Doors, or not..., on Cuben Fiber Tarps?

[OutandBack]

On my light weight backpacking kit I carry a cuben tarp without doors.
When pack weight is very important.
It is not my go to tarp for most of my hangs.
I much prefer a sylnylon tarp with 1 set of doors.

HMG cuben


TtoT Sylnylon

[Cranky Bear]

While I'm no veteran, I have had my HG Cuben Hex out in some very nasty weather and have stayed high 'n' dry.

Positioning has a part in it, but what Dutch mentioned is spot on, unless your tarp is to the floor you will always get wind and wind blown rain coming under you. The width of cuben has a huge roll in this, unless one was to get the Winter Palace, which is the "ONLY" tarp available to be ordered by a cottage maker that gives the user a wider width than 8.5ft. Also how high up you position your hammock under the tarp has a small roll in it as well.

When considering weight one must "ALWAYS" factor in what it takes to make said product usable in the field. So those all line's and stakes should not be left out of the equation, which a hex tarp only has 4 lines vs another that has 6/8 (or more) which inevitably adds weight.

Also if tarp skins are your thing, cuben one's could be made...which would end up being the lightest "skins" one could get when compared to netting or another type of fabric.

Interestingly enough one also has an option to add a door (s) if/when need via the 2QZQ Cuben Grizz Beaks. Add one or two for those winter excursions, or those times when you know a storm is gonna roll in on that first night of your weekend trip.

[Fixxr5]

Get the doors. Windy: close doors, Blown rain: close doors, Decent weather: tie doors back with a little hook or what ever. I love my HG winter palace camo cuben tarp. The weight added with doors is negligible and well worth it.

[TallPaul]

I like doors myself but like you, I always wonder if the other lighter tarps would suffice.
As my gear has gotten lighter and lighter, I now filter my purchases thru this lens:
Does the new gear allow me to hike trails my current gear wouldn't allow me to hike?
Would it make my trip more comfortable / enjoyable?
Based on the above, I keep carrying my Superfly.

[QiWiz]

I'm curious how you feel about doors in general, and specifically, on cuben fiber tarps?

I run a Hammock Gear cuben fiber tarp with doors; it's the 12 foot model that I purchased when I had a longer hammock. I love the tarp, there's plenty of room, even extra room for hanging out under it on a rainy day. However, in pursuit of an ever lighter pack I'm thinking about buying a cuben fiber tarp that is shorter, say the standar 11 feet and possibly foregoing the doors to save even more on weight. I'd keep the tarp with doors for winter or monsoons but use the lighter, shorter tarp for my ultralight set up.

I'd be curious to hear from you veterans who've had tarps with doors and those without. I'm in Missouri and we do get some strong storms/rains so doors do have an advantage.

Finally, who makes the lightest weight cuben fiber tarps? I noticed that hammock gear doesn't even post weights on their site.

Thanks folks
Gideon

I have a Zpacks cuben tarp with doors. In good weather they are folded back up inside, hooked to the center of the ridgeline with a mitten clip, In bad weather one or both pairs can be unhooked and clipped together to provide better shelter from blowing wind and/or rain and/or snow. I bet the weight for the four doors is less than 2 oz, worth the flexibility IMO.

[Sidewinder]

If it's your winter tarp get it with doors. You'll be glad you did. Oh and get a wide tarp too.

S

[SilvrSurfr]

I started out with a standard HG CF tarp with doors, but like others have said, the coverage wasn't that good so wind and precipitation could blow under it pretty easy - the doors didn't seem to be doing all that much.

With my Winter Palace, I get much better coverage. I got the 10'10" ridgeline, but probably would order the 12' ridgeline if I had to do it over again.