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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
North Carolina
"It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them" <Ben Franklin>
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
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