and use it for bug protection or for extra floor protection- it’s a bucket floor.
The Serenity is shaped at the back, it’s not a rectangle but has 5 sides with a point into the back of the Gatewood. It occupies about half the floor area upto your pole.
It isn’t as nice as using the Gatewood with just a floor but does the job I need it to do.
I don’t loose any storage space as it simply covers the sleeping area.
You do loose some head space however, both for sleeping and when sitting.

I have both (In a Deschutes)
The serenity mesh inner is used when extreme midges are expected. Its small but being mesh you don't feel cramped. Borah bivvy for non midge locations / times of year. This is my favourite as you can pitch the outer, get in out of the rain, take your wet gear off and then unroll the bivvy nice and dry. The mesh inner still allows this - you attach at the back and one side, remove wet gear, attach other side, get in. More faff but better than a wee tent where you get in with your wet gear and make your dry stuff wet too......

I did once try the borah bag with a Sea to Summit bug net in an extreme midge situation and whilst I got away with it, the serenity mesh inner would have been far better.

^ This A plus with the Borah is that if the weather is good and forecast to stay that way you don't even need to put an outer up, just sleep in the bivi bag

Piemonster wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 9:27 am I bought direct from Borah, it was easy enough but don’t expect quick delivery.

As did I.

Looking at the email trail, ordered on 22nd Jan, posted out on 16th Feb, can't remember how long the parcel took to get here. Had to pay a release fee (£8) from the carrier but no duty - he'd just put the price of a single bivy rather than the two that were in the package.

One advantage of going direct is that he'll do minor mods for no extra charge.

Does he still do direct sales now that he's a European distributor?

I have a Gatewood and my No1 choice of inner is my Borah side zip bivvy. I got it direct from the US and had it slightly customised (letter box style mesh section instead of full mesh hood). It works great with the Gatewood and I use it even out with midge season as it's still nice to be able to shut out ticks and other creepy-crawlies and it offers a little extra protection to my down sleeping bags whilst packing down really small. I also have a Sea to Summit mesh liner thingy that I got cheap after it was posted on the bargain thread on here but I've not actually used it and last year I got a Lanshan 1 inner tent from AliExpress which just about fits the Gatewood but again I haven't had chance to try it yet due to Covid. Overall my vote would be the Borah bivvy, it's really good.

Does he still do direct sales now that he's a European distributor?

Seemed to, although that may be linked to the distributor not having any stock.

Easiest to get and cheapest so far that I've seen is the Katabatic Bristlecone bivy bag. Looks pretty similar to the borah.

I just had a quick look on the Borah Gear website and it says that international shipping is still possible and to contact them for a quote (although lead times are quoted at 10-11 weeks). I reckon it might be worth an email. When I dealt with them (admittedly a few years ago now) it was John West (Mr Borah Gear) I spoke to and he was really helpful.

As of August last year it was still the very helpful John

Gpl23 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 17, 2021 9:45 am Easiest to get and cheapest so far that I've seen is the Katabatic Bristlecone bivy bag. Looks pretty similar to the borah.

I just looked, Bristlecone is $125 (but in stock with limited options) and the Borah Chest Zipper is $102 to $112 (I think effectively made to order)

Is the standard /standard Borah Bivvy bag large enough to have the sleeping mat in the bag as well as the sleeping bag ?

Raggedstone wrote: ↑Sat Apr 17, 2021 12:10 pm Is the standard /standard Borah Bivvy bag large enough to have the sleeping mat in the bag as well as the sleeping bag ?

Yes unless you're really tall. I'm 6 feet tall and it easily accommodates me, my mat (either a Thermareat NeoAir or Exped Synmat 7 depending on season) and my winter down bag. Even with all that inside there's room to spare and move about in it both in terms of length and girth. I usually take all my spare dry kit inside with me to keep it all together, maybe it'd be better to think of it in terms of being a very small inner tent rather than comparing it with a conventional bivvy bag. For comparison mine is way more roomy than an Alpkit Hunka XL.

Thanks Jurassic I am not as tall as you , it seems like a good option to use with the tarp for bug protection .

Raggedstone wrote: ↑Sat Apr 17, 2021 12:19 pm Thanks Jurassic I am not as tall as you , it seems like a good option to use with the tarp for bug protection .

It's definitely worked well for me both under my Gatewood Cape and other tarps before I got that. I've also used it in bothys when sleeping on the floor to help keep my kit cleaner, it's so breathable that there's no penalty to using it like that. I've never got it really wet and I suspect that would be it's limiting factor but it definitely keeps condensation drips from the inside of the tarp and windblown rain splash off my sleeping bag.

Raggedstone wrote: ↑Sat Apr 17, 2021 12:19 pm Thanks Jurassic I am not as tall as you , it seems like a good option to use with the tarp for bug protection .

Tons of room in mine, it was the space that tipped me over into buying. Honestly can’t recall if I went wide sizing mind you.

The 'standard width Borah is pretty big and can easily fit your average American*, winter bag and thick mat with room to spare.

*No offence to the average American but you do tend to a little bigger than the average.

I asked John whether I should go for the wider version based on my dimensions and mat/sleeping bag size and he said standard would be fine. The wide one must be huge based on how roomy the standard version is. I think Stu is right, they're designed for the average American who may tend to be larger than the average European.