Tarptent Notch Lithium

And here’s a link to their post on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/tarptent/videos/1633609320027567/?hc_ref=ARQryvKGuZ6UMpm3DYubr7AiU0p0Mj8jqO69VdiXaskr0z173STLEaTU9sPpP1sLLbw&fref=nf

Okay, what have you done with the real Henry Shires! :-)

Ooo!, Ooo! Be still my heart!

Looks suspiciously like the end of a Moment DW with those CF “Pitch-Lok” struts.

But I’m still keeping my modded silnylon Moment DW. It has been with me in some very bad storms in every season and kept me warm and dry.

Fake News!

What’s going on?!?!

Where’s Henry?

Going to test the better late than never theory.

Where is Henry ?

Just outside Nevada City , I believe.

::le gasp::

I will be very interested to hear his reasoning after speaking out against DCF for so long.

Henry has spoken out against the cost of the material, not the material it self.

Yes, that is probably more accurate. I seem to recall that he said it wasn’t worth the expense. Has the price of the raw material come down?

I’m really happy he will be building with it. I’m a fan of his designs.

Not just cost, but the difficulty in construction.

From this previous BPL article, I’d be surprised if it’s a curved Tarptent like the Moment. Then again, I don’t know anything about making tents, and Henry knows lots.

“The cost of materials may certainly be one barrier for Shires, who prices TarpTents competitively ($250 to $350 for most two-person models), but manufacturing techniques present a barrier as well. TarpTent manufacturing is outsourced to domestic factories who may not have the manufacturing capabilities and skills required to construct the seams (which require precision taping) that join Cuben Fiber fabric panels. “The problem with Cuben Fiber is performance under stress and the need to seam tape everything,” said Shires. “Simple Cuben Fiber structures (like basic pyramids) are ok to hand seam-tape when the curvatures are gentle since they can be done flattened on the table but a nightmare when the curvatures are more extreme and can’t be done on a table.” Shires admitted that at this time, TarpTent has neither the interest nor time to do hand seam-taping for complex curvatures.

An initial response by the ultralight backpacker may be one of disappointment. I for one would love to have a Cuben Fiber TarpTent! However, I’m not sure I’d be willing to drop a thousand dollars or more on one. Shires has developed a successful, long-term, sustainable business model and in spite of its shortcomings when compared to Cuben Fiber, silnylon remains a proven material for lightweight shelters, especially when seam lines are complex curves. I don’t see Cuben Fiber being used in any of Shires’ curved-pole designs (e.g., Scarp or Moment) anytime soon, but I wonder how long Henry can resist the temptation to ignore the possibility of using Cuben Fiber in a less-complex shape. Personally, I could get very excited about a Cuben Fiber Stratosphire – one of the few TarpTent designs that could stand to benefit greatly in a Cuben Fiber version.”

The Stratospire always seemed like a no brainer for cuben. Huge amount of fabric and all straight lines = decent amount of weight reduction and easy construction. An 8-9oz fly instead of 25oz is certainly appealing (although I suspect .75oz cuben).

Take my cheque book!

Great to see this. Like Henry I have a hard time justifying the cost, but it’s going to be an awesome product.

Maybe this was the new “lower sag” material Henry was mentioning :)

It will be interesting to see this play out in terms of models, pricing, weights and construction methods. Hopefully TT has stayed away from .7oz cuben floors.

I told my wife no new shelters for me this year. This could get ugly quick. Fortunately she’ll just laugh at me!

Here’s a video teaser:

There’s cuben used for the inner too – kinda looks like a 0.7oz cuben floor but hard to tell.

A DCF ProTrail might be cool.

Great tent designs + expensive but beneficial fabric + growing market of outdoor enthusiasts interested in LW gear in an improving economy = good forward-looking business decision.

Poof, there went my tax refund.

I hear that!

Competition is a good thing. Nice to see someone else using this material.

A Cuben floor in a Tarptent???  Blasphemy I tell you!  :)

I wonder if Henry would allow you to get a DCF fly and sil floor on something like the Stratospire?

I can hear his eyes rolling.

‘They want dcf- i finally give em dcf and they want a sil floor’🙄🙄

OH MY!…If they do a Startospire or Notch in DCF………I…..just…..I dont’ KNOW!!! I guess I’ll have to buy them both!

Oh that teaser video is just mean! Can’t wait to see the whole thing. I also wonder if it will be a DCF version of an existing tent, or something entirely new. Either way I’m sure it will be well thought out like most all TarpTents.