Aluminized Cuben – Third Time is a Charm?

[Adam Kilpatrick]

I just invented a mystical Cuben product code.

My thoughts are by sticking to 2K, weight is kept relatively up at about 1.25oz/sqyd.

1K would take that down to around 1.0
1K would still be more than strong enough for shelters. The .18 Mylar would help with long term durability particularly HH.

It also brings it down light enough to think about other things, like potential in vapour barriers…if its too heavy then the small advantage it might provide with reflecting human heat is not worth the overall weight of the material vs a much lighter vapour barrier material.

With .18 mylar it would also be suitable still for groundsheets. 1K is more than strong enough for them.

[Anonymous]

"It also brings it down light enough to think about other things, like potential in vapour barriers…if its too heavy then the small advantage it might provide with reflecting human heat is not worth the overall weight of the material vs a much lighter vapour barrier material."

Hi Adam, just wanted to point out that according to Nisley, this material will not reflect human IR well at all, because the mylar is too thick. It is good for reflecting different IR like from the Sun.

I don't know if he is still carrying it or not, but Nathan apparently was carrying another aluminized product (with more durability as compared to space blankets and heat sheet type material) that was better at reflecting human IR. I don't remember the name off the top of my head.

I originally thought the same thing as you, that this stuff might be good for a vapor barrier that would reflect IR at the same time, and i had made some inquiries to R.N. and found out the above.

There is a post/thread from R.N. talking about all of this somewhere, i would check his posting history–it shouldn't be too far back as he doesn't seem to post a lot.

[Jerry Adams]

it's good for reflecting visible wavelengths. Most of sun energy is in visible. Good for shade during sunny, hot weather.

But so is any fabric that appears white and blocks most sunlight – hold it up to sun and verify most light is blocked.

[Author]

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