How to save cuben

[Patrick W]

Hi!  I am planning on making a flat tarp of cuben.  I would like the final size to be 9’x6′.  It looks like cuben comes in 54″ width.  If I buy two 9 ft lengths of cuben, how can I put them together in a way that best utilizes the cuben?  Somehow a center seam that is not in the center bothers me.  Ideas or experience?

[Jerry Adams]

54″ is 4.5 feet.  Have two pieces that are 6 feet long and sew them together?  That would have zero waste and a seam in the middle.

[Lester Moore]

You could put the seam running down the long axis of the tarp, leaving you with two 18″ x 9′ leftover strips of DCF. That way, you get a strong flat felled seam running down the apex of the tarp. With the leftovers, you could sew 7 ft sections of those two strips together into a 34″ x 84″ wide DCF poncho, though it would be pretty thin if using 0.51 DCF. You’d have just enough material left for a 20′ x 10′ x 6′ backpack liner, or the poncho hood and a few stuff sacks.

[Patrick W]

Hmmm,..If I buy 6 yards at $32/yd it is practically the same cost as buying the 6×9 tarp from zpacks.  So running the seam across the tarp, but reducing waste to almost zero looks like the best option.  I don’t like the idea of running the seam across the tarp (the 6ft length) but I guess it is only a matter of cosmetics with a rectangular tarp.

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