Cuben fiber long term?

In our testing, what breaks down Dyneema is mechanical deformation, i.e. crushing and stuffing.  The best thing you can do to prolong its life is to roll gently, rather than stuff.  That includes storage.

-H

I babied my ZPacks Hexamid, but it still went into holes after only 80 nights use. ZPacks offered me a derisory $25 dollars off another $500 purchase.

I am now the proud owner of a Tramplite cuben shelter (I got the full zip door version).

It’s better than a Notch Li too.

John when did you get to test the Notch Li, did you get one in advance like BPL and are you going to write a review? I would love to read what you didn’t like about it!

I got my first cuben fiber tarp in early 2008 from MLD and didn’t replace it till 2016 while still using it as my primary shelter.  Used it on the PCT and AT. That said, in the latter part of it’s life I didn’t camp in prolong rain conditions and for the last 2 years I was starting to notice some minor rain intrusion through the walls indicating the fabric was breaking down, but given the water just ran down and dropped off the bottom edge, no big deal.  Still probably should have replaced it 2 years earlier. Noticed a few tiny pin holes on the PCT in 2009, but they were too small to let water through and never were a problem.  Finally noticed some larger holes (looked like abrasion) in 2015.  I was a fold and roll person for it’s entire life.  And given how I normally cowboy camp when the weather didn’t require the tarp, I can say, in many ways it was treated more like it was stored in my pack, then actually used.  This very likely had an impact on the apparent longevity of it.  A normal cat. cut tarp also doesn’t get the stress points more shaped shelters and tents get which I think also played a part.   Currently have an updated version of the same tarp.  If it isn’t broken why fix it.

When comparing tents, look at the weight of the fabric used for the tent.  It’s a trade off of less weight generally = shorter life span of the tent. Heavier fabric -you get the idea.  I have a Zpacks Heximid, made with  0.51 fabric, which I just retired after four years.  That shelter got me thru about 7,000 trail miles, including the PCT in ’14.  The shelter is still in good enough shape to use but, I’m headed to the CDT in early May and I didn’t want to trust it for another thru-hike and, I’m now using a flat tarp at 6.2 ounces anyway.

Well, I use a soloplex plus some. I didn’t care too much for it and *only* when a full tent was needed. I usually use an old tarp(~17oz.) The old tarp is really old, like >15 years. Neither leak but I only have about 50-70 nights on the soloplex (~18oz.) I have well over 600 on the older tarp. (I have several other tents, also.) The nylon one (1.1oz) is about 4x more durable than cuben/DCF ones at about twice the weight in my opinion. But, for a couple seasons or a long thru hike, DCF is fine for equivalent coverage.