Waterproof/Breathable Cuben Fiber Jacket

Haha Steven, yeah man, I should have mentioned that. I had a similar snafu when mine arrived.

Breathability probably seems much better now also right? Helps not having a thick layer of mylar creating a VB. ;)

>New weight of this rain jacket is 80 grams (2.8 oz).

Thats just reeeeediculous. Nice work! Puts my 6.5 ounce Marmot Essence to shame.

So is the PTFE being used here just regular old PTFE? Like the same stuff used in the original Gore-Tex until Gore discovered that body oils ruined the waterproofness and thus it needs to be protected by the PU layers they new use? Or is it a modifed PTFE like eVENT that can withstand these oils?

Hi Steve,

Great looking jacket!

It has been bucketing down here, which has made me start to think about waterproofs again. Have you had any luck testing this jacket yet?

I admit, I'm replying just so I can keep tabs on this thread.
I'm really excited about this. A 2.8oz rain jacket!
I imagine it would also serve as a wind breaker? Houdini + Emergency poncho = 6.3oz > 2.8oz! At this weight you could even make it trench coat length and nix the rain pants as well.

Any word on it's abrasion resistance, like being worn under a pack all day? How about it being used on the foot box of quilts? OH, I see someone's already done that. How's it working out so far?

Ha, I was just about to ask about this. With the recent fiasco about the waterproofness of regular cuben, I'm extra curious about how this stuff is performing.

Hey Guys,
My apologies for not updating this thread…but I don't have any field experience yet. I've haven't been out in the woods since I made it – just a bit busy. I do have a 5 day trip planned around the May long weekend but nothing in the plans for in between so it looks like we may have to wait until then. If I do get a chance to test it out I will be sure to keep you guys posted. I should probably send a sample over to Richard Nisley as I have quite a few scraps left over.

It has a reported 9,000 mm HH

@Steve – thanks for the update. A humble idea: How about going for a jog during a rain-storm in the jacket with a warm-up and wind-down walk to see the build-up and dissipation of internal moisture. You could also set it up out side with a hanger on a clothesline. Use paper towels draped over the hanger to determine moisture penetration, checking periodically. Of course, you would have to seal the neck up :)

But I can certainly understand that you may be too busy to do that as well. Cheers!

p.s. I ordered one of TrailLite Designs' CloudCapes from Joe at Zpacks customized in .5 oz. Cuben that should come in under 2 oz. – it will be interesting to compare the performance with your breathable jacket. I also had it modified to have draw-string sleeves for potential use as a component in a winter VB system.

I'm still at a loss as to how WPB cuben is supposed to work. Since it has a PFTE membrane, the face fabric has to be something breathable- unlike regular cuben. Is the cuben perforated, or perhaps just the mylar layer? Or does it use something other than mylar covering the Spectra threads on the rain-facing bit? It just doesn't compute. Can't wait until we all know more!

Can you breathe through it, like eVent?

Bumping this thread as it's now mid-may…. hoping you got out to try the jacket out a bit.

Aaron, yes, you can breath through it. I am getting bivy's made with the lightest version they have available right now. Should be done in the next couple of weeks and up on the site.

Bryce, I am leaving on a 5 day trip this thursday and rain is definitely in the forecast – will most definitely update this post upon my return.

So, does anybody actually know how this stuff works? Is it definitely ePTFE? Is it definitely breathable? Is it definitely waterproof?

If you can get a breath through it and it is waterproof it must be a microporous membrane of some sort without a monolithic layer, either ePTFE or microporous PU. Perhaps laminated to some sort of non-Waterproof Cuben for strength?

Jeremy, with all due respect, I think you should read the posts in this thread rather than asking someone to summarize them for you. Steve and Javan have explained the components of the WPB cuben in detail.

How did your trip go?

OK, I really should have posted earlier as promised so my apologies. I used this jacket on my last trip as it rained quite a bit. Performance was great and I even used it as a windshirt for most of the last day. I haven't used many breathable garments before so it would be near impossible for me to compare it to any other fabric, but it breathed well enough that I was comfortable wearing it for most of the day. There was some bushwhacking during the trip so it did suffer a bit of damage from branches and thorns but I mostly it was the thin fibers being pulled from the base material. I wish I could give more info but I am not sure what else to say other than it is definitely my "go to" rain gear at this point.

Very cool. So when are you going to sell them? ;-)

The stuff is really quite breathable. If you put a piece of the material over a cup of boiling water the steam will come through the material quite easy and it doesn't build much condensation on the bottom side when indicates its very breathable. To me the material doesn't look like it has a film at all and feels and looks more like normal woven material.

Does anyone know the status of this material? I got the impression last year that gear would be upon us soon and testing of it seems to warrant that. Is Cubic Tech having troubles with production or something? Steve, Javan?

I have been selling bivy's (CC bivy) with WPB cuben fiber tops for a couple of months now. I had a custom weight made and when I ordered, it took almost 3 months to get. I am not sure if this was because they hadn't made that weight before or if they were having manufacturing issues in general. I know they were asking for feedback at one point and selling small amounts only, but as far as I know you can contact them and buy it right now – unless soemthing has changed. As for the big guns making gear out of it anytime soon – I personally doubt it but I've been wrong before.

I check your site weekly for updates and somehow managed to miss the fact that you are offering a product using the fabric! I feel foolish for having overlooked that. Are you willing/able to offer the fabric by the yard for our MYOG projects?

Chris,
I haven't been updating the site as much as I would like to these days. The fabric is too expensive to sell by the yard. I pay high shipping and fees to get it into Canada, so it would be cheaper to go direct to cubic tech for it.

Any cottage manufacturers going to start making jackets out of this stuff soon? I wonder, how much would it cost in materials terms to build a large jacket out of this?

…Personally I think this material works best as a bivy where you aren't exposing it to bushwhacking. It'd def be the lightest rain jacket you've ever had, but I'd worry about it;s longevity.

That being said….I know a lot of cottage manufacturers who state on their websites when dealing with thin CF "If you're wondering about this product's durability, it's not for you." <- But that's really tough for a guy like me who wants to know everything. When used as a bivy, do you expect it to last for X # of nights? Forever if you're incredibly gentle with it? I wanna know before I buy one of Steve's Bivys!

Longer term use report…? Just wondering how it has held up, as I'd love a jacket just like this :-)