Hacked discussion of ZPacks restored

Personally, I've been wondering what the next latest and greatest item or fabric would be. I still need to put together something for day hikes or short rides on my motorcycle.
Duane

As someone who just bought a hexamid twin, getting ready to order the twin cuben bathtub groundsheet and a few extras.. I think this is something im seriously considering. And like, im actually kinda geeked at the idea for numerous reasons.

1.The Fact i have 2,2 man tents. 1 being rei quarter dome t2(love it just a little heavy) and the other being, the Hexamid Twin i literally just got last week in the mail. But i havent even gotten to use it yet to see if i even like it. Which is a main factor im being timid about pulling the trigger. But i do need a solo shelter/ backup for my day packs and from what i hear the .34 is fine if you treat it right.

2.I was considering getting the hexamid solo, but ive been reading this is just fine for a shelter if you treat it right.

3. Its new and would be sweet to get early review of it up.

4. Weight.. i mean 8.1 with stakes is something to think about.

5. Im a gear junkie.

While I won't be buying one, it's nice to see a company that is seemingly finding commercial success continuing to push things lighter rather than gravitating towards the mainstream. It's a pretty cool niche product.

I continue to be impressed with the constant innovation and ongoing improvement coming out of Zpacks.

I don't, however, have the elite skill levels or the experience needed to use this tarp(:.

Dan, my thoughts too about companies "gravitating to the mainstream".
Duane

Hello all

I have a .34 Heaxamid solo. It has worked very well so far. The design does a great job of distrbuting load thorughout tarp.I use 2gram titanium stakes and add additional anchorage if weather dictates.

I have one too. Have been in some good windstorms and it has held up well. No sign of deterioration at the tie-out points either, which was my biggest concern.

It is light enough that a person could carry it as a separate place to cook food in bad weather.

My wife, for example, likes me to bring her coffee in the morning before she gets out of the tent. If it is raining I sometimes set up a lean-to for this chore.

I currently use a 5×8 ID Siltarp as a "pocket tarp", which does indeed fit in my pocket.
It's not as light as this ZPacks Pocket Tarp, but I do like the concept, and I might be considering one of these items in the future.

I like things that can go in a pocket.
I wear a very light nylon fishing vest(numerous pockets) for some outdoor activities with my Siltarp in one pocket, my Klymit X-Lite pad in another pocket, and a HeetSheets emergency bivy bag in another pocket, giving me a complete mild-weather shelter/pad/bag system that takes up very little space and also weighs very little.
My extremely compact 2.5 oz Stoic Wraith in another pocket for a hoodie jacket.
A few Clif Bars for munchies, and a water bottle hanging off my belt loop with maybe a Sawyer Squeeze or a Steri-Pen, and it's a pretty useful bit of kit, without needing a pack.

How waterproof is the .34 oz/yd2 Cuben?

I think the .34 cuben is the same mylar thickness as the .51 and .74oz but with less dyneema thread. It should then be just as waterproof but have less tear strength.

Ah, thanks William.

Yup it's entirely waterproof until you get holes in it. That can be a long time if it's tarp and you treat it well. Abrasion is the enemy.

How much tarp mastery does one need before justifying a tarp like this? I love the weight, but I'm not a professional tarp-camper. Just noodling around with basic rectangle setups, mostly.

I wouldn't want to buy this, end up in a little storm, and immediately tear it to shreds.

This shelter sets up easily, more so than similar types of shelters.

One night Craig W and I camped in pretty windy conditions – we got plenty of sand in our clothes and food. I wouldn't trust it in 50 mph plus winds, the wind probably wouldn't hurt the fabric, but the tie outs could be a problem. Of course it would need to be oriented to the wind properly, and prayers to the wind god might be appropriate — asking that the wind direction not change. For seriousness wind and a tarp shelter a Trailstar would be better.

I like to sleep nude. This may be a problem.

"I like to sleep nude. This may be a problem."

Not if you hike solo or come across a group of nymphomaniacs.

Ok, I just placed an order for mine!!

Who else has ordered one up??

+John Abela

Hi John,
It's been the better part of a month since you ordered, my question is then: have you had a chance to use this little number and how has it held up?
Thanks,
James

James, I have not used it yet as it has not shown up yet. Pretty sure I was at or very near the top of the list of first order one, but you know how it goes.

I have already owned a hexamid solo and I have probably more miles on a 0.34 tarp than anybody else so I pretty much know what to expect from the shelter.

But yep, as soon as it shows up I will take photos in my backyard and maybe a walk-around video for you.

Hmmm, how about a hammock tarp in this stuff? With no poles for stress and a continuous ridge line, it may have less stress and it would always be in the trees for protection.

And then a matching under cover… whimper…

I think I have *socks* that weigh as much!

I'm starting to think about getting this shelter. Given that I normally cowboy camp unless its raining and rarely setup my existing tarp, this may be very practical for my regular backpacking trips. Even on the PCT, I only setup my tarp 9 times for the entire trip.

My only question is, how would it hold up to nickle size hail coming down in a thunderstorm or handle the weight of 4 inches of snow coming down in the shoulder seasons? Just wondering if it would be practical to use say on the CT, though that may just me getting a little too ambitious in my ideas? I won't even dare suggest the CDT for it though I'd like to since I'm looking at the regular hexamid tarp for that. ;)

It seems like for .9oz more you can get the .51, which is what I have. But for mild weather it should be plenty durable.

Yeah, after thinking about it, for the small weight difference, the pocket version only made sense if one was getting a stripped second tarp as an emergency shelter for day hiking if they already had one for backpacking.

So I ended up going with the normal Hexamid since its a bit more durable. As its the end of the summer season, it showed up in less than 2 weeks from ordering. I'll be deliberately putting this through some bad weather between now and next spring in order to evaluate it for a potential CDT thru-hike.

As this is potentially replacing a 5+year old MLD CF tarp for me, if it wasn't lighter there would be no point in changing since my existing tarp is still good. So I ordered the hexamid stripped without the netting or beak. I figured the opening isn't any larger then I'm use to with my tarp so why bother with a beak. Plus, I figure it will cause more condensation if I actually used the beak in rain. As I normally cowboy camp and only use a tarp for rain, I'm staying with my bivy sack which eliminates the need for netting (if bugs haven't bother me in 6+ years of using a bivy, why change now) and gives some additional security against any rain coming through the opening so once again, I don't see the extra weight of the beak to be justified. Since I have plenty of the 6.5" titanium stakes already, I decided to try the lighter and thinner 6" stakes to see how they hold.

After removing the cords for the CF floor that I'm not going to use, the Regular Hexamid (with no beak or netting) + storage sack + attached guy lines + 8x 6" Ti stakes came out to weigh only 6.2oz (176g) on my scale. That's about 2oz lighter then my existing tarp setup though the tarp is heavier weight CF and uses longer stakes that are slightly heavier. It's even lighter then my 6.5oz bivy sack. It may be time to consider replacing it with the Borah CF bivy to save 2 more oz. At this rate, my wallet is going to be thin before X-mas even gets here this year. ;)