Alf Outdoors
F.K.A tarptent
Thanks Dave...Do you have a link to a stockist I could try?
Cuben shelter design.
- Thread starter Enzo
- Start date
Thanks Dave...Do you have a link to a stockist I could try?
Tread Lite Gear sell the Venture tape, it will only bond DCF/Cuben though. It may adhere to other fabrics but it will not last very long. https://www.treadlitegear.co.uk/50m-cuben-tape---choose-width-309-p.asp
WilliamC
Thru Hiker
Worth the weight, IMO. The 0.8 has a very reassuring feel to it, more so than I remember the 0.74 stuff having, even. I reckon it will last a fair bit longer.
Rog Tallbloke
Thru Hiker
Surprised to find my 16 feet of 0.51 is enough to make a copy of this. 47" high, 96" long and 70" wide. Useful vol to surface area. Pole weighs 222g. About the same as a trekking pole.
Rog Tallbloke
Thru Hiker
Not too worried. The single arch will rattle in the wind no matter how smoothe the cloth looks becalmed.
You simply can't make this design taut because it uses a bendypole.
I'll add twin zips for awning setup and underpole grommets for A frame trekking pole support though
You simply can't make this design taut because it uses a bendypole.
I'll add twin zips for awning setup and underpole grommets for A frame trekking pole support though
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Alf Outdoors
F.K.A tarptent
Rog, it might be be possible to get rid of the pole altogether because the top could be strung up via a taught ridge line between two trees, when in a forest (assuming you fit webbing tie outs to it), or via a ridge line between two trekking poles, which are then guyed out tight, when trees are not available. So rather than making your DCF version a direct copy, you could add your own custom design elements to it.
Rog Tallbloke
Thru Hiker
It's a good game designing a fully enclosed tarp using just 16 feet of 53" wide material. I've been playing it for ages. Lol.
What surprised me about the single arch design is that it's so wide (70"), but plenty high in the centre (47"), and long enough at 96" because it's near vertical at the ends.
If you think you can design a straight ridged tent out of the same cloth dimensions which is as roomy in a useful way, join in the game and post a plan.
cathyjc
Thru Hiker
I made a single pole tent like this 30yrs ago. Not DCF , obviously. I used shower curtain fabric (waterproofed) - that's all I could get my hands on.
I put 2 zips up each side - approx. where the seams are. It gave numerous ways to configure the door.
I made a 'not very good'
inner for one side for sleeping and had an emormous porch in the other side - I like big porches .I had a tape, with grommets at the ends, ran the length of the tent to hold the poles at the correct distance.
Still in the loft tho' I'd not use it now - altogether too heavy for todays expectations - but I loved it then
.Suggestion - don't use DCF for the pole 'tunnel' - the abrasion will wear holes in it too fast.
Rog Tallbloke
Thru Hiker
I made a single pole tent like this 30yrs ago. Not DCF , obviously. I used shower curtain fabric (waterproofed) - that's all I could get my hands on.
I put 2 zips up each side - approx. where the seams are. It gave numerous ways to configure the door.
I made a 'not very good'
I had a tape, with grommets at the ends, ran the length of the tent to hold the poles at the correct distance.
Still in the loft tho' I'd not use it now - altogether too heavy for todays expectations - but I loved it then
Suggestion - don't use DCF for the pole 'tunnel' - the abrasion will wear holes in it too fast.
I'm not laughing about the weight of your shower curtain, I just made a prototype tunnel tent out of TWO 1kg army bivybags. Lol.
I have been thinking about the pole tunnel, and what to line it with. I'm considering that stiff woven plastic tape used to fasten boxes to pallets. Some people use it to stiffen the openings on vents. If I sewed two pieces together at the edges and taped the resulting flat sleeve into a wide (2") seam between the tent halves, it would provide a minimal friction sleeve for the pole, and stiff flat edges to minimise peel forces on the taped joint. Not very good for packability though, so I'm open to other suggestions to achieve the same goals.
Enzo
Thru Hiker
I'm looking for some 2m long card to make a cat cut guide out of. I was planning on cutting deflections into the sides of the central panel and where the vestibule panels meet those. Don't know how adding a cat to those will effect the currently tort vestibules?
V1 is the testbed.
