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  1. #1
    Senior Member lazy river road's Avatar
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    Z-Pack Tarp Review

    Iight so after 5 nights on the trail and a 1 night at the MAHHA I finally ready to post my initial gear report from Z-Packs.

    First I'll address the wonderful customer zervice that Joe from Z-Packs offers. His communication was excellent, he was more then willing to make any tarp in any dimensions I wished and got me the tarp within the time span that he promised. I even added to my order after ordering the tarp and Joe was more then happy to accommodate. Ovearl he was a great guy to work with and gets an A++ on customer service.

    Now on to the tarp. Well this thing is huge





    It has a 13 ft RL and the sides go down apx. 8.5 (minus an inch for the seam). It is a rectangle tarp and I have not encountered any flapping issues thus far due to the amount of tie outs it has (a total of ten). The packed weight with out guy lines came to be apx. 8 oz and with guy lines its 11. I can lighten it up by useing lighter guy lines but im still messing around with that. Currently I have 2.2 lash it with pursick knots on them for easy adjustment but I may switch to 1.25 mm line. The 1.25 is super lighter but a bit more difficult with work with IMHO due to it being so thin. I got a big tarp simply cause I love big tarps. I like a lot of real estate under my tarp. It is long enough to fold in the sides to close the ends. It has 5 tie outs on each side as well as side pull outs. This allows the tarp to be pitched in so many different ways its unbelievable. He uses a fabric material for the tie outs which helps keep the tarp light instead of using plastic D rings. I did seam seal the RL but that was about it. I know Kayak Karl has not and has had not problems at all. The stitching is impeccable and very impressive. I haven't sent up the tarp in foul weather yet but am by no means concerned about the amount of coverage this tarp will offer. I keep it in snake skins making deployment easy and fast and if I wanted to I could pack this monster of a tarp down to the size of a soft ball easily. I really like the green drab color in comparison to the green he used to use. It by no means IMHO in invasive to the environment and blends in pretty nicely. It is however a very thin .51 cuben material and yes light does shine through in the morning. But I figure by the time the sun comes up I should be getting up any ways so it does not bother me. Overall this tarp is excellently made and I am very happy with it. I do not feel I need to baby the tarp in the the woods and am not worried about the durability of the tarp. I have heard of two so far rips through the cuben by a spreader bar so IMHO I would not personally use a bridge with a cuben tarp but HYOH. This tarp cut apx. 12 ounces from my pack and boy am I happy with it. I know that I will certainly be a return customer of Joe and not any time soon but one day in the future would like a bit of a smaller tarp for true summer camping when I know the weather is going to be great.
    Sometimes I like to hike and think, And sometimes I just like to hike.

    Hiking is'ent about waiting for the storm to pass its about learning to hike in the rain.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Joey's Avatar
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    Great review. All I can say is that I am just has happy with mine. I have no worries about rips or tears, or feel the need to totally baby the cuben. I don't abuse it either. Anyway, it compresses unbelievably small for it's size, and the weight is just crazy. I'm completely sold on cuben for tarps, and will be a return customer to zpacks in the future for sure.

    Here's a pic of Cranky Bear and Lazy River with their cuben tarps.



    And here's mine showing the sun shining through.


  3. #3
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    Very nice review bud! I have been out and camped alongside LRR and the tarp is extremely well made with the design, careful and accurate cut, and middle tie out placement allow for a very nice taut pitch!

    Quote Originally Posted by lazy river road View Post
    It is however a very thin .51 cuben material and yes light does shine through in the morning. But I figure by the time the sun comes up I should be getting up any ways so it does not bother me.


    "yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift---thats why its called a present" - Master Oogway
    It's always best if your an early riser!

  4. #4
    Senior Member Two Tents's Avatar
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    That was yet another thing in the long list of things I loved about the MAHHA. I got to see some gear up close. I was at the group hang area quite a bit on Saturday keeping an eye on the place. Deucalion was set up right on the other side of a bush next to me and I couldn't help but admire his tarp set up. I have a few cuben stuff sacks from Joe and I'll say that there is no quality lost in large or small things he makes. Now what can I sell? HHmmm!
    I like refried beans. That's why I wanna try fried beans, because maybe they're just as good and we're just wasting time. You don't have to fry them again after all.

  5. #5
    Senior Member R00K's Avatar
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    Nice job Lazy River! I'm also having a great experience with Joe - he's been (like you said) a great communicator, and very helpful. Now I'm even more anxious to get the new tarp! But double what Two Tents said - thanks for giving us a chance to get our hands on some cuben.
    Support: HammockGear - Zpacks - Jacks R Better - DreamHammock - Dutchware - AHE - Black Rock - Grand Trunk

  6. #6
    Senior Member exup's Avatar
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    Talk about some beautiful tarps. I admired all weekend and I can tell you that they stayed taut all weekend. I can't wait til I get mine. In a year or so, haha.

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