My First big DIY - cuben tarp

[Dos]

ok....
so I watched SGT Rock's vid 3 times.
Got a boost of "go get-um-ness" from strung out
and just hit the cutting wheel on the quilt mat where the cuben meet the mat!

I pretty much approached the project as in SGT Rock's video.
The only thing was, I had no help, I only had my apt floor and I had no sewing machine aka thread injector.

I did find that after the first 10 feet or so of applying the VHB, I had a pretty good idea of how it was to work with.

Also, I had ordered my VHB from Hallas.com and the smallest they had was 3/4".

I also went with the new LineLoc 3 Line Adjusters with Loops from Zpacks
for the tie outs. I hand stitched these to a reinforced piece of cuben with the waxed thread that comes with the Speedy Stitcher Awl. I have a tendency to over build things and I just happened to have been making these when someone's thread went up re: 40 mph gusts. So...make them indestructable!
I seam sealed the outside of these tie outs. It just seemed prudent.

For the pull outs, I used 3/16' flat cord from ZPacks. I hand sewed these as well with both black nylon thread as well as with the waxed thread. Seam sealed as well.

I made (4) 8' tie outs with yellow ZingIt! and made a 12' tie out on each end of the ridgeline with red ZingIt! as I prefer sight differentiation a) if I am in a hurry b) just easier to tell which line in which.

When I had ordered the cuben on sale - which was a Screaming Yellow Zonkers YELLOW I decided, well, just make the ridgeline tie outs rainbow to get the whole non-stealth thing going.
I used 2 white D rings that I ordered from strap works along with the rainbow strap for the ridge tie out.

I backspliced the tie outs for a finished look and I used a locked brummel
several times for locking in the Dutch Fly as well as one Dutch hook. After all that work I do not want to lose a miniscule piece of necessary titanium.

oh...it measures 10' 4 " for the ridgeline
and 8.75' for the width.

I am still considering making it a catenary cut OR adding an extra tie out to the bottom. Possibly 2, but that seems a little overkill.

I am open to thoughts, ideas or suggestions.

Thank for taking a peek

two

[Black Wolf]

I have a suggestion ... you can send it to me ...Man-O-Man .. that some nice stuff there .. Cuben is my next frontier ..

[Dos]

I have a suggestion ... you can send it to me ...Man-O-Man ..

You made my day!!! thank you!

oh here, I while I'm at it....this is what I encountered whilst setting up my tarp:

- J u s t to take pics and test it out,
some butt wipe who is 6'4" with a wife beater shirt on and the IQ of a gerbil yells out:"hey! I pay rent here!!"
I think: wth? I am testing out my tarp.

I egg him on a little. He shuts his slider. He gets on the phone.
His GF who is 400 (police dispatcher talk for people who have mental impairments.) comes outside.
He starts screaming at her to get inside.
She is like 20 feet away on her porch in her little chair with her little dog. I just say, "Nice day. Nice dog.
What an idiot you live with."

400: "you ought to go light a candle."
me: "oh. I do have one lit." ( I do. I have a scenter/warmer thing in the house with a bulb).
400: "camping is for the mountains."
Me: "I am testing my tarp. You still live with an idiot."
400: " You don't have to be mean."
Me: " I'm not. He is just an idiot and I am just testing my tarp. I live 2 doors down."

Security comes up. Of course he knows this guy is an ***. I calmly say: I'm just testing my tarp. This guy's an idiot. I'll be taking it down shortly.
The security guard laughs.
He walks up and down the pool just to keep things at peace.
I leave.
Security leaves.

I'm thinking: only 2 more weeks til I'm headed to the East Coast, then 3 more weeks til my thru hike.

[Dave10]

How much did it run to make by yourself?

[Acer]

Nice piece of gear, don't cut it leave it square for max. coverage. Looks fantastic!

[Bat]

Looks great. I can't wait to see it in person, up on Springer.
Your Dutch Fly seems oriented in a backward fashion to me, but then again I don't see very much or very well.

[tncamper]

Looks Great! I wouldn't change a thing.

[Dos]

How much did it run to make by yourself?

$160 for the cuben (on sale)
maybe 10-15$ for the tie out thingies, shock cord.
I did have extra ZingIt! on hand.

I know Sarge said he worked on his for 6 hours.
Mine went a little slower because of the hand sewing as well as me doing everything myself. btw....very doable to do by oneself.

on a side note, the roller cutter was absolutely essential.
I have a VERY good pair of scissors, and scissors doesn't even come close
to being the tool for the job. I did buy an extra wheel, which I did not need
by the end of the project.
It also took me a bit of time to back splice the ZingIt as my loop turner was not the right size, nor did I have a piece of wire the right size and I lost my needle that would have been perfect for splicing right after I finished hand sewing all the tie outs.
I also found the red ZingIt! much more difficult to milk for some reason.

[Dos]

Looks great. I can't wait to see it in person, up on Springer.
Your Dutch Fly seems oriented in a backward fashion to me, but then again I don't see very much or very well.

This is only my second time using the fly.
need to review his video

[lymphocytosis]

Two, very nice job.