Help me find a non sil solo UL tents?

[tuswm]

I have a nice UL 2 person tent but I dont like the sil nylon. I would like to find a tent in the 1+ pound range.

looks like "the one" is out of stock until further notice. what are my other options. 600 bucks for a light heart cuben is just out of my price range. I have even considered making a cuben fiber tent myself and even that is super expensive.

[Snowleopard]

What don't you like about silnylon?
If you don't like the slippery floor but like the rest of the tent, you could cut out the floor of your current tent leaving a small amount and sewing a PU (polyurethane) coated nylon floor.

[royalusa]

Have you seen: http://hikelighter.com/2011/12/29/sulxul-enclosed-shelter-comparisons

and its discussion here: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-...to_post=488137

[TyTy]

I have thought the same thing and it appears there is not a lot of options. It seems like you have the non sil-nylon tents (that weight a lot, typically made by big name manufacturers), sil stuff which is kind of the mid weight option, and then cuben which is super expensive. Not a lot in between.

Does anyone know why Goassamer Gear stopped producing The One? I really don't see any spinnaker stuff anymore, maybe it is gone or hard to get I don't know.

I share your frustration with the lack of options. It seems like the choices boil down to sil (slippery, misting, absorbs water) or cuben.

[leaftye]

Appytrails
Zpacks

[Franco]

The Appytrail III is light because it is a shaped tarp. No floor no bug protection.
The ZPack Duo is $400 , plus accessories.

Spinnaker. It had to do with quality control.
Franco

[RayBan]

The Appytrail III is light because it is a shaped tarp. No floor no bug protection.
The ZPack Duo is $400 , plus accessories.

You might want to take a look at the Hexamid Solo/Solo Plus...not $400, but $285 for the Solo Plus (less for the Solo)

http://zpacks.com/

[Franco]

missed the solo bit. I had in mind his UL 2 person bit...

[skinewmexico]

Tarptent Sublite. Love mine.

[Shadowalker]

Can anyone tell me where I can purchase Cuben Fiber material too have a Pack cover sewed , I know they sell it by the Sq. Yrd. but cant find the site , Any help would be apprieciated , THANKS !!

[RWheeler]

Can anyone tell me where I can purchase Cuben Fiber material too have a Pack cover sewed , I know they sell it by the Sq. Yrd. but cant find the site , Any help would be apprieciated , THANKS !!

http://thru-hiker.com/materials/index.php

Probably the best site for purchasing materials. but I don't think they sell Cuben.

You can also try: http://www.diygearsupply.com/

Send either place an email, see if you can purchase Cuben?

[RayBan]

Can anyone tell me where I can purchase Cuben Fiber material too have a Pack cover sewed , I know they sell it by the Sq. Yrd. but cant find the site , Any help would be apprieciated , THANKS !!

http://www.questoutfitters.com/coated.html#CUBEN

[tuswm]

What don't you like about silnylon?

i dont like the way it handles watet. the way water soakes through the floor and how it soakes up water like a sponge when its raining. i do have a small samle of cuben figer. ots amazingly water proof. even if ot was the same weight as sil i would still consider it tp be a far superior tent material.

[FamilyGuy]

Tarptent uses a combination PU and silnylon floor if I recall with a hydrostatic head of 2500mm. It won't leak.What you want to confirm with any floor is the hydrostatic head with a minimum of about 1200mm to 1500mm for the floor. It could be made out of cotton as long as it meets that standard you should be fine. Not all silnylon is the same.

[Tinker]

http://www.bearpawwd.com/tents_tarps/lair.html

Order it with a floor and perimeter netting. $195. + $60.

[Franco]

As the Family Guy stated , not all silnylon is the same
So I did a quick test on a piece of 5'x3' silnylon of the type used by TT
sil-soack-test-1-1.jpg
Dry it is about 65g (my scale measures in 5 g increments)
Sil-soak-test-2.jpg

I soaked that in a measuring flask for about 1.5 hours .
Sli-soack-test-3-1.jpg
I then picked that up gave it 4 shakes and weighed that again, it went up to 80g (23%, consistent with previous experiments leaving a tent under rain all night)
You can see water droplets on not in the fabric
Sil-soack-test-4-1.jpg
straight after I put it on my clothes line (in the shade , about 20c (68f) for ten minutes.
it felt dry then and was back to about 65g.

Now, do a similar test with another fabric/laminate (yes including Cuben) and see if you can do better
Franco

[TyTy]

Now, do a similar test with another fabric/laminate (yes including Cuben) and see if you can do better
Franco

I would be VERY curious to see that same test performed with cuben.

[tuswm]

I would too but I only have a very small sample of cuben not even enough to make a stuff sack for a sock, and my scale doesnt go grams.

I have a Tarp Tent Double rainbow. I think its the best free standing tent on the market. But with you pitch it on moist or wet ground it soaks through. So I got the tyvek ground cloth.. Still soaked through. So I got a polycro (sliding glass door Plastic wrap for $4) And that stopped the problem. I know that most people here have never have never handled cuben but it feels like polycro. IF I had to describe it I would say its polycr reinforced with fiber to make it crazy strong. It doesnt absorb water at all. I am not saying that cuben is a better fabric. I have notice it will stretch in some directions and but not in the directions of the fabric. but it is not elastic. it stays stretched out. It is also not a pleasant material to touch. also being as it feels like a stiff sheet of plastic, does it breath at all? however It apears to be impermeable, or a completely water proof fabric. not water in or out. If this is true I dont understand why people would be making clothes out of it. Also the cost is just crazy. absolutely crazy.

[RayBan]

I would be VERY curious to see that same test performed with cuben.

Just did a test on one of Joe's zpack's dry sacks a la what you did Franco but immersed mine (NOT recommended by Joe before seam-sealing) and only "shook it off" before weighing, not waited after hanging it up to "dry".

Result: starting mass was 11 grams; mass after "immersion" period (30 min. in very warm water - certainly above the 68F used for the silnylon test) was 13 grams, i.e., 2 grams net.

Ron Bell at Mountain Laurel designs says the cuben is 100% waterproof (http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/fabric.php ) so I assume that the 2 gram differential in my test was from water soaking into the seams since the outside of the dry bag itself was "bone dry".

[TyTy]

Just did a test on one of Joe's zpack's dry sacks a la what you did Franco but immersed mine (NOT recommended by Joe before seam-sealing) and only "shook it off" before weighing, not waited after hanging it up to "dry".

Result: starting mass was 11 grams; mass after "immersion" period (30 min. in very warm water - certainly above the 68F used for the silnylon test) was 13 grams, i.e., 2 grams net.

Ron Bell at Mountain Laurel designs says the cuben is 100% waterproof (http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/fabric.php ) so I assume that the 2 gram differential in my test was from water soaking into the seams since the outside of the dry bag itself was "bone dry".

I have read that cuben is 100% waterproof, I don't see how it couldn't be its basically mesh sandwiched by two sheets of plastic.

I really do not like the idea of my 34 oz sil tent gaining 25% water weight. That sucks.