First published gear list – will this work with a new light pack?

IMO, the weight savings going from a silnylon solo tarp to cuben is over-rated, especially as a "first pass" strategy. If you do the math, a 6'x9' tarp is 6 sq yds of material. Going from a 1.3oz silnylon to 0.74oz cuben saves you 0.55oz per sq yd, or a total savings of 3.3oz for the tarp.

You could take one less pair of socks or underwear and a few less band-aids and get comparable savings.

I think going to cuben makes much more sense for larger shelters (you save 9oz for the Trailstar, for instance) or when you've already got your gearlist zeroed down and are now looking to optimize/upgrade each gear item.

FWIW, I have a 11-12lb base weight with a silnylon tarptent, a canister stove, a "real" sleeping bag (WM Ultralite), plus some luxuries like a Kindle, camera and even a trowel and toilet paper.

I have silnylon tarps and Cuben tarps and I think both are okay.
A Silnylon tarp is best IMO if its cat cut.

Cuben fiber doesn't get wet soaked, better tear strength, 100% waterproof, can be repaired with duct tape, does not stretch etc, but the end all for me was the new camo patterned cuben. If camo sil was made I probably would have bought or made a Sil camo tadpole tarp.

I dont particularly care for clearish Cuben at all.

Silnylon more abrasion resistant, cheaper and is easier to build with a catenary cut but another issue for me particularly is that Silnylon soaks through and stretches and when packing wet can be soggy. You can just shake Cuben off so thats another beneifit.

If I were on a Budget I would ditch the superfly and probably buy a Tadpole and that would save about 7.5oz. A Hammockgear cuben std tarp would cost $105 over the Superfly and would save the OP 13 oz.

I appreciate all the comments and would like a lighter tarp. Since my hammock requires a minimum 11' tarp, the material makes a bit of a difference. By spring I hope to make a small hex or asym tarp from silpoly; I can't justify the cost of cuben just yet. Bigger priority for me is a pack that can carry well – whether a Circuit or much lighter Ohm or Gorilla (my current favorites based purely on internet research. That will be a significant investment for me.

I had the chance to car camp in the desert this weekend – beautiful weather and campsite. We were car camp heavy, but I got to try out some gear and think about choices on what will be on or off the backpacking gear list for my next backpacking trip.

Not to send this off track, but here's a desert moment for those desert hikers currently in colder climes.

>> here's a desert moment for those desert hikers currently in colder climes.

Yeah, yeah… just rub it in.

Looks nice — where were you?

I think leaving extraneous things behind will be enough to get to a comfortable place… until you add all of that water. (i'll take snow over carrying gallons of water)

pack comfort is personal and it is hard to tell what one will like and another won't. I love my Osprey exos 34L and 58L but I know others say the frame digs into them. Some people swear by the REI Flash and I couldn't stand it even with no weight inside.

snow isn't all bad

Desert moment is my son walking through "The Slot" near Buttes Pass, off the 78 in Anza Borrego State Park. We call that rock overhead the Rock of Damocles, but I think my friend made that up, so don't look for it on a map.

I like that mountain snow shot too, and remember fondly growing up in central PA and northern Indiana, although this looks more wild. I "pine," so to speak for the running water creeks and rivers most of the US takes for granted. But SoCal has it's benefits, and I won't rub it in with today's weather report.

Happy holidays and thanks again for the feedback.