DCF Tape?

[Craig B]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>does anyone know if the dcf tape and patches sold by zpacks , ripstop by the roll, etc is assembled by them or sold to them by Cubic Tech?  Do the resellers just add double sided tape to strips/patches of dcf?</p>

[obx hiker]

Good question. I’ve been through several rolls or lengths from Z-packs over the years and was just using some a couple weeks ago and the same question occurred to me while using it for a somewhat tedious application requiring a greater than normal degree of precision; so I was paying some attention to the way it separated from the backing, how straight it was and etc.. It appears to be manufactured as such or else the application of both the sticky adhesive as well as the paper backing is  precise enough to appear to be mechanically applied  to the dcf.  That’s all I’ve got. Observations but no facts.

Edited to add: Some of the patches or attachments sold by Z-packs do seem to be modified or made up from pieces of backed and glued dcf cut into patch sized pieces and then the attachment sewn on over and through the backing, glue and of course the dcf. This can be kind of annoying when removing the paper backing to apply the patch/attachment and you need tweezers to pick off the little pieces stuck in the stitching before applying the patch. Never had any of it to ever come loose though. never.

[AG]

DSM advertises a “tape” form factor.. which may or may not be the thing that zpacks et al sells. https://www.dsm.com/products/dyneema/en_US/technologies/dyneema-form-factors/tape.html

i don’t know but if i were to *guess*, i’d say that DSM offers factory made adhesive-backed DCF as one of their laminate options for fabrics. then zpacks cuts it into strips and other shapes. or maybe the strips are cut in the factory. (the tell being that the strips typically only come in lengths that are exactly the same width as DCF fabric rolls).

i bet if you emailed or DMed the RBTR guy he’d be more than happy to share. he seems friendly and forthcoming.

[Craig B]

Thanks for the observations and suggestions.  It does seem like it’s manufactured by DSM, but there’s so little info out there about it, it’s hard to tell.  I’ll reach out to rsbtr and see what Kyle says.

[Brook / MtGL]

DSM sells the tape, but expensive.

I don’t think zPacks buy directly from DSM, but made it. As far as I could see a zPack DCF tape bought several years ago, the DCF width is not precisely fitting the width of the backing – a sign of not cutting carefully enough.

The main thing in the adhesive is anyway called “Acrylic”, though DSM may claim fine-tuned ingredients which may be better. But to my experience, those 3M XXXX tapes well-known to the DIYers here did the similar job as well.

Those 3M XXXX tapes are actually cut from a roll with width more than 1 meter, meaning any width of the tape is possible. the 3M XXXX is also available in pieces of patches, meaning that a DCF patch e.g. 10*10CM is also make-able.

[Craig B]

I asked RSBTR about their single and double sided repair tapes and their response was:

“It’s made of 0.8 Dyneema, and it’s made by DSM.”

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