Tight pitched tarp with no stretch fabrics?

[Kalle Mandelstam]

Was reading and watching some videos about the MLD trailstar shelter and how the cuben version was quite difficult to pitch tightly compared to the silnylon version due to the difference in stretch.

I've no experience with tarps but am planning to make one quite soon, so I'm looking at the different fabric options available. How do you more experienced hangers experience the difference between silpoly, silnylon and cuben when it comes to getting a nice tight pitch in hammock tarps?

I think the trailstar lacks cat cuts, or have very small/shallow ones, maybe that's one of the reasons why the cuben version is difficult to pitch without flapping edges.

[Shug]

I have no problen getting cuben nice and tight.
Tarping is an art....really.
My Tarp Tutorials.......https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...r4JzQgQ_iyB2RU
Hope it gives some insight.
Shug

[warbonnetguy]

You can certainly pitch silnylon so it is nice and tight and if you stretch it some it will still be fairly tight in the morning, it will loosen some as it gets wet, but like Shug said, pitching the tarp will has alot to do with it as well

in general, silnylon stretches the most, polyester stretches less and CF the least, but you can pitch all these so there is no loose floppy fabric

[Kalle Mandelstam]

Thanks Shug for the reply!

Do you think cuben is more difficult to pitch or more fiddly to pitch compared to nylon?

[Kalle Mandelstam]

You can certainly pitch silnylon so it is nice and tight and if you stretch it some it will still be fairly tight in the morning, it will loosen some as it gets wet, but like Shug said, pitching the tarp will has alot to do with it as well

in general, silnylon stretches the most, polyester stretches less and CF the least, but you can pitch all these so there is no loose floppy fabric

Thanks for the reply!

[Shug]

Thanks Shug for the reply!

Do you think cuben is more difficult to pitch or more fiddly to pitch compared to nylon?

I do not think so.

[sqidmark]

I don't know about in Sweden but... the general concensus seems to be that cuben fiber is so expensive it may be cheaper to buy a commerial tarp. For most folks it's just not worth the risk of making a major mistake with it.

[subcanis]

I've got a Xenon (Poly) tarp that's straight-cut and I have no problem getting a nice tight pitch.

[Kalle Mandelstam]

Copied this from Mountain Laurel Designs page:

"The Cuben fabric stretches less and that is both a small plus and a small minus in different ways. The lower stretch of the Cuben version requires a little more precision in staking and the orientation/geometry of the panels. A tight pitch is set it will stay tight when wet.
• The Cuben version can not be pitched in some of the more extreme configurations vs the SilNylon using a very steep wall or door angles. The Cuben version works best at more moderate angles and a flatter and lower pitch. For snow loading this would make the Cuben version a bit less desirable."

The trailstar is maybe a bit more complex in its three-dimensional form than the average tarp, maybe that's why it's harder to pitch the cuben version..


Image borrowed from:
http://www.secretmountain.co.uk/out-...mld-trailstar/

[Tacblades]

Well i make all three types,

Silnylon it can be any shape, straight cuts and will pitch tight and will stretch.

Silpoly does stretch a bit so a tight pitch with straight cuts is just fine but not as for giving as silnylon.

Cuben is no stretch, so you can pitch a tarp or shelter with no cat cuts nice and taught, bit its a very specific pitch where only a single configuration in terms of guy line and pole placements are critical to the ones it was designed for.

Most cuben tarps and shelters have cat cuts so you can move the guy lines out a lot more and still have a nice pitch.

Thats why a trailstar with very shallow cat cuts in cuben only really pitches well in a single precise pitch configuration.
But the cuben tarps with deep cat cuts are pretty easy to pitch taught with a variety of guy lines positions.