Cuben shelters and long distance hiking

Fragile? Cuben is pretty strong stuff, although it doesn't have the greatest puncture resistance. Francis Tapon used one of Ron's cuben tarps on his CDT yo-yo so I would say they stand up for long distance.

I also heard Francis went through 6 of those cuban tarp. Rumor? My biggest concern is it becoming un-waterproof. I've felt the fabric before and I feel pretty good about it's resistance to puncturing. The spinnal=ker shleter I had, the silicon impregnation worn thin, so on heavy down pours, the water would just push through.

Mr. Frankle used a Cuben Duo Mid on his 900 mile trip. Seemed to work out quite well for him.

http://www.ula-equipment.com/idahocentennialtrail/index.htm

His words "I will say that after using it for 2 months, I see very little reason to revert back to a tarp. I was very, very pleased with the shelter."

Convinced me!:)

Since cuben is a film I don't see how it could 'un-waterproof'. It isn't woven, therefore it isn't water permeable.
According to Francis from his website, he had only two MLD cuben tarps on his yo-yo. One was a smaller version for desert hiking and the other he used the rest of the trip.

Hi Steven,

I recall in another post that you ordered a cuben version of the MLD duo mid.

Do you know if the cuben version has the same dimentions as the sylnylon one?

Thanks!

Daniel…I didn't ask! I hope so! Ron?!?

I have one of Ron's cuben poncho/tarps and for me, it is plenty durable. I guess it really depends how you treat your gear. Last year I went camping with a buddy…he had a BA Seedhouse 1 and he tore a hole in the roof and broke a pole…he also lost a snowshoe earlier that day…needless to say, I don't recommend he use cuben products :)

Shawn, I don't think spinnaker is "completely" waterproof. I could be wrong though??

Francis did use only two tarps. A smaller one for a shorter time at the start of the trip and a slightly larger Solo (now the standard MLD Solo size in Cuban) for the majority of the trip.

The DuoMid is the same size in all materials.

Thanks for everyone on their insite about cuben usage. I'm feeling better about finally getting use one of these products.

Ron, any chance you can make the new trailstar in cuben? I've been eyeing that thing ever since it came out.

Steven, good point about Brian and his use of the mid. I'll have to contact him directly about his thoughts.

MLD offers the new TrailStar shelter in spectralite (cuben), the site lists weights and prices for each material. Contact Ron for lead time required.

Adventure on the Wild Coast trekkers, Hig and Erin used a couple of MLD cuben fiber pyramid tarps on their 4000 mile trek from Seattle to False Pass; the one they had when they stayed with us in Juneau was somewhat tattered after five months of daily service. They left with a new one that had some improvements suggested from their experiences. I think, in the end, they switched to a more “durable” syl-nylon version of the pyramid for the hard winter on the Alaska Peninsula.

Thom,
Where did you find the TrailStar Spectra info?

I've looked, but like my other sock… can not find it.

Thanks

Erin and Hig used a Spinntex version early on and switched to a silnylon version for about the second half of the trip. The larger #5 zipper was a change in the Silnylon version to help durability especially with all the blowing beach sand they were getting with the lighter Spinntex w/ #3 zipper version.

Greg, Looks as though Ron removed that option – I don't see it anymore. It used to have it available in cuben for 8 oz…and I think it was around $250.

Ron, Thanks for the clarification on the Pyramid fabric. Spinntex or Cuben Fibre, that tarp held up to a lot of use and Inside Passage weather over the course of five months. It was also very light.