DIY mostly cuben

[gnome]

Cuben hammock with OQ (UQ is down with cuben panel sewed on the bottom.Not shown) Ti goat adjustable poles modified to use as spreaders, dulled nail epoxied in top of poles. canted grips DIY. from pipe wrapping insulation (foam) This method ,using the spreaders, keeps the mechanical forced directly in line. all forces in compression. The carbon fiber poles hold quite nicely. pic of my kitchen. pic of my DIY titanium wood stove. (I usually use esbit. It is fun to fool around with a wood burner though! in my hands this one works quite welll. (I sold my bush buddy.) {it is a beautifully spiece of gear though} My tarp is a plain 9 X 11 rectangular cuben, DIY. My pac is a cuben DIY,( I put a 10 inch extensin on the top,so I can close the pac with a simple overhand knot.) As my DIY cuben pac is all glued, not sewed, it seems to be water (very) resistant. similar in size to the cuben Z pac (which I have also.) I have 2 small bags that attach to the belt. ( the Z pac can be ordered with belt bags too. I also use a small front pac, attatched only to my belt. So Very little wgt on the shoulders. It is handy to get at oft used gear and helps balance the back pac. It does not interfere with hiking at all. I have not done any long distance hiking with this set up, but in short stuff it seems to be OK> it is always in a state of change and modification though!!

gnome

[SGT Rock]

Interesting. I got paranoid about making a cuben fiber hammock after Mountainfitter had that one fail. I've had enough hard butt landings over the years trying to push the envelope with ultralight hammocking to know I would probably end up with one if I tried a cuben hammock. That said, I would rather be wrong on this one. I hope to hear you have good trail experiences with this system.

I'd especially like to see the pack - that front pocket idea sounds like a good idea. I have a Z-Pack and the balance doesn't always feel right.

[WV]

Really nice, Gnome. Thanks for the photos. No straps on the poles, so the pipe insulation must be attached pretty firmly to keep from sliding when you put your weight on it.

[Dutch]

Looks awesome. I love the cuben bridge. Do you find it a little hard to lay in. I found the gathered end to be a little hard.