Cuben fiber - Ultralight gear...

[T-BACK]

T-BACK,

I assume you are making a hex tarp. If so, I would suggest using some of the scrap material that's left after cutting the sides to perform some sewing tests before starting the tarp. I would sew some pieces together using different stitch lengths and then try and pull them apart to see which stitch is the strongest and least likely to tear.

Actually, I'm making an A FRAME. I tried the widest stitch my machine will make. I sewed the ridge and it seems to be holding pretty well. I'm not sure where I'm going to place the tie outs yet. I'm using alligator clips with pieces of silicone tubing slipped over the teeth as temporary ties. That way I can move them around and see where the best tie points are. I did not use the hex shape because I wanted to be able to fold and close off the ends for storm protection and and warmth. It got dark on me tonite so I'll finish it tomorrow. Thanks for all the advice and help. Hopefully I'll get some pics up tomorrow.

[slowhike]

T-back... what method do you plan to use to be able to close the ends?
have you seen the new tarp style that dave & ed are working on?
it uses 4 tie outs on each side, w/ the two out side corners being shorter so they can be angled in.

[T-BACK]

T-back... what method do you plan to use to be able to close the ends?
have you seen the new tarp style that dave & ed are working on?
it uses 4 tie outs on each side, w/ the two out side corners being shorter so they can be angled in.

That's pretty much what I'm doing with mine. I was inspired by Dave's design. Mine doesn't need the cat cuts so it's much easier to put together. Speaking of easy to put together , this cuben is not. It's hard to cut and you have to trim the sides off where there are no fibers. There is a lot of prep time. On the other hand, my tarp (11x8 minus seams and hems) only weighs in at 4.6 oz. . I still have to put on the side tieouts. I'm going to use 5 per side to distribute wind loads and to give me the ability to close the ends. I bought a guyline / slide adjuster set from BPL. 50' of line with sliders is only 1 oz. I played around with it a little last night in the rain. It's a little noisy but then so is sil nylon. I layed my Mac Cat over it and the sides are the same length as is the ridgeline. The cuben tarp gives me more material to work with on the ends. I've also added a narrow (1/4"?) strip of velcro hooks around the perimeter of the tarp. This allows me to simply stick the wedding tule I use as bug netting up to create a large "NO FLY ZONE" for the swamp areas that I will be traveling through. I'm not sure how much weight this will ad but the piece I use for my hammok netting which is big enough to set up as a "ground bivy " only weighs 2.3 oz. . I hope to have it finished and seamsealed today. Oh, one other plus I noticed last night, I would not hesitate to drink water collected from this tarp. Once the rain has washed the dust off clean water can be "harvested" (hows that for a P.C. word) from it as there are no coatings or surfactants on the fabric. With sil/nylon I always ended up with a layer of foam on the top of my water. Anyway, enough rambling. I'll try to get pics up today.

[hangnout]

I just received my cuben fiber order. It only took a month to get here. Anyway I just wanted to double check with you to make sure I understand your construction method. You sewed your ridgeline right? My plan is that my edges will be rolled and hemmed and the ridge will be french seamed. Just wanted to check before I get started. Thanks.

Sorry for the not answering your post till now. I have been out of town with no computer access. It sounds like you have it done. Can't wait to see pics. I did sew it and it has been working great. I did seam seal the ridgeline.

[T-BACK]

Sorry for the not answering your post till now.

No problem. I finally finished it tonite. I thought it was
finished yesterday but we had a big storm today and I noticed that some of the tie out stitch holes were starting to stretch. I was afraid that it might rip. I cut some 1/2 and 1/4 circles for re enforcement patches and used some 5 minute locktite epoxy to glue them in place. It worked great. I should be all set as far as my tarp goes. My ridgeline seam sealing got a good test today and did not leak. Two more days 'til D-DAY.