MLD Parol Shelter (cuben)

I just stuff my cuben shelter too, and as far as I know that's pretty much the consensus for most BPLers also. Same goes for storage, I just leave it in the stuff sack at home too, after I'm sure it's completely dry of course. I'm sure it will serve you well for a long time, and cuben is pretty tough stuff.
YMMV

-James

Thankyou. Kind of what I figured, just figured I'd ask to be 100% sure. Cant wait to pack this bad boy up and hit the trails.

Actually I thought that people were mixed between folding and stuffing.

I fold my MLD cuben fiber tarp with a little bit of rolling at the end. It seems to pack smaller that way and doesn't take much longer to pack then stuffing. Its also easier to keep the attached lines from tangling together then stuffing which would seem to defeat the small time savings when you take it back out.

From my experience, when you fold a fabric the same way over and over, you create a crease, an area with more wear, making it a weak link. Stuffing, or folding differently seems like a better idea.
I have very limited experience with Cuben though.

I used to fold my hexamid but now I just stuff it. much faster and easier on the trail.

at home I just fold it 2-3 times and leave it loose with my other shelters in a bin

I thought I had read a thread that polled BPL about how they take care of their tarps, but of course I can't find it now. Any way further reading can be done here,
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=58857
and I may stand corrected; it looks like a split between how people take care of their tarp. Although it seems to be that most damage is done while using the tarp, not storing it. (I may be proven wrong again though ;)
-James

"From my experience, when you fold a fabric the same way over and over, you create a crease, an area with more wear, making it a weak link. Stuffing, or folding differently seems like a better idea.
I have very limited experience with Cuben though."

As above, like Kat, I have limited experience with cuben. This observation comes from my use of a cuben bag that is used as a camera bag. The more time that I keep the bag opening cinched closed, the more folds and creases are made in the fabric around the cinch cord that do not relax when the bag is opened. The opening then becomes restricted/smaller and the camera has a tighter squeeze going in or out of the bag. My guess is that the MLD Patrol Shelter tarp, any cuben tarp or any sheet of cuben fiber for that matter will accumulate these folds and creases but you will not notice the area of the tarp decreasing but most likely will notice an increase in the "wear" and perhaps a loss of that magic Cuben waterproofiness ( I guess that "word" will do here ) somewhere sometime years and miles down the trail. If your shelter has a cuben stuff sack, I wouldn't keep the cinch cord pulled too tight.

I have been using the same MLD cuben fiber tarp since early 2008. Used it on a PCT thru-hike in 2009 and the northern 600 miles of the AT last year. Along with shorter trips, its gotten a lot of use. Its been through high winds, rain, hail, and snow. And I have always folded it. Perhaps not always the exact same way, but pretty close. Despite being 5.5 years old, it still is my primary shelter and remains waterproof. I have noticed no weakening around the folds or signs of stress in the fabric anywhere including where the tie outs are.

Personally, I would think that stuffing would be more of an issue with long term use. Abrasion is the enemy of cuben fiber and the act of stuffing seems to me to be slightly abrasive with the fabric constantly rubbing against itself and the stuff sack as you stuff it. I doubt its an issue for how much most people will use it before replacing it. But it does make me wonder about the long term affects. Anybody with more then 5 years of heavy use on the same cuben fiber tarp care to comment on the affects of always stuffing it?

Despite how you store it, cuben fiber seems pretty durable as long as you treat it well. Though there is also the issue of fabric weight as not every manufacturer is using the same weight fabric as MLD. I think it will be interesting to see how more of this gear ages from different companies over the next few years. Not that I'm bashing anyone. Even I have been looking longingly at some of the lighter weight cuben fiber used in other shelters such as Zpacks hexamid and may get one to try out something new.

I think the issue with the cuben fiber stuff sack referred above is more of an issue of abrasion. Folding a tarp doesn't crease the folds in like cinching the stuff sack is; nor does it have a cord always pulling along the length of it with every use. I've been using cuben fiber stuff sacks for years and they don't hold up as well as tarps. Lighter weight fabric then tarps as well as more abrasion issues such as zippers and other objects rubbing it.