Dyneema Tents??

SHTF

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Hi Ryan,

Ive used a Ultamid 4 since last year and love it. 20 ounces and as big as the SOS Cimmeron you cannot beat it for the weight to room ratio. Here is a link.

UltaMid 4 Pyramid Tent | Ultralight Four-Person Tent

Also another one Id recommend that I almost bought is the Zpack duplex

Ultralight Backpacking Tent | ZPacks | Lightweight Backpacking Tent

You can also see all of Zpack's Tents they make on that page.

If your more into the Supertarp size Tent then there is the echo 2

Echo II Ultralight Shelter System: One+ Person Ultralight Tent

Sneaky is spot on about abrasion resistance being not the greatest but I have not had any issues with mine at all Tipi setup and placement is key here.

Wait till you get your first rain storm it can be very loud in heavy rain but I got used to it.

The nice thing about this material other then the weight is the fact that the fabric does not stretch at all so getting a taut pitch is easy. Also the material will not take on any water like Silnylon does and start weighing the tarp down. Water just beads and you can shake it completely off getting it dry just with a few shakes of the tarp.

Hyperlight mountain gear makes some of the best shelters out there. The craftsmanship is off the charts.

You can see some closeup pictures of my Ultamid 4 next to my Cimmeron in these photos for comparison. Hyperlight Mountain Gear Ultamid 4 Green - Album on Imgur

Hope that helps you out.
 

SHTF

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Tanya, I agree with you. I would totally jump on buying an airstream. Its on my bucket list to purchase for camping with the wife. =-)
 

jmden

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Yep, pinholes etc from lots of fold cycles, etc. I just took the samples (lightest weight Dyneema they had) I had from Ripstop By the Roll and crumpled it in my hands multiple times and it started having problems. Do same thing with nylon sample and there no problem and I've read the reports from those who have had problems with shelters or drybags made from it. I like the weight and no stretch but at this point just didn't feel comfortable making/selling a shelter made from it. It is still VERY hard to beat high quality 1.1 oz silnylon. Amazing stuff.
 

RustyHazen

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I have 3 drybags made of Cuben that I've run for 6 years. Crammed in and out of the pack hundreds of times with absolutely ZERO issues. I have decided that I would completely trust a Cuben fly on a tent (or as a pyramid), but wouldn't want it as a floor material due to abrasion. I think Henry Shires of TarpTent echos this in their offering their new Notch Li Dyneema tent with the option of a sil-nylon floor. I have well over 200 nights in my TarpTent Moment, in rough country, and the floor still looks amazing. I'm not sure that a Dyneema floor would fare this well. Backcountry hunters can't always pick the ultimate camp site, removing every rock, pine cone, or prickly plant as we setup, day after day, sometimes in the dark.
 

Beendare

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Not a lot of hunters using these Cuben shelters....but there are a Bunch of UL backpackers that have been using them.

Many of those backpackers have reported problems with leaking. The fibers themselves are bonded to Mylar. It seems its the mylar that breaks down according to the reports. The Backpacking light site has many threads on this.

I've personally never used the stuff....and wouldn't.
 

ndbuck09

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Tarptent Notch Li

I've been eyeing this new tent from Tarptent for summer and early fall stuff. Has the things i like in a tent, side entry and good vestibule space and double walled, all in a 20oz package. I want to see what people who use it for a bit say about it; not sure when it's actually shipping to folks though.
 
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I’m sure there are many, many more folks out there that have much more experience with CF than me, but I’ll go ahead and share my thoughts for whatever it’s worth. I’ve been using CF shelters, dry bags, and stuff sacks now for going on 5 years and I have not yet had a single failure (knock on wood). I have never used it to sleep on, as in a bivy sack, but I did just purchase a Zpacks solo CF bathtub floor that I’ll be using in combo with a CF Mountain Laurel Designs Patrol tarp so, hopefully in the not too distant future, I’ll have some good feedback with that as well. I have multiple CF shelters, although one less now as of a couple days ago (thanks for your purchase Floorguy, I hope you enjoy the Mid). I always pitch the shelters a little off the ground, for ventilation purposes, but there’s also the added benefit of not rubbing on anything so as not to cause premature wear and tear. For packing and storage, I have talked with both HMG and MLD, and they both said that shelters can either be folded or stuffed without abnormal wear and tear but suggest that they be folded for a more compact package, and obviously, don’t store wet.

I don’t treat my CF dry bags or stuff sacks any different than any of my other light weight bags, and so far, so good.


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I’m sure there are many, many more folks out there that have much more experience with CF than me, but I’ll go ahead and share my thoughts for whatever it’s worth. I’ve been using CF shelters, dry bags, and stuff sacks now for going on 5 years and I have not yet had a single failure (knock on wood). I have never used it to sleep on, as in a bivy sack, but I did just purchase a Zpacks solo CF bathtub floor that I’ll be using in combo with a CF Mountain Laurel Designs Patrol tarp so, hopefully in the not too distant future, I’ll have some good feedback with that as well. I have multiple CF shelters, although one less now as of a couple days ago (thanks for your purchase Floorguy, I hope you enjoy the Mid). I always pitch the shelters a little off the ground, for ventilation purposes, but there’s also the added benefit of not rubbing on anything so as not to cause premature wear and tear. For packing and storage, I have talked with both HMG and MLD, and they both said that shelters can either be folded or stuffed without abnormal wear and tear but suggest that they be folded for a more compact package, and obviously, don’t store wet.

