Gorgeous bike!  The color is superb.
Are those bags you are making gonna be bolted on???  Interesting...

Only the tank bags will be bolted on.  I may utilize the bottle cage bolts to bolt on the bottom part of the frame bag.  Bolt on frame bags are a pain in the butt.  I like them when they are on, but taking them off and putting them back on is much more time consuming than Velcro. 

Not yet.  I've got customer bags to make first.  I should have it by this weekend.  The tanks, especially the front tank, are going to be interesting.  There are bolts on the top tube for the tanks.  I may hold off on the front tank until I get all my electronics sorted out.  I want everything to be tidy and secure.

The frame is so big, I may be able to do 3 compartments on the frame bag.  It took a whole piece of poster board to do the template.  Most customers can send me a template that fits on half a piece....at least cut diagonally.

A bit of stoke for everyone.

Frame and some parts came Saturday.  After frantically rummaging through my garage for all the other parts, I was able to ride it Sunday on some burly trails.  It was pretty awesome. 

Commuted on it today with a rack and panniers...the Knard up front will NOT go on Divide.  That thing is a pig at 950 grams. 

Bivy kits are being shipped.  Thanks to those who have purchased.  I have plenty more. 

Taping is WAY stronger.  No holes and almost impossible to undo without destroying the fabric.  Stitching then taping.....I just don't get it.  if you are taping with single sided seam seal tape, you'd just be adding weight and more time and energy.  I dont think you'd be adding strength. 

I spent two nights in mine this weekend.  First night was 28° F with a high dew point....seems I remember reading that the humidity was 41%.  My bag is a 30°down bag and I use a full length neoair pro.  I had to ventilate it because I got hot.  I was covered in frost in the morning and the inside had a bit of frost as well.  The next night was in the low 40's and raining buckets.I was under a shelter and I slept in the bivy without my sleeping bag.  I got misted all night.  About 7 hours.   The zippers were easy to operate and I had plenty of room.

So I'm putting on a pretty sweet layer of fat here in Newberry, SC at my mom's.  I went out today south of town and followed the route given to me by the PT Conservation cartographer.  He did a great job keeping me off the highways and I rode quite a bit of dirt road today.  My wife went with me on her road bike and she was stoked to not be on pavement.  She's such a mountain biker.  It was nice to work a bit harder than I wanted to trying to stay in her draft as we went back to my mom's.  It's super cold here.  That's my only concern.   The rains were plentiful last week and I may have to reroute some sections south of Columbia.  I'll hit the store tomorrow for some batteries and hand and foot heaters.  Then I'll be off on the morning of the 27th.  I'm going to start north of Spartanburg. 

[How large is the bivy once made?]

I got an email with some good questions that I figured I'd better post here.

How large is the bivy once made?  Depending on what pattern you use (your own or something you find on the internet) and depending on if/how you make a screen window, you should have plenty of room.  I made mine to be 7' long, 28" wide, and a foot tall.  PLENTY of room.  I'm 6'5" 200 lbs.  My size and desire for a roomy bivy were the main reasons for this project.

Is the bivy water proof? Yes....to a certain extent.  This depends on how old the material is.  New Tyvek is highly waterproof and less breathable.  As you use it, it gets softer, quieter, more breathable, less waterproof.  I've read that some people have had seepage through the bottom when on very wet ground.  An additional ground cloth might be needed if you camp on saturated ground a lot.

Will I need to set up a tarp in addition the bivy or is the bivy good enough as a stand alone shelter? I think this depends on what you're willing to deal with.  I've never used a tarp or tent for bikepacking.  I've never viewed a bivy as shelter.  It's something you seal yourself into and pass out for a few hours of sleep before waking and getting back on the bike.  I've been very lucky in that during heavy rainfall, I've always found alternative shelter or trees large enough to make resting in the bivy uneventful.  I guess the answer to this question is more related to your level of fear and resourcefulness.

How difficult is it to put the bivy together once I receive the materials? I must admit that at my size, working on the floor to do most of the assembly, is a pain in the...knees and back.  LOL.  It took me a day to figure out the pattern I wanted to use and I spent a very methodical 8 to 10 hours putting it together.  I wanted to use as few seams as possible, utilize as much material as possible, and make it convenient to get in and out.  Once you tape it together, it's done.  You can't untape it or you will rip the fabric.

Do I need a sewing machine or any special equipment to put it together?  You will want a ruler or tape measure, a square, and a good pair of scissors.  The zippers have to be sewn in.  I sewed the zippers to strips of fabric which I taped into my build so there would be no exposed stitching. This added maybe a couple of ounces at the most, but made it much easier to build.  I can provide you 9' of sewn up zipper with large storm flaps for an additional $15 fee.  If you get pre-sewn zippers from me, you will need a needle and thread to sew stops into the zippers to prevent loss of the zipper sliders.  I made 3"x3" fabric patches to put over the end sections of the zippers to provide a better water seal. 

If I choose to sew in my own zippers, how should I do it?  If you want to use a home machine to sew in your zippers, you will need Tex-45 thread and corresponding needle.  You can use Tex 69 or 70, but the holes will be bigger and you may not get your stitch length long enough compromising the strength of the fabric.  If your machine does a zig zag stitch, it would be advisable that you use that setting to increase the distance between the needle holes.  How you stitch the zippers to the bag is your decision.  I found it much easier to sew strips of fabric to the zippers, then taping them in.  This provides great water proofness and makes it much easier to assemble the bag.

