I have been working on a pattern for a Foot VBL made out of Cuben Fiber. I first made several muslin patterns to get the right size for my foot. Tonight I finished my first pair out of Cuben Fiber. I expect to try a couple more pattern ideas but this pair will give me something to wear and see what happens.

The pair weighs 0.22oz and are 10" tall. I wear a size 11 shoe.

Edited by bfornshell on 10/29/2005 00:49:55 MDT.

Bill,

looks like real professional, high quality, cottage industry work. good job. you are quite accomplished with the needle and thread.

keep it up. you're an inspiring individual. really appreciate the time it takes you to post your creations.

thanks again.

Bill,

Do you have enough room in the Cuben Footies to wear a sock layer to absorb some of the perspiration. I suspect that might make them a little more comfortable in use than just slick? Cuben fabric against your feet, ankles and shins.

Rich

Rich,

good point. it does look like the thin Smartwool Liner sock might fit - but not one of the Smartwool light wt. hiker socks. i could be wrong though.

Richard: The theory is that the VBL goes next to the skin with the sock on top then my shoe. In this case my trail runners. When I made a sleeping bag VBL out of really light spinnaker ripstop I sewed in a light silk inner liner for your reason.

I do however, have room for a thin sock in my Cuben Footie's. I have always used a Rocky Gore-Tex bootie in my trail runner when it rains or when I expect heavy dew or a lot of creek crossing where I will get my shoes wet. I wear my socks then the "Rocky's". I also carry a little foot powder and that helps some to a lot.

I have a prototype for a pair of insulated full shoe gaiters to be used with my trail runners. They will attach to the full top of the trail runner but leave the bottom of the trail runner uncovered. They also are 10" high. My hope is to extend the use of my trail runners without using something like an overboot safely into the 0 to 20 degree range.

The combination of the foot VBL's and the insulated gaiters will give me something to test with.

Edited by bfornshell on 10/29/2005 12:39:21 MDT.

Bill,

Yes, I am quite aware of the idea of the VBL socks against the skin with the warm wool or other warm sock outside the the VBL sock (I have both Black Diamond and Warmlite VBL socks).

But as you know, many (as mentioned in part by Paul) use some sort of liner sock (be it poly, silk, wool) inside the VBL sock to help to wick some of the perspiration away from the foot. I am sure that you know that at least the newer Warmlite VBL socks have fuzzy stuff on the inside. Also, I believe that Ryan J. uses (at least some of the time) some sort of liner in his VBL socks.

Rich

Edited by naturephoto1 on 10/29/2005 18:09:53 MDT.

Bill,

so, you like the "Rocky's". i bought a pair in my size but they were so very tight. very difficult to even get them on over bare feet or over a very thin pair of Smartwool wool liner socks. so, i purchased the next size up. looser, than the proper size, but still quite tight and now i have to deal with the extra length at the toe.

i went through this exercise because my ID VB socks are comparatively fragile.

i'm back to using the ID VB socks, and resigning myself to replace them more frequently than i would need to if i could find some good "Rockies", or SealSkinz??? (no experience with SealSkinz). Anyone: are SealSkinz worth a try?, or will my experience be similar to the overly tight "Rockies"?

I used SealSkinzs with my Solomon Water Shoes for hiking during a 1 1/2 month SC Alaska Sea Kayaking expedition this summer. My feet got cold when I walked through the inevitable water puddles. Since SealSkinzs don't breathe I didn't try wearing my normal hiking socks under them.

Thanks Richard. What about sizing? How tight are the proper sized socks? Do you order the same size as your shoe or sock size? or, do you size-up?

I know it is easy to do but if you are going to go completly off the "Make your own gear" topic you should start a new thread to discuss the merits of the different commerical VB products. Thanks.

POSTED BY
Richard Nisley
(richard295 ) SUBJECT NEW Re: Trilemma: Rockies, SealSkinz, or VB socks? ON 10/30/2005 10:37:38 MST POST REPLY
I used SealSkinzs with my Solomon Water Shoes for hiking during a 1 1/2 month SC Alaska Sea Kayaking expedition this summer. My feet got cold when I walked through the inevitable water puddles. Since SealSkinzs don't breathe I didn't try wearing my normal hiking socks under them.