I don’t treat my CF dry bags or stuff sacks any different than any of my other light weight bags, and so far, so good.


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As always, informative and well written. I will be curious about your write up of the Mld patrol tarp.

Do you use cuben strictly for weight savings or do you see added benefits as well, such as not stretching?

Thanks

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Tarptent Notch Li

I've been eyeing this new tent from Tarptent for summer and early fall stuff. Has the things i like in a tent, side entry and good vestibule space and double walled, all in a 20oz package. I want to see what people who use it for a bit say about it; not sure when it's actually shipping to folks though.

They have shipped. I love Tarptent and had 4 of them up until a few weeks ago. I just don't know if the 6oz is worth nearly twice the money over the original.
 

Floorguy

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I have multiple CF shelters, although one less now as of a couple days ago (thanks for your purchase Floorguy, I hope you enjoy the Mid).

Thank you for the shelter, like I said I was about an hour away from purchasing a new solomid when I saw yours for sale. Now to find the time to get it out and set it up.
 
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As always, informative and well written. I will be curious about your write up of the Mld patrol tarp.

Do you use cuben strictly for weight savings or do you see added benefits as well, such as not stretching?

Thanks

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My first CF shelter was a BearPaw Wilderness Designs Pyratent 2, that I found on the used market, for a pretty reasonable price. I had been using a silnylon floorless shelter (Seek Outside LBO), for a couple seasons and wanted to see what CF was all about, but my only reason for trying CF was for the wt. savings. I had read about CF not stretching, but other than that and the wt. savings, I really didn't know anything else about it. After using the Pyratent for the first time (and using it in a pretty windy/wet environment), I saw how beneficial it was not having the walls of the shelter bow under heavy wind gusts, but IMO, the fact that CF doesn't soak up water was even more of an advantage and it also appeared that the CF, for whatever reason, didn't have the condensation issues that the silnylon did. I initially thought that the whole lack of condensation was probably just a fluke, that maybe the dew point, relative humidity, places where I pitched the shelter, etc., were maybe just not as conducive for condensation and that's why I didn't experience it as badly as I did in the sil shelter. Now, after several years, and many different trips and conditions, It's pretty obvious, that for whatever reason, CF does not have the condensation issues that silnylon does. CF does for sure have issues with condensation, when the conditions are optimal, but it's never as bad as sil. At this point I have not experienced any failure/leaking issues with the CF material, so I can't speak to that, but from some of the things that I've read, CF does not have the life expectancy of sil. I think if I have some time tomorrow, I'll make a few phone calls and get some opinions from a few of the manufactures regarding this.
 

Tanya Avery

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Tanya, I agree with you. I would totally jump on buying an airstream. Its on my bucket list to purchase for camping with the wife. =-)

I want one SOOOO bad!!!! Doesn’t anyone in Rokslide land have a 16-18 ft they want to sell me for cheap? PM ME.......<crickets>
 
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Here's an excerpt from an article by Andrew Skurka in March 2017.

Cuben Fiber

As a shelter fabric, Cuben is very attractive — if you can afford it. A shelter made of Cuben will be:
•Lighter by 30 to 50 percent, depending on the exact fabrics being compared and on the amount of non-fabric parts, e.g. zippers, buckles, struts.
•As waterproof as the best coated nylons, with hydrostatic head ratings of 3,500+ mm.

The performance of Cuben will degrade over time due to use, UV exposure, repeated folding, and wet storage. But the lifespan is still excellent. Ron Bell at MLD estimates the functional lifespan of his shelters made with .75 oz/yd2 at around 250 “thru-hiker nights,” which assumes intense use and occasional wet storage. This is comparable to or in excess of standard coated nylons, which Ron puts at 300 to 500 nights depending on the quality.


Cuben is an exceptional shelter fabric: it is ultralight and extremely waterproof.

Besides cost, weight, waterproofness, and tear strength, there are a few other noteworthy qualities of Cuben. First, it does not “stuff” small. The material is stiff relative to coated wovens, so it needs to be folded for it to pack away small.

Second, Cuben does not stretch. This results in a less forgiving pitch — the tension and anchor points must be perfect — but the shelter will stay taut until the morning. Sil/sil nylon is especially stretchy, and a pre-bed and sometimes middle-of-the-night adjustment is necessary, especially in wet or humid conditions. Obviously, this could get annoying.

Third, the surface of Cuben is less slick than coated wovens, so more snow tends to stick to it. I’ve had multiple Cuben shelters on my winter guided trips with no issues; the coated nylon shelters nearby have fared better, but not dramatically so.

I have had mixed experiences (and have heard mixed reports) about the water absorption of Cuben versus coated wovens. With use, I think you should expect both fabric types to absorb more water than when new.
 
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