After talking with othersackett and several people involved with the Palmetto Trail Conservation including the lead cartographer, I'm ready to give this thing a go.  I've got a complete gps file of the entire route....a lot of road connecting the sections closed to bikes and some automatic reroutes of flooded swamps given to me by the cartographer.  This I'm very stoked about. 

I shipped my bike out today....hardtail ti with a bit of a drive train....1x9.....34 tooth up front.  I'm hoping I don't end up having to ride ALL of the roads in the Lowcountry like othersackett did this past summer. 

If the weather looks good in the Upcountry, I'll start at the Northwest terminus on the 27th.  If it's been cold, wet, and sloppy, I'll start on the 28th in Spartanburg.  PM me if you want my SPOT share page.  After my attempt, I'll get Scott M both my gps file and the .gpx track so other can give it a go.  I had no luck getting the VCU crew to respond to my emails and sjanes is awol this fall.  Hopefully I will have a positive experience and others will want to give this route a try.  The Conservation group is really excited as they're trying hard to get more recognition of this route.

Bivy kits are ready to ship.  If you want more than one, let me know and I can discount it by only sending you one roll of tape.

I anticipate so much remoteness that the word stealth isn't even necessary to use.  Pull off the road into some pinon/juniper/sage and pass out.  I'm hoping that some campgrounds will allow a shower for a small fee, then roll out. 

LOL.  Those clowns crack me up.  I always give them hell at the unconstitutional checkpoints.  I think my response to something like that would be..."Dude!  Seriously?  My video camera just caught all that and I'm now uploading it via satellite.  My friends are going to crack up when they see what you guys do down here."

I'd like to see an illegal try to ride my bike.  Most of those guys average about 5'4". 

Border traffic?!!  LOL.  That's funny.  There is no border traffic at AW.  That place is deadsville.  The majority of the vehicles out there are Border Patrol and one killed a cyclist outside of El Paso this past Fall....said the rider weaved in front of him.  I think they are on a bit of notice to give cyclists plenty of room. 

I was at the AW start this past summer.  I plan on actually riding this year and starting at AW since it's only about a 3 hour drive from my house.  I think the 8 am start is too late, but it doesn't really matter that much.  It would be nice to see more than 6 there this coming summer.  All that area north of Silver City should be interesting.  I saw that post report from the guy who finished up when those vehicles were stuck in the mud.  Crazy!  Fires are a crap shoot out there.  They've closed the forest in May/June before. 

Something weird is going on down here that makes me concerned for this summer.  We still have hundreds of Mourning Dove hanging out in the desert.  They usually have all migrated through here by the end of Thanksgiving.  Hundreds of them are here.  We've had a snowfall already and they are still here. 

Matt Lee suggested I start up north and by the time I hit the south, I'll be skinnier and better able to handle the heat.  Matt Lee doesn't live in El Paso.  I'm not worried about the heat....or trying to be skinnier. 

The "dirty" Superfortress harnesses are sold.

My final product....

7' long, 28" wide, 1 foot deep.  All exposed seams are taped.  Stitching around screen drape is there to help hold shape.  483 grams.  Double pull zipper for main compartment, single pull for screen drape.  Could save a couple grams by not using my larger pulls but I wanted something that was easy to grab.  Lots of reinforcement.

I could save a bunch of weight if I rounded the ends better.  Making it square is kind of janky, but I like the roominess.  That was main goal....roominess.  I'm a "sprawler" . 

I've got almost everything....still waiting on no-seeum netting which should be here by end of the week.

I'm going to do a $30 kit which will include shipping in the lower 48.  

Here's what it will include:
 - Tyvek 2.5 x 3 yards
 - 3 yards of #3 zipper
 - 2 double sided zipper pulls (black)
 - 2 single sided zipper pulls (silver)
 - 4 paracord zipper pulls (orange/reflective with plastic end clip)
 - 1 yard (54" wide) black no-seeum netting
 - 1 roll of double sided tape (enough to do 2....maybe 3 bags depending on your pattern)

If you want a greater or lesser quantity of any of these items, I'm sure we can work something out.

For an additional $15, I can send you sewn up zippers that you can tape into your bag.  I'll sew a storm flapped side and a non-storm flapped side with a really long stitch length to reduce tearing.  Tape it in, maybe use a needle and thread to stitch a slider stop, and you're good to go.

Below are some pics of sewn zippers.

Look for a PM.

I haven't done it yet.  Check other threads to cost.  Not considering transportation to/from start/finish and equipment expenses....I'm looking at $2,000 for my on the trail budget for around 18 days.  The longer you take, the more it will cost.

Sponsor yourself!

You guys need to hit up Mark Sackett.  He's trying to link up the upstate portion of the Palmetto Trail to the TNGA route. 

That would work very well.  Not sure how bulky it would be, but it appears to not be very heavy...only a couple of ounces (3.2 oz listed).  But it's pretty expensive.  I'm trying to spec this with enough zipper for 2 zippers (one long one for the main compartment and a shorter one for the bug netting) with 4 sliders and should be able to do that for around half that price.  A sewn on zipper can be reused when/if the tyvek finally wears out.  You will also be able to sew on storm flaps to cover the zipper allowing it to last longer and keep water out.

I'm getting quotes from more than one supplier.  So far, things are looking good.  I've already purchased tyvek.  I needed some for another project.

I found the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet).  Anyone who had a decent science teacher should know about these.  They are easy to understand.  No such worries about chemical coatings.  There aren't any coatings.  I'll be happy to email the pdf.

You can go here and type "Tyvek" in the search window and find the MSDS. 

http://www.3eonline.com/EeeOnlinePortal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=90