Tarp Materials – Cuben & Silnylon

You pretty much nailed the pros/cons. If you can afford a cuben tarp, that's the route I would go. Cost is the only real advantage for silnylon IMO. If built properly both fabrics are strong enough to take most any weather.

Ryan

I use a square Cuben . A square tarp has many ways of pitching, my favorite is the flying diamond,

I never think about how much my cuben tarp cost when I'm putting it in my pack to be carried all day. I also like lying under it and still being able to see the trees and sky.

Thought of one more. The sound of rain on cuben is different than it is on silnylon.

I'm not sold on the cuben yet. The weight alone is not enough of a motivator. In the size tarp I use the difference is six ounces and the price delta $150.

One additional difference:

Cuben tarps are bulkier than silnylon

If you take the time to diligently fold cuben, it may come out a similar size. But silnylon is so slippery, it is easy to stuff down small.

And that very same slipperiness make silnylon a royal pain to fold/stuff :)

+1 on cuben if you can afford it.
MLD Grace Tarp is the best made piece of gear I've ever seen.

"And that very same slipperiness make silnylon a royal pain to fold/stuff"

Helps if you know how to do it.

The trick is to always do it so that air can escape on the sides.
Just for fun I folded and rolled a Sea To Summit 5'x8" poncho tarp in 35 sec.
In this video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxg4miBqh-Q&list=UU0PuLUKvG7Fxxex5BMVK4vw
you can see me packing up a Double Rainbow in a minute including slowing down for the commentary (between 3:00 and 4:03, skip the rest it is really boring)
I can assure you that it can take a lot longer if done in other ways.

Franco,

You are absolutely correct, proper technique makes all the difference. When I used a Notch I found it quite easy to fold/roll and pack regardless of the weather…it's size and construction (end struts) really seeming to make packing easy.

Dealing with a silnylon tarp in the wind is, for me, an entirely different animal. I have yet to see, much less master, a good way to fold/roll one of those in windy situations…I'd love to see a video update of your technique in a 15 mph wind :)

Cuben, on the other hand, seems much easier to handle regardless of the weather. Just my experience.

My point was that there is no reason to roll a silnylon tarp – doing so is a waste of time IMO. The material is so slippery, I can just quickly stuff it into a sack and it still packs down small. My 8.5×10 cuben tarp, however, must be carefully folded in order to pack up small. Something that was quite difficult during a hail storm in the Uintas last fall. If I try to stuff the tarp, it comes out quite bulky.

Edit: another difference is that cuben fiber tarps seem to gain less weight than silnylon tarps when wet. I am not sure of the mechanism, but water seems to cling less to cuben than silnylon and is easier to shake off.

another difference is that cuben fiber tarps seem to gain less weight than silnylon tarps when wet. I am not sure of the mechanism, but water seems to cling less to cuben than silnylon and is easier to shake off.

Water does seem to cling nicely to silnylon. Nylon also absorbs water.

Another difference important in the desert at times is cuben is see through and silynylon is not so can provide shade if needed.