Want to order cuben today, critiques of the plan?

[Rug]

Here is just a thought (and I know nothing about DIY), Awesome idea Frawg & Rock, but to just modify your idea a smidge.

What about using DynaGlide continuous loops instead of the paracord loop, with Cuben-loops attaching it to the tarp?

Or, on second thought, you should have a 'safe' place for the connection to fail, and dynaglide/Cuben won't fail nicely.

[SGT Rock]

Here is just a thought (and I know nothing about DIY), Awesome idea Frawg & Rock, but to just modify your idea a smidge.

What about using DynaGlide continuous loops instead of the paracord loop, with Cuben-loops attaching it to the tarp?

Or, on second thought, you should have a 'safe' place for the connection to fail, and dynaglide/Cuben won't fail nicely.

I have sort of thought about these issues. My first thought was to actually make a loop out of scraps of Cuben - light and strong, plus I could glue them to the tarp without needing any sewing. But Cuben is supposed to be partial to frying out, and I figured the tie out loop/cord connection point would be the highest area of friction, hence the place most likely to have a failure.

Then I looked at what WV was doing and thought, why use a dowel? Use some dynaglide as a loop that way it could flex while spreading the load. I then figured the flaw would be where ever you attach the dynaglide now becomes the most likely point of failure.

Then I looked at manufacturers cuben tarps and realized they were using flat grosgrain sewn to the cuben anyway (except Mountain fitter who sews the tie out to a grosgrain patch then glues that to the cuben tarp) and I am not seeing reports of tarp pull out failures on cuben tarps they make. So I decided to split the middle and sew the loops to the cuben, but not the main body of the tarp - to a patch. Then glue that patch to the body of the tarp. I figure this will give the failure point a place that, if it ever does happen, will only mess up a patch on the body of the tarp and not the tarp itself. But I also feel that the chance of the failure ever happening is pretty remote anyway.

I plan to sew these loops onto cuben squares then fold them over into a triangle on top of the point where the tie out is sewn on. Then I'll make these triangles into cuben "tape" like WV talked about on that other thread, and tape them onto the body of the tarp. I had hand sketched these ideas out but haven't converted them to an image I can upload.

[Frawg]

I don't want to veer off the cuben track of Rock's thread, Rug, but I may try your idea on a tarp I have with grosgrain tie-outs.

Edit: sounds like you have a good plan, Sarge. Lookin' forward to seeing the results.

[SGT Rock]

Quick thought - what are you cuben engineers using to cut the material?

[gnome]

I try to keep my cuben simple. the joy of C is it is waterproof if you do not sew it! I use for my tie outs, gorilla tape (4 in piece ) 2 in on one side the carbon fiber bar, or tube and then the c then the other side ( a small carbon fiber tube 1/8 in works as well, keep the attachment thin so you get virtually no peel, and C is very stromg on shear, , (make a sandwich of tape-c-tape withe the bar in the sandwich. The tie outs, what ever you use, go thru a hole next to the bar. The tie outs are almost guaranteed stronger than the c. See W V posts in the forum, that is how he is doing his testing. The gorilla tape worksd just fine, is cheeeep but comparitivly heavy. Now I am using 2, 1 in wide one sided mylar tape (3 M ,I believe), same set up. very lite, is stronger than the cuben. is invisable and easy to use. Again stronger(the tie outs) than the C. I have sent W V some of the mylar tape . I suspect the will use it in his new cuben tests. He has done some really great work, making C work for all of us. In joining the large sheets of the tarp I use a 2 sided tape, usually I think 3/4 in. Several places have the tape. I have 2 of the X pacs, great work, I have tried to seam seal them as they are sewed, don't kno how successful that is, I have made my own C pac, just using the glue strips, and some goop (great stuff) It is tricky attaching the belt and the shoulder straps. (I also made the pac a bishop bag, with access at the bottom, the top is tall enough that I just tie an overhand knot to keep it water proof, at .33/ yd use as much as you wish!) I see I have rambled on sorry! gnome

[SGT Rock]

Thanks for the ramble gnome.

I just fired off the orders to the vendors. Zpack's is already in the mail, I haven't heard back from the tape/primer folks.

[WV]

And we're off! Good start. Gnome has done some great work. I still like the taped carbon fiber rods instead of sewing. If you use cuben for your "tape", you'll need to use multiple layers of it to make it strong enough. Also, sewing will definitely weaken it. On Gorilla Tape: 1) the tape [the black fabric part] is definitely strong, as Gnome suggests, 2) the adhesive is good gooey stuff, but in preliminary tests it wasn't nearly as strong as 9460; it also probably doesn't handle temperature extremes as well. The mylar tape that gnome sent me is probably much better. It looks like one of the tapes that Quest Outfitters sells (not the adhesive transfer tape).

How about this: use three or four layers of CT1K.08 laminated with 9460 & primer to make a strap that you glue to the reinforced tarp tie-out point. If the strap loop extends an inch or so beyond the edge of the tarp you could even pull it into a cord shape and sleeve it in some poly tubing to protect against abrasion. I still like the carbon rods though. I bought a bunch of 4' pieces and cut some 2" lengths to use for the tie-outs on my next tarp. They help distribute the forces at the edge of the tarp. If you'd like, I'll send you some gratis. (After I got five 4' pieces, I started figuring out how much I'd need to spend on cuben and tape to use it all. )

[SGT Rock]

The plan is to use a multi layer on the tie outs. I really need to scan my drawings to show how I intend to do it.

Basically imagine 3 triangles linked on the long sides. The flat cord tie out will be sewn with a couple of bar tacks to the center triangle. Then one of the triangles gets glued down on top of it, this leaves a square with the cord coming out from the center of the triangle. Then the back of that square is covered with the tape and adhered to the tarp body (which already has a hemmed edge) to the top and bottom of the tarp body. That gives me about 3 layers of cuben for the attach point plus a couple for the hemmed edge.

[SGT Rock]

Looks like all my parts and supplies have already shipped, including the tape and primer from RSHughes.

[WV]

Sharp scissors will work, but eventually the spectra fibers may dull the scissors. A Number of people use self-healing mats for work surfaces and cut with a sharp blades or rotary cutters. I usually cut cuben the same way I cut silnylon - running a small soldering iron along a metal straightedge, working on a surface like masonite, formica, or plate glass. For my tarp I used a 4x8 piece of masonite and a 4x4 piece of formica on the porch floor so I could cut the 11 ft. edges. It helps to have a 6 or 8 ft. straightedge, but shorter ones work, too.