January 9, 2016: Some clarification has been made regarding the role of ZPacks vs. Hyperlite Mountain Gear as the “most popular” or “best known” or “largest buyers” of Cuben Fiber among US manufacturers. Also, we’ll be adding comments and observations based on brief interviews with cottage companies about the long-term outlook for Cuben Fiber in their product lines. We are still waiting on comments from some other people we interviewed for this story, and will incorporate them as they come in.
The introduction of Dyneema (a.k.a., Cuben Fiber) fabrics is one of the most exciting developments to hit the ultralight outdoor gear niche over the past several years. With the introduction of several new cottage manufacturers, the acquisition of Cubic Tech, and innovation in ultralight gear made with Cuben Fiber / Dyneema, there are exciting times ahead.
Watch ‘Ultralight’: A Short Documentary Film by the Dyneema Project
‘Ultralight’ is a short documentary film sponsored by the Dyneema Project, a public relations campaign of DSM Dyneema designed to increase awareness of and promote innovative design in gear and apparel made with Dyneema fabrics.
Watch it here:
DSM Dyneema purchased Cubic Tech in May 2015, the manufacturer of ‘Cuben Fiber’. Cuben Fiber is a family of nonwoven fabrics comprised of waterproof (and sometimes breathable) film faces (e.g., mylar) bonded to (or sandwiched between, or sandwiching inside) a crisscrossing layup of strengthening fibers (e.g., Dyneema/Spectra). The resulting fabrics are well-known for their high strength-to-weight ratios.
Silnylon vs. Cuben Fiber / Dyneema for Ultralight Outdoor Gear
Silicone-impregnated nylon (a.k.a. ‘silnylon’) has been the gold standard for many years for fabrics used in ultralight applications requiring waterproofing, such as tarps, tents, and rain ponchos. Most of the lightest silnylon fabrics suitable for outdoor gear weigh in the range of 1.2 to 1.4 osy (ounces per square yard). In contrast, Cuben Fiber fabrics used in similar applications weigh 0.5 to 0.8 osy, and depending on the construction quality and design engineering of the finished product, can result in a stronger piece of equipment.
Is Silnylon Dead? What about a Cuben Fiber / Dyneema Shires’ TarpTent?
Silnylon has been a staple in the ‘ultralight’ cottage industry for many years, and remains the primary fabric for shelters made by small companies such as TarpTent, Six Moon Designs, and Mountain Laurel Designs.
In previous communications with TarpTent, it doesn’t appear that its founder, Henry Shires, has an interest in replacing silnylon with Cuben Fiber anytime soon. “Unfortunately, Cuben Fiber and affordable can’t be put in the same sentence,” Henry told me in an email exchange this past July.
The cost of materials may certainly be one barrier for Shires, who prices TarpTents competitively ($250 to $350 for most two-person models), but manufacturing techniques present a barrier as well. TarpTent manufacturing is outsourced to domestic factories who may not have the manufacturing capabilities and skills required to construct the seams (which require precision taping) that join Cuben Fiber fabric panels. “The problem with Cuben Fiber is performance under stress and the need to seam tape everything,” said Shires. “Simple Cuben Fiber structures (like basic pyramids) are ok to hand seam-tape when the curvatures are gentle since they can be done flattened on the table but a nightmare when the curvatures are more extreme and can’t be done on a table.” Shires admitted that at this time, TarpTent has neither the interest nor time to do hand seam-taping for complex curvatures.
An initial response by the ultralight backpacker may be one of disappointment. I for one would love to have a Cuben Fiber TarpTent! However, I’m not sure I’d be willing to drop a thousand dollars or more on one. Shires has developed a successful, long-term, sustainable business model and in spite of its shortcomings when compared to Cuben Fiber, silnylon remains a proven material for lightweight shelters, especially when seam lines are complex curves. I don’t see Cuben Fiber being used in any of Shires’ curved-pole designs (e.g., Scarp or Moment) anytime soon, but I wonder how long Henry can resist the temptation to ignore the possibility of using Cuben Fiber in a less-complex shape. Personally, I could get very excited about a Cuben Fiber Stratosphire – one of the few TarpTent designs that could stand to benefit greatly in a Cuben Fiber version.
Cuben Fiber / Dyneema and the Cottage Ultralight Industry
Cuben Fiber isn’t ignored by the rest of the cottage industry. Six Moon Designs has been dabbling in Cuben Fiber for several years, but their manufacturing capability for working with Cuben Fiber is limited. When we last field-tested a Cuben Fiber version of the Skyscape shelter, inadequate cut-and-sew precision limited the shelter’s ability to be pitched taut for good storm resistance, and lack of sewn-seam taping in tie-out areas resulted in stitches ripping out when the shelter was subject to high winds.
Mountain Laurel Designs has successfully offered a mix of both silnylon and Cuben Fiber in their shelters (tarps and pyramids), both of which have garnered high acclaim from users. In our field testing of Mountain Laurel Designs Cuben Fiber shelters, it’s clear that proprietor Ron Bell knows what he’s doing: they are impeccably cut, sewn and taped, and suggest that he’s paying close attention to designing for the fabric, rather than just slapping a new fabric on an existing design.
ZPacks and HyperLite Mountain Gear have built their entire business model on a foundation of Cuben Fiber. Interestingly, ZPacks is one of the few cottage companies manufacturing apparel made with breathable versions of Cuben Fiber. I’ve used ZPacks Challenger Raingear for several seasons now and find it to be as comfortable as anything I’ve tried from any other manufacturer. ZPacks apparel lacks the attention to fit detail that has made active users such as climbers gush over brands like Patagonia and Arc’Teryx. However, the backpacker will find the weight savings offered by raingear made with Cuben Fiber, that probably sits in the bottom of their pack on most summer days, well worth the sacrifice in precision fit.
ZPacks is likely the largest buyer of Cuben Fiber amongst US manufacturers, and the best-known manufacturer of CF gear and apparel within the backpacking community. Hyperlite Mountain Gear is better known in the outdoor industry at large (based on data from our internal surveys across various niches, especially outside of “ultralight backpacking” and “thru-hiking”). Its packs and shelters have been on the market for several years, with its designs refined and proven on some of the most outrageous expeditions in the world. Of all of the Cuben Fiber shelters on the market today, the Hyperlite Mountain Gear UltaMid remains the only one I would trust in severe, blizzard-class winter weather above the tree line.
How Will the DSM / Dyneema Buyout Impact Us as Consumers?
There’s plenty of speculation about how this buyout will impact consumers. You can read last years’ predictions and notes from our favorite ultralight prophet here, who put together an excellent piece that summarizes potential impacts on the cottage industry.
Here are the highlights of what we are hearing from cottage manufacturers so far:
- Higher minimum orders – this, of course, may slow innovation at the garage level – where great ideas seem to originate.
- Improved lead teams – the time between ordering fabric and receiving it is shortening, which is good for cash flow and inventory management. Whether or not this will have a meaningful impact on customers is unknown.
- Higher prices – the already sky-high prices of Cuben Fiber fabrics has increased. For the low quantities ordered by smaller manufacturers, pricing has increased dramatically. The result may be an increasing disparity in pricing between products made by smaller vs. larger companies. Pricing for high volume orders has increased as well. You can probably guess how this has / will impact us as customers. ZPacks, who buys large volumes of Cuben Fiber, has instituted modest price increases this year. We’ll likely see the availability of Cuben Fiber products consolidate to fewer manufacturers, with minor price increases, as the industry shakes out its response to increased pricing. For the smaller manufacturers, we can probably expect very expensive pricing, or simply the discontinuation of their Cuben Fiber products from their lines.
Conclusion: Good Things Ahead for Ultralight Backpackers?
As the film suggests, I want to believe that exciting times are ahead for the outdoor industry in general, and for the cottage industry in particular, as a direct result of Cuben Fiber (now to be called “Dyneema”). Now that DSM Dyneema has their manufacturing, distribution, and marketing engine behind Cuben Fiber fabrics, I think the best is yet to come for apparel and gear for ultralight backpacking, hiking, and other forms of human-powered wilderness travel where weight is of great concern.
But higher prices and volume minimums can only serve to slow down innovation from the very seeds that created the innovation in the first place: passionate users building beautifully functional gear in their garage and turning their ideas into the companies we love.
Note: I have no financial, in-kind sponsorship, or any other affiliation with any of the companies listed in this article. I have purchased, and currently own and use, Cuben Fiber products from Mountain Laurel Designs, ZPacks, Hyperlite Mountain Gear, and Locus Gear.
Discussion
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Gator, Now that DSM owns CubicTech, the supply chain, at least as it relates to CubicTech acquiring Dyneema fibers has improved. This should be another component of a price reduction, IF DSM is actually looking at retaining CubicTech going into the future. There is not a low demand issue, people are trying to get it, but are having trouble doing so. And if there is any licensing going on, from what I can ascertain, the people now peddling for DSM are getting the short end of the stick, doing all the heavy lifting, while consumers will ultimately suffer for this. It looks like a pump……….
As for “commoditizing”, we have already covered that as well, with real world examples. I have 100 feet of Chinese made 3/8″ UHMW winch line hanging here in my office, it is almost 1/2 the price of Dyneema/Spectra branded products. The entrance of the Chinese into this market correlates quite well with the price reductions we have seen in Dyneema/Spectra products over the years in products like winch line, and cordage, as has already been covered. The commoditization is already well under way, and occurring with none of the benefits from CubicTech that you keep saying this commoditization will bring. We are in fact seeing the opposite.
Maybe you can expound upon why that would be, outside of the current speculation, because much of this is already known and understood quite well.
People can keep clicking the “Not helpful” Icon all they want. Maybe they could invest some effort, and explain this all to us better. Maybe I’m missing all these benefits and great things I keep hearing about, between the “film” and other people espousing the wonders of Cuben. Keep in mind, I like Cuben fiber as a product. I own products made from it, and I use to build products from it, which can be reviewed right here on this site(Maybe its a bad review, IDK, I have not read it) The issue is that DSM is telling you how wonderful it all is, and BPL is showing you products made from it. But DSM also does not believe that YOU should have the ability to buy some of these products, despite how wonderful they tell you the material is. Like I have said, it is the consumer foundation, followed by the manufactures and innovators that will ultimately suffer for this over time. This can have an over all affect on the integrity of the backpacking market as a whole, but specifically WRT light weight.
Why am I a vocal minority in some of this? Quite simple, because I can, and it matters. In some of my other lives, this is the kind of thing I specialize in.
I think you may be ignoring simple greed. Consider the following:
Cuben fibre fabric is a unique product sold mainly into the yachting industry, where the customers are very rich and the yachts are far more expensive than the sails. The UL walking market is more of a minor distraction than anything else.
DSM are not dedicated yachties or walkers: they are an investment company solely interested in paying off their purchase price as fast as possible and then making a great big profit.
Declarations of interest in and support for the customers are written by first-year marketing spin students. They are worth the paper they are written on – or less.
We have seen this sort of thing before, many times over, all over the commercial world. The only consoling feature is that very often the take-over fails because the new management don’t know what they are doing in a high tech area. The next move may be to try to substitute plastic shopping bag film for the Mylar ‘because it is cheaper’.
Cheers, or lack thereof.
Josh,
Maybe you’re right about commoditization, but I’m not seeing much in the way of quality Chinese imitation fibers that have similar properties. I haven’t really looked closely, though, so I’m not saying you’re wrong. Everything I’m seeing (from my small consumer retail corner) is brand-named stuff using brand-named fibers. You know, Lash-it, Zing-it, Amsteel, etc. Can you send some links from amazon, etc. where we can buy cheap braided ropes, etc? Is that something you might offer in your product line-up?
You mention that there is a demand, but that’s still relatively small. The small market of ultralight shelters and sails, as others have mentioned, is still a niche market. What I’m talking about is a bigger evolution in material selection. If, and it’s a big IF, the demand for these fibers moves into more mainstream applications, such fibers will be more common like nylon or polyester. For example, if people start buying apparel made from these kind of fibers, new markets and new suppliers will begin to show up. That could be good for the price of things like cuben fiber. This is not something that will happen in the short term.
Anyway, it’s all speculation, and I think Roger is right that greed has a lot to do with this. I wouldn’t be surprised if DSM has a strategy to keep supply short enough to keep prices high.
Roger, Greed?……………:-)
Your scenario sounds like the carbon fiber company that I mentioned earlier. The one that offered to pay me to give them feed back about why I took my business elsewhere. The one that called and wanted to team up on a project just a little over a month ago. the one that recently shifted all their tier prices further back down to what they were like almost 10 years ago. etc. etc.
How … strange …:-)
Cheers
Gator, here is one quick Amazon example: http://www.amazon.com/Klim-3097-000-140-000-Tek-Vest-Black/dp/B00CBXV0UI/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452816809&sr=8-1-fkmr0&
How is demand(For Cuben) going to move into the mainstream, if they can’t supply it to the niche market. As for products made with Dyneema/Spectra/Chinese UHMW fibers/fabrics, the list is endless. Its bullet proof jackets, backpacks(http://www.mchalepacks.com/ultralight/detail/fabric_colors.htm), riding pants, ropes, cut resistant gloves/sleeves, automobile air bags, etc. etc. and keeps expanding. Do you want contacts for Chinese manufactures?
The only way that the sale of more of these products translates into more Cuben is if there is a fiber shortage, and building more lowers the price, which we have already established that there is not a shortage. And as these products have expanded, and the cost of UHMW fibers has come down, with new manufactures coming into the market, we see just the opposite with Cuben. The “small” demand(For Cuben) you refer to, is actually most of the niche market, so technically it is not small. You and Roger are probably more accurate in the greed scenario.
Regardless of the motives, or driving forces, consumers lose out.
On a related note, there have been alternatives to Cuben that have been looked at, and last I heard they are being worked on. Probably a few years out, but I’m patient.
