Cuben Fibre Tent Fly with Insect Screen

If there are no trees in the right places, you just need to find a couple of bush poles or use a set of walking poles. Yes, Honora, I was keen to maintain a flexible geometry so it could be pitched lower or higher depending on the situation and the length of poles or scrub you had to tie it to. It could be pitched quite a bit higher so the insect screen walls were only just touching the ground in a calm situation where you wanted more room. If you made it with more insect screen around the edge you could have one that would pitch in the bush with sandfly free standing room under it. I think it would also function as a bombproof emergency shelter for 3-4 people. Stretch out and peg the ridge line to the ground across the wind, lie down between the two layers, close off around the other sides by tying the corresponding guy points to each other and you'd have a wind protected and dry space where mutual body warmth would keep you relatively comfortable through a bad night. The thing about cube fibre compared to a woven nylon or polyester fly in this situation is that no rain would soak through it, you and sleeping bags should remain dry even pressed against the fabric with rain driving against the other side. I'll try and pitch it in the garden in this mode and see if there is room for me and three kids under it like this. Will hopefully post a picture.

OK, this is a picture of the emergency shelter concept: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10731244/Emergency%20shelter.jpg Will try and get a real picture in the garden later.

This is the fly with the big end in 'closed in mode'. It would be possible to pitch it this way with a walking pole under the high point. Some of these pitching ideas would work with an ordinary tent fly with the addition of a bunch more attachment points. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10731244/tentfly4.jpg

Ian_H this is all very interesting - takes some of my own experiments a bit further. In that emergency situation would breathing be a problem? I imagine the Cuben is totally non-breathable? I only ever had to use my tarp in a closed in mode once whilst trout fishing, but after a miserable hour or so, decided to pack up and get the hell up to a hut a couple of k's up the valley.

@Deepriver: Yes, the Cuben is completely non-breathable. I think in a survival situation say on the tops with it wrapped around you and it blowing like hell there would be enough bellows action and airflow through that you wouldn't get much condensation. At West Ruggedy in a gale we had it pitched right on our noses with heavy driving rain on the outside and we stayed completely dry under it. We were quite comfortable except for the noise. If it had been calm with it pitched like that we would have been soaked from condensation, but if it had been calm we would have pitched it higher and had good airflow through it.

Thanks for the photos and description Ian. Looks like a great tarp and the tulle is a nice addition for NZ. Where did you manage to source the cuben fibre?

can i ask how much the cuben fibre cost? I know the commercially made cuben fibre shelters are the most expensive ones for the type of design...

Cuben fibre is racing sail fibre. I asked a sailing friend what the sailors do with their sails. She said they just keep mending and patching them - darn.

@Briar @waynowski I got my materials from zpacks in the USA: http://www.zpacks.com/materials/waterproof-fabric.shtml I used their .51 oz/sqyd fabric at US$28 per linear yard so about NZ$40 per metre. I needed 7 metres for my 4 person tarp plus enough of the 25mm self adhesive tape for the seams and 4 of their self adhesive Large Repair Patch / Reinforcement patches ( 2 of the 2.92 oz/sqyd Hybrid, 2 of the Clear-White 1.43 oz/sqyd Cuben) So something around NZ$400 material cost, I guess a little more when you include the insect screen tulle and a few other bits and pieces and freight. Watch out for them selling in yards when you're thinking in metres! Yes Honora, this stuff comes from the sailing industry, I think it's worth looking at their construction techniques when you're making something from it. If you look at a sail or spinnaker, it's remarkable how heavily they reinforce the corners where the sail attaches to the spars - the material might be light, but they graduate up to 6 layers in the main corners. The other thing I think is important is to have a lot of attachment points - it's better to have twice as many guy points than to double the strength of a lesser number of attachment points. It will be interesting how durable it is in NZ use, I think pitching it in places like Park Pass in weather like we have at the moment and doing so every weekend it wouldn't last long, but with mostly use in situations where you'd normally pitch a tarp it should last fine. My tarp has a lightweight groundsheet separate from the fly so it's easy to replace the groundsheet as it wears out. It's not a substitute for a real alpine tent in real alpine situations, though I am working on a small solo version designed to be bombproof in the alpine - probably with their heavier .74 oz/sqyd Cuben Fiber Fabric which I think has twice the tear strength. A significant plus of this Cuben Fibre compared to say lightweight silicon nylon is the ease and permanence of field repairs. The self adhesive tape sticks permanently to it, and it doesn't stretch so a repair to a small hole should not compromise the overall strength and waterproofness of the fly at all. With nylon or polyester, you're sewing on a patch, hand sewing in the field is going to be time consuming and much weaker than the original, even a machine sewn patch done at home is more likely to rip at that point in the future. A couple of people here have Zpacks tents I believe, I'd be interested to hear how they are getting on in NZ conditions? Freight from the US is an issue, zpacks use a relatively expensive method to send overseas (US$45 for packages over $100 value), does anyone have experience of using New Zealand Posts YouShop service (or any similar services) to send stuff from the USA? Zpacks freight for free within the USA so that might work out better, package is going to be quite light. https://www.nzpost.co.nz/tools/youshop

I have the Zpacks Duplex and it's an absolute joy to carry and use for much of the short trip tramping I do around Auckland and North Island in general. Weighs a bit over 600 g and can fit two costly or an absolute palace for one with no weight burden over say the solo version (which is about 200 g less). Easy to pitch, I upgraded to the freestanding 'flex' version for occasions when it might be required. I've not taken the flex poles (about 280 g) yet as I always take trekking poles and camp on flat even ground. Big pluses: - weight, obviously! - packs up small - roomy and airy - high, adjustable water proof bathtub floor - semi transparent, full moon is spectacular! - two side opening doors, access pack from one and exit other - easy to pitch, after a little practice and all one piece - dries real fast in breeze hanging from a tree or trekking pole in a windswept tussock field - looks really cool (in my biased opinion, mine is unstealthy blue) - tried and tested design, must be millions of km on Zpacks shelters in the US alone - the rain sound, I find it soothing - with 680 g Zpacks framed pack, 350 g summer quilt and 450 g Neoair Xlite packweight for summer is just so light! Disadvantages: - really needs level even ground for trekking pole set up, hence the flex option. Lake MacKenzie Astro turf pads were not easy to set up on! Many swear words. - light and airy, potentially not as warm as an inner + fly tent - apparently not so good in high winds though I've not experienced anything more than gusty breeze and it was fine - expensive, but if it fits your needs it it really is worth saving up for. I shipped direct from Florida to Auckland in one week, may have saved a little via Youshop but didn't want to stuff around sending it across the US to Oregon. - semi transparent, some might feel less privacy, but you can't see any details through the fabric - you will no longer be able to browse tents without looking at weights of less than 1 kg and thinking that's too just heavy... you might just become a gram weenie, heaven forbid... - no one else knows what the hell it is, you don't get any 'wow, you have a Zpacks duplex, how cool!', despite the money you spent, if that's important to you... one day I got a kid asking me where I got my 'spaceship' from So, would I use it all over NZ? Yes and no. Took it to Fiordland last year, over the RB and down the Caples and it was perfect as was the weather in early Feb. lake Waikaremoana no problem in late April with good sleeping bag and insulated mat. But for the upcoming solo trip to Travers Sabine In Feb i will take a two layer heavier tent (Hilleberg niak) as I've not been in the circuit before, unsure of places to camp and the niak is free standing, has a separate inner which can be attached after the fly is put up. In other words, Id prefer to carry an extra 1 kg knowing that the niak is pretty much bomber and if conditions are too bad for that tent then I shouldnt be out there anyway...