CF tarp with doors: HG or Zpacks?

**Azrial** · 11-02-2015, 21:59

Been drooling over the zpacks cuben fiber tarp for about a year and finally decided to take the plunge, but doing some more research I realized there are other options. The HG standard cuben fiber tarp with doors is a comparable price and seems to be similar dimensions, but is suspiciously a lot lighter.
HG: 6.5 oz for 11' ridgeline, 8.5' wide.
Z packs: 9 oz for 11' long 8.5' wide.

How does that even work? Is my HG measurement wrong? I got it from the description here.

What am I missing? People have also been talking about the HG winter palace with doors, which is more like 9.5 oz, is that the one comparable to the zpacks? I intend to take this on my AT thru-hike, I tend towards being cold and want to be sure I stay dry through all sorts of storms, but don't really see tons of snow camping in my future, though I would like to go ahead and buy enough coverage to never need another tarp.

I've always heard great things about HG... Are there any other brands/sellers I'm overlooking?

Thanks for the help!

**CamoDeafie82** · 11-02-2015, 22:52

is it possible the extra weight is due to how theyre put together, as well as the materials for the tie outs/guy line loops and so on?

**Brady** · 11-02-2015, 23:24

I have the HG Standard with doors. Works well for me in the wettest weather here in coastal BC Canada. It works awesome. Some folks complain about spray coming under but I've never had it, I just set my tarp low and ignore the weather. It doesn't have as much head room as my Superfly but I've used the HG Standard down to -20C as my cover without issue, in stupid hard rain, you name it. It's never let me down.

**dimjim** · 11-02-2015, 23:50

I believe it may be down to cat cuts vs no cat cuts. Looks like zpacks tarps are straight cut, which might explain the extra weight.

Edit: zpacks and hg both are excellent companies that make great gear. I think you'll be happy either way. I don't know of other mfg. of cuben hammock tarps.

**Azrial** · 11-02-2015, 23:51

Yeah, I guess that would have to be where the difference is, between the cat cuts and the hardware. Looks like it has fewer side wall pull-outs, and I can imagine hardware being a significant % of weight because the material is so light. Wondering if those details are -better- on the Zpacks one to make the weight worth it.

**Azrial** · 11-02-2015, 23:54

Thanks for the report Brady! I sure hope I never end up in -20C... I'm from the Southeast US, I'm not physically or mentally ready for that no matter what the gear!

**dimjim** · 11-02-2015, 23:58

Very hard to say, an I believe it's probably down to personal preference. IMO, if I'm going cuben to shave ounces, may as well shave the oz. I doubt that the zpacks tarp has significantly better coverage because of the lack of the cat cuts.

And with ripstopbytheroll's new membrane sil fabric, a 9-12oz tarp is possible with low stretch and a relatively low cost. Much lower than cuben. Many vendors will work with a custom request for a tarp made of membrane sil. But you can't touch 6.5oz of hg's cuben standard with doors.

**SilvrSurfr** · 11-03-2015, 00:28

I have the HG Winter Palace - it's 8.6 ounces. I had the HG standard, but frankly, it just didn't have the coverage I wanted. Too much blowing precipitation that got me wet. While many people seem to enjoy skimpy tarps, and insist that they can get by with "site selection," I'd rather just stay dry and skip the site selection, the hunkering down and pitching the tarp low. One less thing to worry about!

**DrPhun** · 11-03-2015, 20:42

Cuben does come in different weights. On the quest outfitters website they show 5 different weights available. One of the differences between the different weights is the amount of reinforcing threads.