Can I make a replacement rain fly from DCF?

[Michael P]

Good morning. I have been thinking about replacing the rain fly on my Copper Spur UL1 with a homemade 0.67oz. camo DCF fly. Why? I think it would be fun, and I love the idea of a camo tent. The small weight savings would be a bonus. I’m not interested in any currently-available tents that can be purchased new. However, based on research here and around the internet, it sounds like it’s not that easy because of DCF’s lack of stretch. It looks like almost all DCF shelters have more simple geometry than the multi-paneled dome-like shape of my CS fly. Is this a deal breaker for this project? Will it be a disaster? My plan of attack was to recreate each individual panel of the existing fly in DCF, then sew/tape or bond the panels together into the exact same shape as the original, then to attach the hardware. Again, this project is mainly for fun/challenge, but if it’s a fool’s errand, can someone let me know? Thanks!

[Brad Rogers]

It has been done before, but it’s not easy as there are a lot of curves and DCF has no stretch and therefore everything must be exact.  If you’re wanting to have a fun project and won’t be too bummed if it doesn’t work I say go for it.

[Link .]

Here is Dan Durston’s project from 10 years ago CUBEN TENT FLY  .

[Michael P]

Thanks for that link. I never ran into it despite a lot of searching. That looks great, and it makes me think this is do-able.

[Author]

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