Silnylon or Cuben Fiber Shelters
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| Echo 1 Cuben Fiber Tent. |
I am by no means an ultralight hiker. I do however care about the weight I am carrying, and I do seek out lightweight value oriented gear. However, after saying that, shelter can be one of the big weight hogs in a pack especially if you are hiking solo and cannot divide the weight of the shelter between two or more persons. So lets look at tents, a typical 2 person backpacking tent can weight 3 to 5 pounds not including stakes and ground cloths. This would be the typical tent an average camper would purchase. To shed weight, a hiker will probably look at purchasing specialty made tents made with specialty nylon materials.
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| Shire Tarp Tent. Notice the trekking pole is used instead of a tent pole to cut weight. Cost is ~ $200.00 for this tent |
Silnylon is the most popular of these specialty nylons. The advantage is it is a durable fabric while lessening weight. The material is a nylon impregnated with silicon to make it more durable. The disadvantage to sil nylon is it is a bit difficult to repair if you have a tear in the field, (duct tape does not stick to it) and there are condensation issues that have to be dealt with if it is not ventilated well. Because many of these tents are single wall tents or tarps, with no storm fly, hikers have to make sure that when there is condensation due to rain or temperature changes, the hiker and/or his gear do not touch the walls of the tent where there is moisture. Touching the material in this state will allow the moisture to leak into the structure and possibly allow any gear under the shelter to become wet.
The weight advantage over a conventional backpacking tent is benefited by not using aluminum tent poles. Generally with the smaller silnylon tents a trekking pole that is already carried by the hiker and is used for support. Between the lighter weight of of the material and good designs, the weight of the tent including lightweight titanium tent stakes and specialty guy lines generally will be in the 2-3 lb arena. If you are carrying a silnylon tarp as a shelter, weight is even lower. My 8x10 tarp with titanium stakes and guy line falls just under 15 oz.
Cuben Fiber is the newest high tech on the block. Extremely lightweight, less condensation problems compared to silnylon, and although you have to be a bit more careful with placement as the fabric is very thin (as not to rip the fabric), is becoming more popular with long distance hikers The other advantage of cuben fiber is easy field repairs if torn. Duct Tape does adhere to Cuban Fiber Nylon and makes for an easy emergeny repair.
Unfortunately, cuben fiber material is expensive. Go figure. However the weight advantage over a long hike may just outweigh the higher initial cost. The cost of a cuben fiber tent generally falls into the $350-500 range. However let's look at the weight differences of a Henry Shire TarpTent and a Zpacks Hexamid Solo Plus cuben fiber tent.
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| Henry Shires Contrail Sil nylon 1 person tent. |
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| ZPacks Hexamid Solo Plus. 1 Person Tent. |
1 person tent comparison weights of silnylon and Cuben Fiber.
Contrail Sil nylon tent Hexamid Cuben Fiber Tent
$199.00 Cost $395.00 with storm beak
24.5 ounces Tent Weight 10.7 ounces
2 ounces Tent pegs Titanium 2 ounces
5.5 ounces Tyvex Ground Cloth 3.3 ounces, cuben fiber
groundcloth/bathtub floor
$10-30.00 Ground cloth cost $105.00
31 ounces Total weight 16 ounces
So comparing the two tents above, and I must say that both companies make excellent tents for long distance hiking, cuben fiber wins hands down when it comes to weight. Weight advantage of cuben fiber is almost a pound and the tent has more floorspace inside the tent allowing you to store your pack or sleep a second person in a pinch. Advantage probably would go to the sil nylon tent for durability and definitely cost. The silnylon tent may sleep just a tad bit warmer due to the heavier fabric as well and would be a very small advantage in colder weather. The cuben fiber tents are semi transparent due to the material and if better privacy in your tent is important, you will have to decide if this is important enough to carry the increased weight. I have slept in a cuben fiber tent and I must say the difused light of the moon and stars "leaking into my tent" was awesome.
The advantage definitely goes to cuben fiber for footprint size while riding in your pack. It just packs smaller...duh....with the weight advantage and size of the stuff sack, you may just be able to reduce your pack size on the trail as well!!!!! You would reduce your pack size instead of loading up more stuff right? :)
Tarps in cuben fiber would also be interesting, and benefit from the weight and size differences as well. Just think an 8x10 tarp would be reduced from 14 ounces to 8.5 ounces. Well, as in any decisions, there are always things to be considered. For me, if I can find a lightly used cuben fiber tent for a great price, I just might have to pick it up........and for those that will say I am becoming a gram weenie and counting every gram, nope, I may stay with what I have, my tarp is light and easy to set up but it would be nice to be lighter and have more options to be enclosed for those sudden nasty storms people have to weather on the trail.
Links to the manufactures from above.
Zpack Tents and Backpacks http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/hexamid.shtml
Henry Shires TarpTents http://www.tarptent.com/index.html
Other lightweight Tents and gear
Mountain Laurel Designs http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/
Hyperlight Mountain Gear http://www.hyperlitemountaingear.com/echo-i-ultralight-system.html
LightHeart http://www.lightheartgear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=14
Six Moon Designs http://www.sixmoondesigns.com
ULA Designs Although they do not make tents, check out their lightweight backpacks! I am the proud owner of their lightweight Circuit backpack and I can vouch it is one awesome pack for traveling long distances on the Appalachian Trail. Lightweight durable, and comfortable carrying 35 lbs or less. The bonus is it is American Made in the great state of Utah. The price is right so hit them up on the internet and buy one today!!!
www.ula-equipment.com
So, go out and hike your own hike today!
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