I just received my Locu Gear Hapi. Seam seal using silnet or cuben fiber tape?

cuben shelters don't need to be seam sealed they are already have taped seams. zpacks, mld

My Hapi is not taped. It is sewn with what looks to me like a French seam. The instructions say to use silnet but I'm guessing I could use cuben fiber tape too. I'm just looking for some info from people as to one vs. the other.

I had this same question and I think I had the first cuben Hapi shelter, so it was hard to get some answers. Locus Gear reassured me and said that they've had very few issues with their shelters leaking even though they don't seam tape or seal them. That said, I tent to fiddle and 'improve' on my gear, so I decided to tape the seams since I don't care for the way seam grip/silnet looks on a pretty cuben shelter. I ended up getting a few yards of Zpacks' cuben tape (1/2 inch). However, I only taped the seams from the apex of the tent down to the dyneema tie-out patches. Beyond that would be overkill and not really necessary since any leaking issues would most likely be from the top half of a shelter, not the bottom half. I was pretty careful about taping it and since I got the clear tape and my Hapi is white cuben, it's all but invisible and I probably added a few tenths of an ounce. My advice is that it's not necessary, but it's kinda nice knowing for sure it won't leak. FWIW, I did a couple soak tests where I used a garden hose on full blast for a few minutes and sprayed all the seams, but I didn't have any leaking. The only time I had water come through was when I literally dunked a seam in a bowl of water to test it, only because I couldn't get it to leak through more typical means (sprinklers, rain, etc). Post some pics of your hapi!

I am amidst a conversation with Mr. Yoshida regarding this precise topic since I received a Khafra in cuben fiber about 2 weeks ago. I tried to get a plan together by posting a thread here about it before my purchase a few months ago but came up without clear directions. I have even sent a message to Ryan Jordan via his site without reply. Anyway, I will provide the link to this thread to Mr. Yoshida. Further, maybe Mr. Jordan might consider sharing his valuable experience. In the meantime I have ordered and will be receiving a very large amount of cuben backed tape from ZPacks on Tuesday.

I've used an LG Khufu in black cuben for quite some time now, and a number of times in really heavy monsoon rain. No leaks, and I've never sealed it.

sounds like similar seam type to that used by Oware. not really any need to seal those either as they aren't felled creating the extra line of stitch holes.a

I think I will eventually tape the seams. I will post some pics when I do. Drew, I will post some pics of my Hapi after my overnighter this weekend along with some initial thoughts.

I just wrapped up the conversation about seam sealing the CTF3 products. I will paraphrase a few points below. 1. LG has been making this genre of shelter for 5 years now without complaint about the seams' weatherproof properties. There has been a report of extremely minor leaking but nothing that anyone has deemed unreasonable thus far. (I'm thinking that compared to the possibility of condensation and related issues that no one is going to complain about a single drop during a torrential downpour) Mr. Yoshida is confident in the shelter's ability to protect from rain without additional treatment. 2. However, in the event that we are compelled to seam seal with cuben tape, the only disadvantages are cost and the labor/trouble that we incur during application. 3. I was advised to include some of the above mentioned tape in a field kit for repair purposes, since it is widely understood that cuben fiber carries a high risk of abrasion. In the event that a leak was detected I could seal it in the field. I'm inclined to believe that when LG ship the shelters out they include the seam sealing instructions for the silnylon versions. Consequently, the cuben customers are confused. Not sure, but based upon the conversation I had the cuben customers should either refrain from any treatment or apply tape. Lastly, I just ran across some "Mylar tape" over at Quest Outfitters. It's much cheaper than the cuben tape but claims to work very well on cuben. I'd love to hear some user reports as this could really be a terrific, low cost alternative for those of us that choose to apply tape.

Robert Thanks for following up. This is what I was looking for. I was wondering if the seam sealing instructions was just for the sil versions. I think that's a great idea about carrying some cuben tape for repairs in the field. :-) Don