Cuben Fibre Tent Fly with Insect Screen

Some thoughts on cuben fibre: It's light. It's easy to work with - you can get self adhesive cube fibre tape and patch material so it's easy to seam seal / reinforce all seams and reinforce all attachment points more effectively than you could with nylon or polyester fabric. It's noisy in the rain and wind. It doesn't absorb water so it doesn't double in weight when you pack it away wet in the morning. No water goes through it - you can have your down sleeping bag pressed up against it and rain pelting down on the other side and no water will go through. We had a subsequent night camping at the south end of West Ruggedy beach in a severe SW gale, I had to pitch it virtually flat to the ground. With heavy rain and fabric flapping right on our noses and the gusts sounding like a freight train going over us we didn't get much sleep, but even with the rain pelting down on the outside and fabric pressed up against our sleeping bags they remained warm and dry all night. Under a nylon fly we'd have had everything completely soaked through in those conditions. I may add a bit of a vestibule to the front end so rain won't come in if the wind direction changes during the night.

That, is totally awesome! especially since I've heard cuben is pretty hard to sew, how did you find sewing with it?

Tidy work there! That low weight is such a plus. Wish I wasn't such a light sleeper otherwise I'd be considering cuben fibre for my next tent...

Sewing went easily - the main seam is across the middle, not along the ridgeline, sewn like this, https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10731244/seam.jpg then reinforced / sealed on the outside with 25mm self adhesive cube fibre tape. Other than those, the edge is hemmed, self adhesive reinforcing patches of polyester/cuben fibre stuck on and tape loops for the guy lines sewn on. Sewing through several layers with the adhesive in-between to attach the tape loops was a little difficult for the sewing machine, some hand cranking required. I have a solid domestic style machine at the moment, but not an industrial machine.

Yes, having a really light shelter that comfortably sleeps me and the three kids is a real game changer in terms of doing more ambitious trips together. I think with kids you need to have the option of calling a halt and camping even if plan A is getting to a hut. We wouldn't have been able to do the trip we did without breaking the first two long days with camps at Little Hellfire and West Ruggedy beaches. We should be able to do some more cycling tours as well staying in the tent, and or some trips involving flying /public transport / tramping and camping. Maybe Great Barrier Island next summer?

That's an impressive effort! Similar weight to my Zpacks duplex, but that's a tight fit for two people. Can you set it up with trekking poles if the trees are not quite as obliging?

Yes, it would set up with trekking poles easily enough. Weight savings compared to zpacks designs come from keeping it simple - separate floor so it can be lighter as it won't be much trouble to replace it when it wears out. Also using bridal tulle for insect netting - it's a third the weight of the lightest insect netting. Catch it on a twig and pull and it will rip like paper, but design so there is no direct strain on it and be careful and it's not too bad. Big advantage of making your own gear is knowing it's vulnerabilities and being comfortable with the trade offs you make, you can keep some things much lighter than someone could manage with a commercial product. I like the roomy fly plus groundsheet concept - you can pitch it in the rain, get under there with your pack and raingear still on, shed rain gear, sit on your pack, get a brew going, then spread the groundsheet over some of the area and get into dry gear / sleeping bag on the groundsheet. Easier to keep wet gear separate from dry. With a proper tent it's pretty hard to avoid a puddle or two on the bathtub floor and a great swarm of sandflies coming in as you shed what wet gear you can while sitting partly in the tent with the door screen open. Not having to open the screen and full the tent with sandflies while you're cooking on the stove in the vestibule is also a huge blessing.

I am so impressed with your design, weight, space and all the other features such as having the flexibility to lower the profile in stronger winds.

How does it go when there are no trees to guy it to?