Cuban fiber

[andrewa]

Has anyone made anything from this?

Having just received Zpacks hexamid tarp today, the fabric looks like grey Safeway plastic bags , but obviously somewhat stronger! I hope.
Not much on the net about MYOG from cuban.....

Input grateful.

AA

[Mark F]

There are a heap of threads on cubEn (not cuban) on BPL but perhaps not over the last 6 months or so. If you are thinking MYOG then there are a couple of interesting articles on suluk46.com about strength of tieouts on tarps. Personally I am a fan of cuben for shelters and stuff sacs but am not yet convinced about the material for packs.

I have a Zpacks Hexamid Plus for solo use and a SMD Cuben Haven as a two person tent. Currently I am building inners for both using 1oz cuben floors and 10D and nanoseeum roofs/walls.

[Macca81]

I think tasadam made a tent from it... Search this part of the forum...

Sent from my obscenely large android phone...

[Mountain Rocket]

Hey mate,

Cuben is funny stuff to work with and quite unlike any other 'fabric' as far as MYOG concerns goes. This is a pretty helpful quote from Judy Gross of LightHeart Gear, taken from the following article: http://hikeitlikeit.com/2012/cuben-fiber-roundup/

“Cuben fiber provides a number of different challenges when sewing due to the selection of many different weights of the fabric. The very lightest cuben, will crimp and crumple up, while the heavier cuben will be stiff and drag at the machine. Any mistakes in sewing will leave permanent holes in the fabric, though these can be covered with tape.

Cuben will quickly dull machine needles as well as any cutting tools used. When sewing tents, I use thread that is stronger then general sewing thread and a longer than usual stitch – the less holes poked in the fabric the better. But, the combination of strong thread and long stitch on lightweight fabric causes issues with tension and difficulty in getting a seam to lay nice and flat. To achieve this, you have to use a “taut sewing” technique by gently pulling the fabric from the back of the presser foot.

I use all industrial sewing equipment, my machines have ‘pullers’ (this is a highly technical term) to help achieve a flat seam. A puller is a roller that clamps onto the fabric as it comes out of the presser foot; it is geared to the stitch length and ‘pulls’ it out so the stitches lay flat.

I like to tape any cuben to cuben seam after sewing it. I find the needle holes will grow a little when tension is put on the seam, so I reinforce each seam after sewing with cuben tape. When sewing over seams that were taped or glued, the machine needles often get gunked up from the glue, this is easily remedied by cleaning the needles off with a little rubbing alcohol.”

[andrewa]

Well, I've now got 5 m of "Safeway plastic bag material " to play with. Planning on a tarp and some stuff sacks, but obviously need to have a fiddle and sew it / tape it first..........

A

[Macca81]

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=36990

This looks to be a good way of getting around the sewing issue. A few people are using this method with great success.

[Orion]

Nuts made a tent with Cuben: http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=7726
I think he used the 25 g/m^2 weight fabric. Which grade of Cuben did you get?

Post up a picture of whatever you make.

I've been toying with using Cuben but the cost (about 5 times that of silnylon seconds) and the no-going-back aspect of glue tape is off-putting to me.


Trivia: Cuben Fiber was coined by the press in reference to the 1992 America's Cup winner, America^3 (pronounced "America Cubed") which used it as sailcloth.

[quicky]

There are a heap of threads on cubEn (not cuban) on BPL but perhaps not over the last 6 months or so. If you are thinking MYOG then there are a couple of interesting articles on suluk46.com about strength of tieouts on tarps. Personally I am a fan of cuben for shelters and stuff sacs but am not yet convinced about the material for packs.

I have a Zpacks Hexamid Plus for solo use and a SMD Cuben Haven as a two person tent. Currently I am building inners for both using 1oz cuben floors and 10D and nanoseeum roofs/walls.

I have the Zpacks Arc Blast made from the hybrid cuben fiber....happy to show it to you if you're in Melbs. It's very impressive, and I have every confidence in it.

[Nuts]

Hi Andrew, good luck, its easy to work with.

Ive mucked around with a few projects (inc the fly Orion linked). There are many threads on BPL as also mentioned. I have used Cubitech tapes and sewing but of most interest are the inferences to contact adhesive mentioned by some of the more experienced makers. I ended up using spray contact adhesive (with lots of testing) and a card/taping to catch overspray. I did put a stitch through the front zip but all those little holes don't make much sense in plastic other than to hopefully grab a few dyneema threads ( If your glue de-laminates the plastic/dyneema when stressed, i figure the join can't get any stronger..)

I agree with Mark, not convinced it is the best option in other than shelters and only the lightest grades. I have the heavier ones (for floors) and the nylon reinforced cuben used for packs but it's inherent advantage seems lost (for the expense).

(otherwise- the heavier grades i'm happy to pass on if anyone has a project needing a meter (or five..) (at cost) as it will gather dust i'd say, pm and ill see what is left)

Last edited by Nuts on Sat 10 Nov, 2012 7:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[madmacca]

My understanding is that many of the major manufacturers using cuben have/are moving away from stitching as a technique and towards taping.