Cuben Fibre and UV damage/General wear and tear?

You could try spraying your cuben fiber occasionally with this stuff:

http://www.rei.com/product/737208/mcnett-uv-tech-16-ounces

I don't know if it'd stick to the fabric, but it's supposed to help prevent UV damage.

According to Joe at ZPacks, who used cuben fiber packs to hike the PCT and CDT:
"The material eventually begins to fray from excessive sun exposure and general use. This is what limits the lifespan to 2500 to 3000 miles. You will likely have duct tape on some frayed areas by the end of a long thru-hike."

I would guess that the fraying of the cuben is due to abrasion more than sun exposure, but the difference isn't important in practice. The cuben should be much more resistant to UV damage than the nylon face fabric on the X-pac, I think, but the X-pac is much more resistant to abrasion. I think the X-pac would outlast almost any cuben product.

The laminates in cuben are mylar…which is polyester and more UV resistant than nylon. The problem with cuben is that it has low abrasion resistance due to the thin film. CubicTech now makes some heavier weight cuben with much thicker film that would probably last much longer than the cuben that Joe used (I may be wrong, but I bet at the time he was using the more common CTXXX.08 cubens that have only .08 -don't remember units- thickness of mylar).

With the new .18 thick versions, they have far more (more than twice really) abrasion resistance. They even have a high bias (extra 45 degree layers of thread) with 0.18 thickness weighing in around only 1.3oz/yd^2. Super strong and abrasion resistance without much weight…maybe not as bomber as xpac but getting close.

Thanks for your comments guys. From everyone's findings I think leaning towards the use of X-Pac instead of Cuben. I may have to research the new .18 thick Cuben a bit more though. I would not only want it to last the full thru hike, but also a good time after.

Any ideas about my other questions? :)

Colored hardware will be difficult, most is black or tan.

What size webbing do you need? 3/4" and 1" shouldn't be too hard to find. Climbing webbing comes in those sizes and a wide range of colors.

This site also has a lot of colored webbing for use in pet collars, but should be more than adequate for packs.:

http://www.cdwplus.com/

EDIT: The above site apparently has colored plastic buckles too!

Another webbing and hardware supplier:

http://www.strapworks.com/

Jerry