What's the Point?

**Cranky Bear** · 10-31-2011, 08:46

Originally Posted by G.L.P.

Nice gear cost Money.....

Cuben Fiber is not cheap ... thats why it cost so much if paying $300+ for a tarp is not for you... don't ..get a Silnylon tarp there are many nice ones out there and are around $100 that will work just fine

Cuben Fiber is around $25-30 a yard keep that in mind when asking why they cost so much(11x10 tarp would require 8-9 yards or fabric thats $200-280 depending on how much is needed and cost of fabric itself)
Tarps like HG's are glued as well.. so think of the cost of the other material involved in making one and time
also as said it weighs a lot less than Silnylon and packs down smaller
like anything new it will cost more untill the price of the Fabric itself goes down

Zpack makes a Hammock Cuben fiber tarp for $235 thats the cheapest one out there and is really nice (i have one) well worth the money IF you backpack .
if you car camp more i would say get a Silnylon tarp unless you have the extra money for the Cuben tarp and must have one

+1

Many forget that the most cost comes from the materials itself, and then throw in labor and wallah you have your final price!

**ShadowAlpha** · 10-31-2011, 08:50

Originally Posted by Knotty

Say what? Man, I've been wearing this silly CF hat for nothing then.

You mean you haven't been getting all the girls?

**lazy river road** · 10-31-2011, 08:53

I use cuben because it cut 13 ounces out of my pack. Yes it was a hefty price to pay but my knees and back thank me.

**scottpash** · 10-31-2011, 08:56

I am a little concerned about CF being translucent

I think of a tarp as a means for some sort of privacy and a light diffuser if I can ever stay in bed past sunrise ( I usually wake up the roosters)

I recently stayed at a state park and the tarp closed at one end kept the headlights from the peoples cars who decided to leave after the rain started out of my eyes

CF owners how do you combat light issues and privacy issues

**Shug** · 10-31-2011, 09:03

Originally Posted by scottpash

I am a little concerned about CF being translucent

I think of a tarp as a means for some sort of privacy and a light diffuser if I can ever stay in bed past sunrise ( I usually wake up the roosters)

I recently stayed at a state park and the tarp closed at one end kept the headlights from the peoples cars who decided to leave after the rain started out of my eyes

CF owners how do you combat light issues and privacy issues

I am usually backpacking and not around folks on the trail so privacy is not too much of an issue for me.
Light?...... I pull my beanie over my eyes to sleep and normally don't pitch camp until later in the day. Reckon the sun shines through at times....I will have too see how to deal with that as time goes by. I do love gazing up through it though!
Shug

**ShadowAlpha** · 10-31-2011, 09:05

Originally Posted by lazy river road

I use cuben because it cut 13 ounces out of my pack. Yes it was a hefty price to pay but my knees and back thank me.

+1 on that!

**dejoha** · 10-31-2011, 09:23

Shug, once again, loved your vids. My 8-year-old son and I were watching and laughing together. So awesome.

**Cannibal** · 10-31-2011, 09:24

Originally Posted by rodwolfy

I've seen CF mitts, CF added to UQ's, etc.

Scrap pieces need a home too.

For the gram counter, cuben really is some amazing stuff. I'm more of an ounce counter, but I am a fan of 'better' gear. Cuben, in my mind, is 'better' than sil simply because of its waterproofness. I very much dislike getting wetted by my sil tarps when I brush against them on the inside. When Spinn hit the market, I was an instant fan because of its properties, like waterproofness; its lightweight certainly didn't hurt. Spinn quality went away and hasn't shown any signs of rebirth. That left the very pricey cuben with similar properties.

I didn't want to, I really didn't, but Brian at OES convinced me that I needed to give cuben a try. I bought a MacCat Deluxe in cuben. I no longer care if I ever own another sil tarp. They work fine and are certainly priced to move compared with cuben (funny, I used to think sil tarps were expensive), but cuben made me a tarp-snob. The stuff is just ridiculously light and meets all my other requirements for shelter material. I don't like the price either, but in this case, I believe you are getting what you pay for with cuben.

**Two Tents** · 10-31-2011, 09:30

"What's the point of CF?"- Gear heads love gear. High tech, light, and sometimes expensive gear. A person who loves food can get by on a .99 cents a package, hot dogs. But lobster is tasty and considerably more expensive. The food lover spends a lot of money and enjoys the lobster because he just likes it. The gear head can stay dry with a painters drop cloth but he buys cuben because that's what he wants. I'm glad everyone doesn't like what I like or a tarp cuben would cost $500 and lobsters would be $100 each. Some fake butters are only a molecule away from being plastic and cheap for a whole tub of it. I spring for pure, expensive, bad for ya butter cause I like it and don't care about the cost. Point being, I like what I like and you can do the same. No biggie.