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Thread: new tarp time

  1. #11
    cmc4free's Avatar
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    I've never had to make a repair to my DCF tarp, buy my understanding is that it is very easy to repair with the appropriate tape. Repairing sil tarps on the trail may not be as easy. Another thing to consider if a thru hike is in your plans.

  2. #12
    robfishman's Avatar
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    new tarp time

    My first real tarp was an HG 11’ cuben fiber. I just picked up an HG 12’ Journey. I like the DCF more because of the light weight and tautness of the material. It doesn’t pull and billow as much as silpoly in wind and rain. I really like the translucency of the DCF, especially in the moonlight. The sound of rain on the cuben isn’t loud at all but very crisp and sort-of papery. I think it’s nice. If I’m going solo, I’ll always take my DCF but if I’m going double dutch with the wife or using a WBRR I’ll use the 12’ silpoly. FWIW

    - either way you end up with a new toy to play with

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    Last edited by robfishman; 03-14-2020 at 22:57.
    "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." - Marthe Troly-Curtin

  3. #13
    Senior Member litetrek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TominMN View Post
    Also, if weight and size really come down to shaving grams, why a 12' tarp? 11' would seem to be pleant for the hammocks you've named.
    Yes, 11 ft is long enough but I have a 12 ft in polyurethane coated nylon and I much prefer the extra foot. Its my favorite tarp except that its pretty heavy due to the fabric.

  4. #14
    Senior Member litetrek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by michigandave View Post
    Buy what you want and hang your own hang. There is no right answer.
    I asked for people's opinions who have owned both about how the two materials compare. There may be no right answer but there is a wrong answer. The wrong answer is spending a small fortune on something that you end up not liking. I have never seen a cuben tarp up close and have no experience with it at all. You cant really go to the store and look at one. That is why I asked about it.
    Last edited by litetrek; 03-15-2020 at 01:39.

  5. #15
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    I concur with SS about the whole noise and translucence issues... for me, non-issues. I actually like the pitter-patter of rain because it reminds me that I'm hangin' high, dry and warm in my little nook of the woods.

    And I have used both silpoly/nylon (HG Quest, WB Superfly, SLD Asym) and have 4 HG cuben (DCF) tarps as well. For backpacking, which is almost all I do, I'll pick one of the DCFs almost every time. The only exception is for a quick overnighter in very mild conditions when I'll take the little SLD Asym postage stamp, only because I never trust a weather forecast 100%.

    I'd also go with 11' ....... Just makes it easier to snug it right down to the hammock SRL for best weather protection.
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  6. #16
    Senior Member litetrek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SilvrSurfr View Post
    If you're doing a thru hike, cuben fiber is worth it. However, some of your concerns sound like a car camper's concerns. Too much light? That should not be a concern for a thru hiker because you won't be lounging during the day (I'm not a thru hiker, but I never lounge in my hammock during the day - I use my hammock strictly for sleeping). As for noise, I sometimes think someone just blurted out, "cuben fiber is noisy," and it became a popular reason for reconsidering cuben fiber. It's not like I've ever seen someone with a decibel meter actually quantify the differences - it just became a recycled "concern" every time anyone brought up cuben fiber.

    As for the bulk of DCF, of course it's bulkier. However, I always put my tarp in the outside pocket of my pack, so the additional bulk has no effect on me.
    Thanks. Useful info. I have sleep apnea and wake up in the middle of the night. A full moon can be as bright as daylight and it is sometimes difficult to get back to sleep. Part of the weight reduction thought is about lightening my load to enable me to carry my cpap and battery pack. A travel cpap weighs about as much as the tarp weight savings of cuben vs sil=poly. There's not much I can do to offset the battery weight though - its heavy regardless. I'm going to see if I can come up with something based on an Anker battery pack that will get me 3-4 days. The commercially available cpap batteries aren't designed with weight in mind. The charger often weighs as much as the battery.

  7. #17
    Senior Member litetrek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shug View Post
    Silpoly packs down much smaller than Dyneema/Cuben.
    I have a camo one from HG and it is not translucent......https://hammockgear.com/dyneema-fibe...rp-with-doors/
    So size VS Weight.
    Shug
    Yep. One person pointed out a width difference that I hadn't thought about but its not much and wouldn't matter to me. I like the camo too - not everyone has it, though.

  8. #18
    Senior Member Mooseman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by litetrek View Post
    I need a new 12 ft ridgeline tarp and making up my mind has been tough. I want something with doors. A poly-sil is nice and the price is right. I especially like that you can compactly stuff it in a sack. Cuben fiber is calling me though - its so light. I don't like the noisyness and the fact that it transmits so much light and doesn't roll up compactly........
    Litetrek - I just ordered and received a 13' Monster Tarp from your neck of the woods Ga. You can get 12', 13' or 14' and It's Sil-poly, seam sealed with doors and internal pole mods. Also many options like line-locs, buttons on doors etc. It's https://www.outdoorsmanoutfitters.com/ and he may let you pick it up if you are close enough and save on shipping. Falls lake.jpg

    I love mine and I also had him add the pull-outs so I can leave the pole mods home to lighten things up and use my hiking poles or stake pull out lines for more room.
    MooseMan
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  9. #19
    Senior Member MikekiM's Avatar
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    I had two 12' sil-poly tarps.. one with doors and one without. Identical otherwise.

    The extra foot was problematic on more than a few occasions, where I couldn't fit between the only two acceptable trees. I switched to three DCF tarps.. doors, no doors and a palace.. all 11'.

    I prefer the 11's over the 12's.. just easier to use.

    I like the sound of rain on the DCF.. never found it to be an issue. As far as translucency, it was a problem only once and even then, it was only an annoyance. I am on the east coast so tree cover is plentiful. A full moon is more of an issue in winter and that was my situation.. dead of winter with a full moon and no canopy. Yes, it was bright, almost didn't need a headlamp around camp. Nothing would have made a dark cavern overhead except a leafed out canopy. I survived.

    Trail repairs are simple on the DCF which should be on your radar for a thru hike. Silpoly.. not so much. Though I recall Tenacious Tape has a new tape that will stick to silpoly. Worth looking into.

    The packed size of the DCF turned out to be far less of a concern than I had worried about when considering the change. Yes, it's a little larger (Standard with doors is an almost inconsequential difference compared to sil alternatives). The difference is more how much you can compress the DCF. You're dealing with a stiffer, more rigid package then a similarly sized sil tarp.

    I have absolutely no regrets in making the change. The only caveat to that is, the standard without doors is almost unnecessary. There is a one ounce difference between it and the standard with doors, though it does pack a little smaller. Having both is a luxury.
    Yes, my pack weighs 70lbs, but it's all light weight gear....
    Bob's brother-in-law

  10. #20
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by litetrek View Post
    Yep. One person pointed out a width difference that I hadn't thought about but its not much and wouldn't matter to me. I like the camo too - not everyone has it, though.
    Here is a look at sizes in stuff sacks and weights....
    Shug

    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

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