Anyone with some spare bits of 100g/m hybrid cuben taking up space? I could help
V1 is the testbed.
Anyone with some spare bits of 100g/m hybrid cuben taking up space? I could help
cathyjc
Thru Hiker
'ordinary' silnylon - maybe a slightly heavier variety should be OK for the pole tunnel - whatever TN use will be OK.
Joining the 'tunnel' to the main panels is always going to be a 'stitching' job.
Rog Tallbloke
Thru Hiker
Well I always like being unconventional, and I'm impressed by the holding power of the tape. I'm going to go for a flat taped seam and the pole tunnel attached to the underside. The big problem is the inevitable wrinkling in the seam. Hmm.
Alf Outdoors
F.K.A tarptent
Do you mean plastic banding Rog? That is usually only 10mm wide, so strips of that would be extremely hard to sew together and the "hole" though the middle would be far too small for a tent pole. It's also quite brittle...If it get twisted it can fracture.
You can do away with a sleeve for the pole altogether (which is an old fashioned design these days anyway) and use plastic U clips sewn to short lengths of webbing, which in turn are sewn to the cuben. So effectively the tent hangs from the pole. It will make the tent much quicker to pitch. All modern tent designs from the US use such clips and even the cheaper brands are now copying them.
To save weight, you could use Dyneema fishing line instead of webbing ( 1mm Dyneema Spider Braid can take 300lbs (134kg). You can make your clips with black 20mm OD UPVC tubing (electrical conduit), cut to length, softened with a heatgun, cut to shape, heated and bent to final shape, then drilled to take the fishing line...Not sure how the other end of the lines would attach to the cuben though...Maybe just sew them through a patch of tape.
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Rog Tallbloke
Thru Hiker
I want to use the strength of the dyneema fibres embedded inside the DCF cloth rather than put so much stress on the mylar surface film.
Alf Outdoors
F.K.A tarptent
There is no Mylar in Cuben Fiber/DCF...Mylar is Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) but the film in Cuben fiber/DCF is Polyester, a completely different material with different properties...Polyester is easy to a sew, Mylar isn't.
If Nylon was as easy to form into a thin sheets as Polyester is, then they could make a composite fabric that is half the weight of DCF, with the same strength...Unfortunately Nylon is only really good for making filaments, not sheets.
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Rog Tallbloke
Thru Hiker
OK. I want to use the strength of the dyneema fibres embedded inside the DCF cloth rather than put so much stress on the polyester surface film.
Alf Outdoors
F.K.A tarptent
Are the Dyneema fibres in DCF unidirectional? I would have thought there would be a network of them crossing each other at right angles between the two films to ensure the fabric is strong in a least 2 directions, not just one. If so then the strength of the fabric will be the same in both the X and Y axis, and you shouldn't have to worry about the film.
Rog Tallbloke
Thru Hiker
@tarptent It doesn't matter how many fibres there are or what direction they run in if you are tearing the surface film off the top of them under tension. Why would I hang my tent from the surface film when I can use the strength of the embedded dyneema fibres by placing the pole beneath the cloth?
@cathyjc will tell you how easily the surface film can be torn under tension.
@cathyjc will tell you how easily the surface film can be torn under tension.
WilliamC
Thru Hiker
You seem confused on this. The two varieties of DCF used for tents (k and e varieties) both use a form of PET, one of which is mylar (the k variety, I believe). At the same time they both use polyester, since PET is a form of polyester, which is why polyester fleeces can be made from recycled PET water bottles (where PET is spun into "polyester" fibres).
I think your confusion is because you think polyester is one single thing; it isn't, it's a group of polymers containing an ester functional group so there are different polyesters. PET is the most common type, so not "a completely different material".
Buy some DCF, the edges are the pure PET/polyester; try to sew it.
Enzo
Thru Hiker
I'm starting to change my views slightly on this, I did some tests with sewn Vs taped seams on 0.51. the taped were far stronger. I think in lighter weight cuben tearing the top film off is less of a concern than stitch hole stretching. Sewing still has its place but I think delamination in shear is less of s concern than I thought.
WilliamC
Thru Hiker
It seems feasible that delamination in shear would be less than in peel in the same way that glue/tape bonds usually are.