Cuben fiber tarp (2011)

Since I really like to stay under a tarp in the woods I wanted to try to make a lightweight tarp for use above the treeline as well. This would require a lot better protection from wind and rain than a regular flat square tarp that I usually use. I also wanted to try the Cuben material that is being raised to the skies in all the UL forums out there!

The design is fairly conservative with a large beak at the front and a small one at the back. I also added a LOT of guyline attachment points to prevent any flapping in strong winds. The ridgeline has a slight catenary cut that I found was more important with Cuben than it would have been with silnylon because of the much stiffer and less stretchy behaviour of this material. I decided to use trekking poles with the handles down and sharp ends up through 14mm grommets secured in 40mm webbing on the inside of the tarp and some nylon reinforcements on the outside. All guyline attachement points were also reinforced with similar nylon patches glued to the Cuben film.

Final weight of the tarp ended up at 230g which I think is perfectly OK. With 8 stakes and an inner bug bivvy I ended up at a total of about 550g (still not counting the hiking poles though).

Some real world pictures: