Aluminized Cuben Shelters

oh my, so tempting!

I wonder given that material's weight, how it do as a lean to style shelter off to the upwind side if a campfire?

Would the Aluminized surface make it more resistant to damage by floating embers?

Just bought a tarp. Save the scraps, make me a breezer. Good for reflecting UV's and alien braln control.

The ironic thing is that this fabric would be most useful in situations where one can't use a tarp – under open skies with no trees. Tree cover protects pretty well from IR losses to the sky. But under open sky on a clear night, this material could make a tent feel significantly warmer.

You can wrap yourself in a sheet of it and protect yourself from un-healthful electromagnetic radiation

Also, cut all the wires at your circuit-breaker and use candles. Make visitors put all their cell phones and other damaging electromagnetic producing devices in your mailbox before coming inside…

Is there any benefit to using the aluminized cuben in a flat or catenary tarp? Maybe you could pitch one side-by-side with a silnylon or regular cuben tarp of the same size in an open field and measure the temperature difference underneath, or weight gained by condensation, to show the benefit of the material.

If I was buying a regular tarp, I would probably go with 0.5oz or 0.75oz cuben fiber for the weight savings. Or I would go with silnylon for the cost-savings. Or make my own from SilPoly or something.

In a small pyramid tarp, I think you might see some benefit of the aluminized cuben fiber (either warmer inside or less condensation). And I think people would be more willing to go with a heavier cuben fiber in a pyramid tarp (or at least I would…).

Is the material durable enough to be used as a ground sheet? If I could save weight over silnylon and get a small wamrth boost, that would be good.

Maybe you could target PCT hikers who want a small tarp to shade the sun in Southern California.

Will the material be available to MYOG'ers?

An aluminized tarp will block light, so it's dark inside. You'll have to use your flashlight more. This may make an aluminized tarp undesireable.

An aluminized tarp will be very effective at reflecting sunlight, so it would be cooler in warm weather if you're in the sun

An aluminized tarp will radiate less IR, so it won't get so cold, especially under a clear sky, so there will be less condensation. This would be on both the outside and inside. This would be an easy experiment – silnylon and aluminized tarps with people overnight… You could get useful results without people and just small test samples.

A silnylon (or cuben) tarp will block IR loss, especially to a clear sky. You will be a little warmer with tarp compared to no tarp, but the effect is small, maybe 10 degree F. An aluminized tarp would be a little better because it would reflect back the IR, maybe another 5 F. Especially if the tarp was small and you just barely fit into it. You could try to measure in the field but would likely get inconclusive results.

If you're in a meadow, and it's a clear night, regardless of any tarp. it can easily get 20 degree F colder. Better to camp in sheltered area in the trees. Then it doesn't matter if you have a tarp or not. Maybe aluminized tarp would add a little warmth.

Just because an aluminized tarp looks reflective in visible light, doesn't mean it will be reflective in IR. Like, if there's a layer of mylar, with aluminum underneath, the mylar will absorb IR.

+1

"Also, cut all the wires at your circuit-breaker and use candles. Make visitors put all their cell phones and other damaging electromagnetic producing devices in your mailbox before coming inside…"

I think I just watched that show too.

I'm glad someone responded : )

"Better Call Saul" – prequel of "Breaking Bad"

I'm just waiting for an appearance of Brian Cranston

I'm glad someone responded : )

My new most favorite show! :)

"But under open sky on a clear night, this material could make a tent feel significantly warmer."

Hi Bradley,

I was hoping for similar… But not apparently this particular material. I asked Richard Nisley about it awhile back and he said that the mylar outer prevents it from efficiently reflecting back IR that our body emits. He "thinks" it would be good at reflecting other IR like from the Sun. One is long wave/range and one is short wave/range IR. I don't remember which is which.

Anyways, i had made a tarp out of a combo of polycryo plastic with a heat sheet taped to the bottom. Since it was taped around the perimeter and not purposely pulling the heat sheet taut over the polycryo before taping, there was usually some air gap in between some of the areas.

So, i got the benefit of some air gap and IR reflecting material. Some initial testing in cold weather indicated that it was pretty low condensation and did feel warmer when it was as pulled close to the ground as could be and openings closed up a bit. Would be much better in a pyramid type tarp/tent. Throw in some beeswax candles or mini stove with mini pipe, and you have a nice little warm shelter in cold temps theoretically from the combo of double non permeable material and IR reflecting.

The down side to it all, none of the materials is particularly strong or durable. The aluminium on the heat sheet will wear off.

Great to know!

Seems like more testing is in order.

I would want to be absolutely sure the aluminum layer would not delaminate. This has not been the case with other aluminized coated materials I have used in the past.

For over 10 years I used aluminized covers for the tent ends of my tent trailers. Because the trailers have bunks at each end, it was pretty easy to do some testing. I found that during the day the cover would significantly lower the temperature in the bunk that was covered. However, at night it did nothing to retain heat. Even if I flipped the cover to have the reflective side facing down, it did nothing. This would be even more so with a tarp that has no sides.

I played around with a aluminum covered Tyvek tarp for use in the desert. But, I never sleep during the day so it was of little use. When hiking and I stop, I can find shade, even if it is just a large shrub. At times in really hot weather I may put up a tarp and rest in the mid-day sun, but I would invest in a cube version unless I knew it would last as long as a non-aluminized tarp. Big questions :)

I have done a decent amount of testing with this material, and it certainly holds up as well as (if not better)than 1.0z cuben.

The issue of delimitation with the previous version of aluminized cuben is non- existent with this version.

I'm happy to mail out samples if anyone want to do further testing. John Abela received some, and Richard Nisley tested some for waterproofness, flex-tested it, and posted results last year.

It seems whether functional thermal-reflective properties exist, are more in debate here, and more difficult to test.

I would want a small cube for the desert as well. Four x four, four x five. Something easy and quick to set up. Joshua trees can get a little thin for shade…Some of us anyway.

"It seems whether functional thermal-reflective properties exist, are more in debate here, and more difficult to test."

Precise, very accurate testing might be difficult, but rough testing shouldn't be too hard.

Btw, it does seem to reflect Solar energy well. I had bought some of your aluminized cuben and used some at a festival we camped at for a few days. I made a tarp out of it, and put it over our tent and it did well in keeping it cooler. The material itself was coolish to the touch despite being in the Sun and the immediate air behind it, so apparently it was working well in reflecting the Sun's IR.

I really do wish it worked well for reflecting body IR, because that would make it an awesome durable IR material for many uses. I would love a Pyramid Tent/tarp made out of such a material for Winter camping. As mentioned, some beeswax candles or a mini stove would work awesome with such a set up.

I would be interested in the material if it holds up against flame.

Would be awesome to make a loue out of it. The stuff they sell in Finland is pretty heavy compared to what is available in North America.

I did testing on the IR thing using these pieces of test equipment:

In the picture above, the reflective side is facing the interior. Also if you look closely there are Reflectix inserts in the window netting. That worked really well.

A few years ago I played around with some aluminized Tyvek tarps. Really wasn't worth the extra weight.

The results of my carefully calibrated quantitative and qualitative studies drew the following scientific conclusion:

Desert rats don't stop in the mid-day sun to find shade, we stop to work on our suntans :)

There is no shade in the mid day sun.you're lucky if a buzzard flies overhead. Hike with a tall fat friend. Stand underneath them.

Glad to see you're back in business with your camper, Nick.

Thanks, Doug.

Backpacking, hiking, biking and camping are all good. Must spend as much time outdoors as possible. Did give up roller blading a couple years ago. The last dislocation of fingers didn't heal properly. Getting old is a bit*h sometimes :(

Nick,
Nathan just sent me a small tarp. (Thank you Nathan for the fast service…). I'm headed down to Yuma next week, but if you would like to check it out afterwards, test it, I do believe that you're local as in close by. PS

Slightly heavier than my HMG, that I figure at 8.25 square feet per ounce. I figure I get only 6 square feet of coverage per ounce with this tarp. A little over an ounce and a half penalty. More or less.
What I get for that is shade. Privacy if I wanted it. The fabric feels stronger as well. For that time will tell.
Not incognito. Not offensive, just shiny. Like a piece of foil, shinier on one side than the other. The pictures are looking through the dull side. You can't see through the shiny side at all.
Some light spots can be see in the fabric. I believe they were from the application of the aluminum rather from any wear.

I've gotten great feedback about these as shade shelters from the folks I've built them for.

A mid built of this stuff for Mountaineering may make sense. Camping on snow at high elevation can get uncomfy when the sun starts to heat up your shelter