Just finished a 2.75m (9×9 ft) square piramid for a trip to Nepal
Body made of 0.5 Cuben, many reinforcements of 0.8 and fabric patches of Cuben hybrid. Took me many hours to make, but happy with the result. Weight is 600gram. The corner seams have a catenary of max 2.5cm (1 inch). Additionally I made a separate silnylon floor with a possibility to attach it at 8 points to the 20cm vertical walls of the piramid, thus creating a sort of bathtub. The vertical walls can also by used as snowflaps. All seams are taped with 3M tape: 9460 and 9469 for zipper and some Velcro. Only sewing was used for the webbing (see picture below) The top of the pyramid is quite a thick package of many reinforcement patches with a inside extra layer of hybrid Cuben. I made a coupling devise for using my skipoles: some dyneema fabric and Velcro. Weight of this is an enormous 6grams. Another picture (these are just the first pictures taken in my garden, just before it started to rain, didn't want to get wet…)
Some detail pictures: A waterproof #5 zipper:
And the process of taping:
Making reinforcements: Sewing webbing from hybrid Cuben:
Making patches:
Finished patch with 0.8cuben between hybrid and body:
Next pictures will be of the tent being used at 4000 or 5000m elevation in Nepal!
Topic
Another Cuben Pyramid
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- This topic has 15 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 6 months ago by .
Wow, great work! I like the contrasting patches and their shape. Félicitation!
Looks very nice. I also have made a cuben pyramid tent (Hexagonal base) with all taped seams. There is not a single stitch in the whole tent and after 3 years of extensive use all the seams still look good/strong. I have never used my tent in extreme weather (hot or cold) though as I'm not sure how the adhesive would hold on on those scenarios. All my usage has been limited to temps between 60-20 degrees Fahrenheit. Looking forward to hear back on how yours perform and under what temps. Cheers, Mario
That's a great looking mid. I've built a couple cuben flat tarps, but still looking at doing a mid, this is great inspiration.
Do you have a zipper on your fully taped tent? If so, how did you manage that?
George, Yes, My tent (like Joost's) has a zipper but mine is not sewn. I used a #5 Uretek Zipper. I used the following bonding structure:
Zipper is still working great and bonding remains solid after three years of extensive use. Here is a picture of the tent on Coyote Pass (Border of Sequoia NP and Golden Trout Wilderness) taken this last weekend. 
Yes, I did sew the zip, that's one of the reasons I use the Cuben hybrid fabric. The zip is YKK aquaguard 5C, whis is PU coated on one (the outer) side. Here drawing of the construction:
Mid is finished: here in its stuffsack:
Your craftsmanship is excellent… gorgeous pyramid. May I ask, where in Nepal are you headed?
If you care to share, very interested in what the material costs came to…? Thx
Here's a quick estimation until you can get the real answer: $300-$350 — 9' by 9' base with ~52" height would be right around 12 yds $25 — for reinforcements in 1yd of heavier cuben $30 — zipper, tape/glue, tieouts …my estimation is $400-450 total but that could drop slightly if you ordered direct from CubicTech (I believe the minimum is 9yds but the cost is only a few dollars less per yard)
I'm heading for the Nar-Phu valley north of Annapurna. There we plan to do some exploration to the north and east of Phu, reaching maybe altitude of 6000m (Around some 18000ft?) The cost estimate above is very close: I ordered 11yards of the 0.5oz, 2yards of the 0.8oz and 1yard of the hybrid, total US$ 420. Zipper, dyneema string, some small stuff around $50 I think. The 3M Tape was expensive and I used quite a lot with all these reinforcements: I ordered this in the Netherlands, Germany and UK because of limited availability. Estimate I used for some $100. Later found that I could have ordered from China for less, but could not wait for the shipment.
Inside view:
Thanks, much appreciated! cheers, peter
It look bloody nice !! the D ring may be can use the basic one instead of ITW one. May save few more grams? Cheers Jason
I like the look, strength and stability of the rings I used. The possible few grams extra I accept with pleasure.
We had a beautiful trek in the Nar Phu valley in Nepal. Used the tent up to some 5500m altitude (around 18000 ft). We had snow and strong wind. Here are some pictures:
(Do you see the tent?)
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