How to bond a cat curve on cuben shelter

Thank you, Dan!
You saved me a lot of searching :)

Lots of really good info in this post.

I have been wanting to make a Cuben tarp for some time, but have been put off by the chance of ruining a bunch of costly fabric.

Looks like with the help available I better get on the stick and get some Cuben.

As all of you fellows have done it before, where should I start for fabric, and what thickness have you found best to use?

Thanks
TZ

Thanks! I have been folowing this thread with interest.
jdm

I sew 1/2" grosgrain on silnylon for a guyline tieout

Does that work with Cuben?

Better to reinforce with another layer of Cuben, glued to main fabric with 1/2" tape?

I don't suggest sewing. If you do I would suggest sewing your grosgrain to a reinforcement patch using an X box and then bonding your reinforcement patch to the body of your tarp. I use CT2K.08 (.75oz) for the body and two layers of CT5K.18 (1.5oz) for the reinforcement patch. I bond everything together and then use a Military Spec #0 Spur Grommet. This gives you a spot for your trekking pole tips or for really thin cord that could cut the grosgrain. These hold like tree roots.

Clear picture of grommet, thanks

Do you ever put in a zipper in a Cuben Shelter? How do you do that?

Lawson
Do you do anything additional along the edge of the tarp for reinforcement? The pullout reinforcements appear to be bonded on before the cat cut is done? and then the Grograin and grommet added?. Have you had any durability, abrasion, issues with the CT2K.08?
Excellent work, Thanks so much for the tutorial and photos.

TZ

Lawson,

Thanks for taking the time to show how to do it. Very helpful.

I cut the cat curves, cut the reinforcement patches and then bond them 1/2" off the edge, tape and fold the edge and then cut a hole for the #0 spur grommet, and then press everything together. I found its much stronger then sewing since cuben has amazing tear strength. I wouldn't recommend doing this with silnylon or spinnaker but this method works great for cuben.

Dan,

I'm really impressed with your cuben fly!

How much does it weigh? Did it replace an existing fly and, if so, what was the weight savings? Did this start out as a store bought tent or did you make everything from scratch?

The cuben fly ended up at ~11oz compared to 23oz for the original fly. The tent is an REI Quarterdome T2 which is 3.6 lbs. I saved 3/4lbs with this fly and another 1/2 lbs with carbon poles.

Dan,

Thanks for the info. I'm envious.

Daryl