General Tarp Questions

[GnomePatrol]

It's been a little while since I have been active on this site and I'm trying to get caught up on all the new goodies. Last I checked Spinn UL was the latest greatest but seems to have been eclipsed by cuben. Is spinn inferior to cuben or is there another driving factor for the big shift. I can't even seem to find any of the venders that still sell spinn tarps.

Any way to get to the point I would like a new tarp. My chinook is great for car camping but I would like something more pack friendly in the future. The price of cuben is a little restrictive and the weight of silnylon doesn't make me want to jump for the minimal gains over my current tarp. I camp in the warm sunny south so door seem excessive to me but with my new hammock (WL lite owl) I will still need a long ridgeline to keep it dry but i would like to try out a hex or possibly a diamond shape. Do you have any recommendations for me or should I just save up for a cuben tarp down the road?

[lubbockhammockguy]

I am no expert on the subject but what I have read about spinn is that it is hard to get and then half the time there are flaws in the material.

I have a superfly and love having the doors encase it is windy, storming, or for the winter time.

[jons4real]

I believe oes sells spinn

[Dblcorona]

The latest batches of spinn have not been waterproof. There is only one source for spinn so the issue hasn't been resolved. Cuben has been proven in the field now so a lot of the venders have switched over to it.

[GnomePatrol]

Thanks for clearing up my spinn questions, sounds like a real headache for everyone.

I've been watching and reading reviews on here all afternoon and it seems that people who buy cuben tarps go ahead and get something that is more or less a 4 season style. Is this since its already so light it doesn't really matter if you carry around a few extra square feet of it?

[lazy river road]

Thanks for clearing up my spinn questions, sounds like a real headache for everyone.

I've been watching and reading reviews on here all afternoon and it seems that people who buy cuben tarps go ahead and get something that is more or less a 4 season style. Is this since its already so light it doesn't really matter if you carry around a few extra square feet of it?

I've always used four season tarps all year round, sil, spin or cuben simply because I big tarps. Just my preference. The cuben has now allowed me to carry a 4 season tarp with minimal weight penalty in comparison to a smaller sized sil tarp. However a gram is a gram and enough grams add up to an ounce so one would still obviously save weight by using a diamond shaped and or smaller cuben tarp then that of a four season model. I know that most vendors that sell cuben tarps will do custom work if you wanted a smaller cuben sized tarp. All it takes is a PM and ill bet which ever vendor you go through (well at least the ones I've gone through) would be more then happy to customize a cuben tarp to fit your liking.

[GnomePatrol]

Thanks for the insight lazy river road, that makes sense. I just saw a video on here today, rip waverly's I think, that made a good case for custom setups. He had one side with doors the others without. also shug had a nice setup with all the doors that could be used like a hex or a 4 season. Definitely some big decisions I'll have to make but I really appreciate ya'lls advice, this is always a really helpful site.