Cuben Fiber tie outs

**Bushwhacker** · 08-14-2014, 16:27

Has anyone made their tarp tie outs out of cuben fiber rather than grosgrain? How do you do it? Does it work out well?

**FLRider** · 08-15-2014, 08:15

Originally Posted by Bushwhacker

Has anyone made their tarp tie outs out of cuben fiber rather than grosgrain? How do you do it? Does it work out well?

I've not seen this done (though I've not seen everything), and it seems a poor idea to me for one reason: Cuben is very much not abrasion-resistant. It's tear strength is amazing, but it doesn't stand up to rubbing on rough surfaces very well. If you were to encase the Cuben in something (I thought about gutted paracord back when Sgt. Rock did his tarp tutorial a ways back), it might work. Otherwise, you're just going to be replacing your tie-outs every few months anyway.

Fortunately, tie-outs are generally such a small amount of fabric that differences in fabric weight are almost unnoticeable.

Hope it helps!

**genixia** · 08-17-2014, 13:40

I went the opposite way - cuben reinforcements for the tarp fabric, and a lightweight grosgrain tie out. I'm evaluating elastics for strength and elasticity to attach to that before attaching my guy lines. When something bad happens, I want the elastic to go first, and if not that, then the ribbon. A ripped tarp is the worst outcome.

**Bannerstone** · 08-17-2014, 14:32

The fiber in cuben is dyneema which is what zing-it and lash-it are made of so in a way yes.

David

**Violent Green** · 08-17-2014, 20:02

Originally Posted by Bushwhacker

Has anyone made their tarp tie outs out of cuben fiber rather than grosgrain? How do you do it? Does it work out well?

I've seen that done quite a few times. Yama Mtn Gear also does this(see link). Personally, seems like a waste of time compared to grosgrain or standard lightweight nylon webbing.

www.yamamountaingear.com/craftsmanship/

Ryan

**mole** · 08-18-2014, 18:27

I've been using a tarp with taped cuben tie-outs for more than three years now and it has worked very well. There are no signs of damage or abrasions and I've staked them directly to the ground many times.

The instructions are here: https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...rp-taping-tips

I've made a second tarp using the same method with just a small modification: instead of V-shaped tie outs at each end of the ridge, I used straight loops to get a slightly better shape for the roof and it is an improvement over the original design. The rest of the tie outs (ten more total on the long sides) are V-shaped.

**Bushwhacker** · 08-20-2014, 12:05

Originally Posted by mole

I've been using a tarp with taped cuben tie-outs for more than three years now and it has worked very well. There are no signs of damage or abrasions and I've staked them directly to the ground many times.

The instructions are here: https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...rp-taping-tips

I've made a second tarp using the same method with just a small modification: instead of V-shaped tie outs at each end of the ridge, I used straight loops to get a slightly better shape for the roof and it is an improvement over the original design. The rest of the tie outs (ten more total on the long sides) are V-shaped.

I really like your design! How do you do straight loops though? The V shaped allowed you to cover up the sticky sides so that it doesn't close the loop off on itself, and the only way I can think of doing that using straight loops is to put a gap in your tape, or cover it with extra fabric. What method did you use?

**Bushwhacker** · 08-20-2014, 12:09

Originally Posted by Violent Green

I've seen that done quite a few times. Yama Mtn Gear also does this(see link). Personally, seems like a waste of time compared to grosgrain or standard lightweight nylon webbing.

www.yamamountaingear.com/craftsmanship/

Ryan

Thanks for the link! That's what I'm going to use to reinforce Mole's technique - they the same techniques as sail makers use, so it seems legit.

**mole** · 08-21-2014, 03:19

Straight loops: first use a separate plain non-tape strip to create a cuben loop with the appropriate size by taping the ends together with some overlap (a couple cm overlap will do). Then just grab a long taped strip and tape it on one side of the tarp at the end of the ridge. Peel the tape a bit further and just carefully stick the loop over the exposed tape, right after where the tarp ends. Work the long strip around the entire loop, back to the tarp's other side and there you have it. This handles nicely a pulling force up, down and away from the tarp. I assume that a lateral pulling force along the tarp's edge could start peeling the tape off, but there's no reason to ever set anything like that up.

The straight loops I made were maybe 5cm/2" long (flattened) and they've worked well. The "problem" (more like a minor inconvenience) with using V-shapes at the ridge ends is that they can create a small ditch at the top of the ridge and water pools up there a bit.

Straight loops could probably be used all around the tarp, but I prefer using the V shapes as much as possible as they double the "grab" area on the tarp and spread the tension over a much larger area.

Btw. I use a high tension ridge line and guy lines with non-stretch cords. No problems so far... (knocks on wood)

**Violent Green** · 08-21-2014, 18:32

Originally Posted by Bushwhacker

Thanks for the link! That's what I'm going to use to reinforce Mole's technique - they the same techniques as sail makers use, so it seems legit.

I've not seen sailmakers use that technique personally, usually it's a mix of taping & sewing several layers with 3-4 different reinforcement designs. A lot of ways to skin a cat though. Post pics when done!

Ryan