Sails i am sure are not made of .51 cuben. If yu made our tarps out of heavier cuben, you would be defeating the purpose of lightest tarps as well as the cost would go up a bunch.
Sails i am sure are not made of .51 cuben. If yu made our tarps out of heavier cuben, you would be defeating the purpose of lightest tarps as well as the cost would go up a bunch.
2nd CAG, CAP 2-1-5 5th Marines, 1st Mar. Div.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Action_Program
Yeah....I think I might make another DIY silnylon for now. Or maybe another DIY silnylon and the cuben....
its a perfect material for ultralight long distance hikers. a few ounces is 1/8th of a pound (in reality i can save about 6 ounces, which is a HUGE weight savings)..2 oz carried over hundreds of miles that's thousands of calories...thousands of calories is pounds and pounds of food...Originally Posted by knix04
another way to look at the weight savings thing is to not look at it in ounces saved, but to look at it as a percentage of weight saved. 8oz vs. 14oz is about 45% less weight. if you're carrying a 25lb base weight and lessen everything in your pack by 45% then you'd have a 13.75lb base weight. 3 days of food and you'd be walking out the door with under 20 lbs for a weekend trip.
when its daylight i hike; when its dusk i set up my tarp. i have NEVER set up my tarp before the sun begins to set (unless it's raining and i want to dry out and have lunch, we did this a lot last year on the Colorado Trail). i'd gladly give up a little durability to save a few ounces since i'm super careful with my gear and have a good amount of experience in the woods to know what will damage it. the only downfall of cuben is the excessive price tag, however make no mistake if i were walking another long trail i'd have cuben
A guy walks into an outfitter, picks up a sleeping bag and asks the clerk "how much?" the salesman replies "its' $340". the guy replies "i'm a hiker". The salesman replies "oh sorry sir, I misunderstood...its 20 ounces..."
Check the price of your cuben material, tape and what ever else you need and i all but can't make a cuben tarp almost as cheap as i can buy one off HG or Zpack as cheap as they sell them. And theirs I am sure would be better made than the one I would make. I Have been throwing the idea of making one and pricing the material costs and its right up there with one of theirs or all I am saving is like 20-30 bucks and if i screw something up, how much is that going to cost me? Add it up.
And don't knock SivrSurfr or any of us as we are answering your questions you ask as we just trying to help out. Ask away any question and maybe you will learn from our experimentation and past mistakes.
Last edited by Acer; 01-25-2016 at 19:25.
2nd CAG, CAP 2-1-5 5th Marines, 1st Mar. Div.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Action_Program
Are we sure it's the cuben delaminating and not the tape/adhesive?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoe makers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but up in the Mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men.
- Daniel Webster
I don't hang mine in the dark - I just don't hang it in the glaring midday sun. As Trail Runner noted, there is a shocking amount of shade in the forest.
There are people who like to lounge most of the day away in their hammock, and cuben fiber is not for lounging, in my opinion. Then again, I don't lounge under any tarp, unless it's raining.
Why would it confuse you? Seems like we have only two people who left their cuben fiber tarp out in the hot sun, and now the rest of us know that's not a bright idea. I've had my HG Winter Palace for more than three years, and it's been through dime-sized hailstorms. It looks as good as the day I bought it. Cuben fiber has no durability issues - just don't leave your tarp out in the hot sun with no shade or you'll regret it.
I never had any chance of my cuben fiber tarp delaminating in the hot sun because I don't use tarps in the hot sun.
Take plastic gasoline cans - they're ubiquitous. Anybody who owns a home has one.
http://www.cnbc.com/2013/12/04/warni...explosion.html
Yet they are highly dangerous. I will never forget my cousin left a gas can in the blazing sun and it caught on fire. I don't know how it caught on fire, but it defies logic that anyone would think it's okay to leave a gas can in the blazing sun (my cousin would go on in the near future to set himself on fire playing with gasoline and spent a year in the hosptial recovering from his burns).
There are thousands of people with cuben fiber tarps. While durability was a concern in the beginning, we hardly ever hear about durability issues anymore. However, if you're one of those mad dogs or Englishmen who lounge in the blazing midday sun under your tarp, or if you leave your cuben fiber tarp out in the back yard for eight weeks, you might have an issue. And if you do have an issue, or even think you might have an issue, it's probably not the right tarp for your style of hiking/camping.
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson
I have had issues with cuben, the zpacks pack i had was coming apart after one season of use and the tarp was leaking from where the Mylar was deteriorating.
I hated spending all that money on it to have it fall apart. Im in no way hard on my gear and don't really want to worry about repairing it all the time.
I dont come on the forum as much as i used to. Mainly its cause when i retired 2 yrs ago, i have spent alot of time fishing and hunting and the wife as changed jobs several times (not by her choice and according to the rules of the forum wont vent politically lol) and this year she will fially get a vacation. But one thing i have notice in the past couple of months is the postings questioning cuben tarps especially by newer members. Its very right for you to ask about cuben and its durability. However, cuben tarps were designed for serious backpacking and serious hikers hammock hangers seeking to lighten the load. I think another name for us couple of years ago, was they called us "gram weinies".look around you today. Lighter packs, lighter materials in making hammocks, TQ's and UQ's, silpoly for tarps, even lighter down and synthetics also. Cuben has a purpose and that is what the user and purchaser needs to answer in his mind. What is cuben worth to you and how light do you want to get if your going to hike and pack? That is the real question!
2nd CAG, CAP 2-1-5 5th Marines, 1st Mar. Div.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Action_Program
I didn't "knock" anyone....I am always grateful for answers to my questions. If I wasn't I wouldn't ask them. And as for adding up cuben fiber costs, believe me I have, and I would never make a DIY cuben tarp. You are 100% correct in that the saved money is next to nothing and that I would much rather have someone experienced with a great reputation make my cuben tarp and that is why if I buy one I will buy a HG standard with doors or the equivalent from Zpacks (and I will most likely buy the HG, as it states it is 3 oz lighter.) I am definitely making another silnylon DIY tarp though. In fact, I just placed the order for materials needed about 5 minutes ago. I will also probably buy a cuben fiber here in a month or two.
There is definitely money to be saved with the DIY of silnylon and making a tarp isn't very difficult and it is very rewarding. I'm always smiling a little harder when I'm under my current DIY silnylon and setup in "porch mode" than any other tarp.
And my cuben will see hardly any daylight for sure, so I'm really not worried about it. That is why I've made the resolve to have both that and another silnylon. I like to hike and enjoy and chill at night. And I agree, the forests are quite shaded places. Here in my neck of Pennsylvania many huge tracts of wonderful state forest are right at my back door to explore and all are quite shaded.
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