Cuben Fiber – Q&A
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First I would like to say thanks to Bill for starting this Cuben Fiber Q & A thread last year. I am a "newbiw to cuben fiber and this thread has helped accelerate my learning curve on this material.
To revitalize some discussion in this thread, I am posting pics of my first creations using this interesting material – 4 cuben fiber stuff sacs.
From L to R: Sack for my essentials, Sleeping bag, O2Rainwear shell, Patagonia vest.
I used specta cord and Thru-hikers tiny locks to sinch the sacks.
I am handing down all my silnylon stuff sacs to my kids.
Let the field testing begin. :)
This is my first post. I admire the ingenuity of everyone who posts here, and it helped me to feel a little more intrepid in tackling my first cuben project. I plan to make both a two-pole shelter (similar to the Spinnshelter) and a down "elephant foot" half-bag (similar to the Nunatak Akula) mostly of cuben fiber.
I took a sample of the CN1K.08 to a company here in Oregon and they aluminized one side of it (like a space blanket) for me. The aluminum layer is about 0.3 microns in thickness, or about six times thicker than the layer used for camping/emergency blankets (usually about 0.05 microns). I told them I wanted it to be as robust and resistant to abrasion as possible. It's about 1/19 of the thickness of the cuben laminate itself. I scratched it hard with my fingernail for twenty seconds or so and none of it appeared to come off.
The metal layer adds very little weight (about two hundredths of an ounce per yard), but should improve the warmth of the sleeping bag. For the shelter it may aid in bringing up the air temperature a little when there is a warm, radiant person inside, and it should also help to illuminate the inside with a little LED flashlight. It also blocks all outside light, which might be a benefit for summer camping in Alaska. I hope to make the shelter reversible as well, so the metallized side can be turned out if I should want that.
Also, before I had the cuben sample aluminized, I dyed it with a mixture of disperse dyes (for polyester plastics and fabrics). Although the dye mix was dark brown, the cuben came out tan or beige, which I prefer to the milky, membranous appearance of the undyed cuben. I guess I like the idea of the shelter being approximately dirt-colored on the outside. The dye shouldn't affect the strength of the laminate, and it should increase the weight of the cuben by almost nothing (maybe a few micrograms or milligrams per yard).
Anyway, below are some photos. I have some misgivings about the dye process, and I think I'm going to look for a different aluminization company, so I have some research to do before I modify a large batch of cuben.
Hello everyone.
I have tried a bunch of products to bond Cuben to itself and to Momentum90. However, I must say that I have not tried thread! Of all the stuff that I’ve tried, 3M9485 ¾” tape works the best. I have put the bonded Cuben in the deep freezer and in the hot sun and have not had any indication of the bond failing. The bond strengthens with time, although I don’t think by much and I don’t have any numbers for you. I have used 4” wide 3M9442 for the reinforcing corners of my tarp. 3M9442 does not work as well as 3M9485! It is possible to peel the pieces apart and stick them back together long after you tape them together. It is very hard to separate taped pieces in shear (the Cuben has ripped outside the taped area in my tests)
I took some pictures of how I apply the tape.
This 8×10 Tarp weighs 6.6 oz
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