PRINT

POSTED BY
paul johnson
(pj ) SUBJECT NEW Re: Re: Trilemma: Rockies, SealSkinz, or VB socks? ON 10/30/2005 11:46:57 MST POST REPLY
Thanks Richard. What about sizing? How tight are the proper sized socks? Do you order the same size as your shoe or sock size? or, do you size-up?

Sorry, Bill. You're absolutely right. My apologies. It was all my fault. Richard was only trying to be helpful by responding to me. I'll try to keep the Thread topic clearly in mind in the future. Take care.

Edited by pj on 10/31/2005 00:39:49 MST.

You might also try a really strong anti-perspirant like mitchum unscented,[something from an old great pacific ironworks catalog].Great looking work,I envy your skill.

I got a phone call from Cuben Corp late last week telling me they were getting ready to open a web sales for the Cuben material. I got an email this afternoon saying there were now setup for credit cards.

The Cuben material is made in panel runs of just over 9 yards and they are not sure yet if they will use that as a minimun purchase. I told them that I hope they don't require that large a purchase. They are getting a lot of phone calls from us folks in the backpacking world about their material and want to make it easier for us to buy it. We are a new market for them and I expect they will have a few growing pains till they/we adjust to our needs/wants. They have been really nice to me and are commited to serving our material needs. Ordering on the web should make it much easier for both us and them.

I am still thinking about a combined bivy sack/hammock out of the fibre.

I couldn't figure out how to purchase any fabric.......

thanks,
a

For now you still have to call them. The web ording will not start for a couple of months. The good news is they now can take a credit card so the paymeny part is eaiser. Their phone number is 1-480-641-0438. The product number I have been using is CTO.6K.08 and the cost is $13.40 a yard plus they add a packing fee and a freight charge. You end up paying about $15 a yard.

My answer to using the Cuben material for a hammock is that I use silk and can get it almost the same weight and a lot cheaper. Silk at 0.57oz per sq yard = about $5 a yard. Cuben at 0.44 (+/-) oz per sq yard = about $15 a yard.

Using Cuben for a Bivy? BMW is coming out with something called a Nano-Bivy I think I read. It might use the Cuben material in someway, top or bottom? If I made a Bivy out of Cuben (0.44oz a sq yard) and say Pertex Quantam (.9oz a sq yard if this is correct) using the size of my BMW (large size) Vapr Bivy as a guide (about 33" by 78") and a total of about 2.22 sq yards of material, the weight of the material could be as little as about 3oz. Add sewing and the Cuben/Pertex Quantam Bivy could come out as light as 3oz (+/-) a bit. I don't have any idea how the Cuben would hold up as the bottom for a bivy but I think most use a ground sheet of some kind. Small holes should be easy to patch.

Sure gives you something to think about.

Edited by bfornshell on 11/06/2005 11:38:03 MST.

Bill,
speaking of killer fabrics, have you sourced pertex (quantum) in the states? I could only find it direct from Pennine in England, and they said they don't ship here. I'm still trying to find some eVENT remnants, but no luck there for me. So I guess I'll be going with EPIC for my bivy unless I can find that magical pertex q.
Eliza

Eliza, I know someone who said Pennine shipped him some Pertex Quantum sometime this past summer. I have looked at their web site but didn't like the colors they had to sell. I got lucky last Oct 04 and was able to get 5 yards each of two different colors of Pertex Quantum. One color was seconds and one color was firsts. I should have gotten more but didn't. I have been saving it for something special and at the time I got it I hadn't been doing much sewing. I am sewing more and when I decide how I want to use it will make something out of some of it.

For now I have the cocoon pants and pull over on order.

There was a time when I thought I had to have some eVent. I was offered some but I thought the price was to high and the color was really bad. So I said no. Today I would buy some (if it was a good color) at $16 a yard or so but not much more than that.

I have a lot of the Cuben material to play with and that will keep me busy for awhile.

Edited by bfornshell on 11/06/2005 16:25:36 MST.

Bill suggests that Pennine Outdoor can be persuaded to ship to the States, but please note that the only quantum they have left is described as "with a white coating which makes it more waterproof". Unfortunately the coating also increases the weight from 30 gsm (0.88 oz/sq yd) to 53 gsm (1.56 oz/sq yd).

Modesty prevents me telling you who bought the last 5 metres of the uncoated stuff. Presumably there won't be any more until the new owners get production going in Japan.

David