I didn’t see anything there with generic fibers that are demonstrably comparable to dyneema or spectra. Just because something is an UHMWPE doesn’t mean it’s the same as the highly oriented spectra/dyneema.
I don’t think these are billion dollar markets.
Well, it won’t be CALLED Spectra or Dyneema, because those are registered trademarks. But could it have very similar properties? After all, if one company can make X, very often so can another.
Cheers
Sure, but I’m not seeing, for example, braided generic UHMWPE fibers with similar properties to the brand name. Are there any?
Look here: http://www.mcmaster.com/#cut-resistant-gloves/=10poawa I can buy a pair of full Dyneema gloves for $12, and I can buy Chinese made equivalents for half that(I’ll give you the high number). A 10″ cut resistant sleeve is only $4. You have been able to buy this stuff for over a decade, with the price dropping over the years, because of the demand and expanded use. Thousands of people use these kinds of products everyday, to the point they are basically disposable.
Hmmm……..If we could just get demand and production up, then we “might” see the price for Cuben come down………..
Have I mentioned that that has already been done…………….Well, not the part about the price of Cuben coming down.
Hi Josh
I am not going to disagree with what you are saying, but I will point out that you are skipping over two vital bits.
Trust:
Do you trust the companies you mentioned? Sure, they claim that they meet certain specs – but do they? The average person has no way of knowing.
In the hobby CNC world there any many Chinese vendors who are exactly that: vendors. They are not the manufacturers and they have zero support staff. They just sell. They do not answer email about problems. And the stuff they sell usually dies.
Quality:
The item may be exactly what the vendor claims – but is it any good? One Taiwanese company did get my respect, by quoting their price for a certain size of cutter:
Chinese carbide: $4.50
Taiwanese carbide: $6
German carbide: $10
Swedish carbide: $13
At least, IF you trust them, they let you select the product quality.
So it can be a little more complex than it first appears.
Cheers
i learned a long time ago that I could raise more money by selling items for $1.00 than $10.00. As a DYI of ultralight gear, my preference is silnylon because it is affordable. Cuben fiber is way to expensive to justify its cost. DSM Dyneema should look at volume rather than a monopoly as a business plan. When you screw your customers they do not forget!
“Is Silnylon Dead?” So I nailed it already.
“Silnylon vs. Cuben Fiber” Still more false dichotomies. Tiresome.
Contrary to what is stated, both Nylon and Polyester fabrics are now available in the 1.03-1.04 oz/sq/yd range, including high water column coatings on both sides of the material. The coatings are part polyurethane and part silicone. High quality silnylon in the same weight range can be found in Terra Nova tarp shelters.
All of this has been posted in greater detail in the Gear and MYOG forum by R. Nisley with some samples from both vendors and myself.
Can anyone comment on just how many cuben products are sold each year? I always wondered just how many shelters Joe at Zpacks sells, or the cuben versions of MLD, etc etc. I mean, are there hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands??
I realize we are a niche group – but just curious as to how large a market we really are……
Yes, but what is the profit margin at $1 and $10 multiplied by the sales volume?
You might want to read my take on DSM.
I totally agree. Dyneema acquired Cuben. Dyneema isn’t Cuben fiber correct? This article makes it sound like it is one in the same
Chris, Hey, ha… No, they are NOT the same. Dyneema is a trademark. “Cuben” is now Dyneema Composite Fabrics. DSM is the conglomerate that owns the trademark Dyneema.
Anyway, “Cuben” was used to reference the vast multitude of materials made by Cubic Tech/North Sails, whatever (they have been sold so many times I loose track of who owns it, except it is now owned by DSM…) Mylar, Spectra, Carbon, Kevlar, etc were tried as reinforcements/plastics. Basically, it is two sheets of plastic film with reinforcement fibers between them. Then it is pressed until laminated, ie. bonding the plastic films together with the fibers sandwiched inside. Multiple layers exist. Different weight plastics, different fibers, etc have all been tried.
All Mountain Laurel Designs Cuben Fiber / DNW / DCF, Etc. shelters are now available in White and Green .75 style and the smaller shelters are available in the White .5 style. White (non-color) versions cost about 5% less than the Green. Current ship times only 1-3 weeks.
I wish that video had no interviews and just had the footage of people hiking in beautiful places. While I understand cuben and its advantages I am also a regular person and cannot justify its cost. I did like the guy from yama when he said a light weight pack should be the result not the goal.
So I guess by the posts here that technology has come to a stand still and it will be a long time before we see carbon fiber impregnated reflective Mylar which would be the best Tarp tent ever. Well maybe I can glue a reflective emergency blanket onto my old Cuben fiber tarp, hey does anyone have access to a large roller that heats up to press 2 layers of plastic together?
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