Anyone know where I can purchase the cuben fabric and how much it costs? I have some projects that I would love to do with this fabric, but I can not find it anywhere. I would really appreciate the input. Also any info. from those who have used this fabric for tarps and/or poncho tarps and packs would be helpful. How easy/difficult is this material to work with compared to silnylon and spinntex fabrics.

Use the search function on this forum. There is plenty of postings compiled on what you can make and where to buy and so on.

Although at first it seemed like a great idea to me too, after finding that it costs $13 a yard, and $8 or so for shipping...it was not worth it for things like sacks and gloves and the like. That kind of money easily translates into bigger weight losses than .5 oz a yard on material for relatively small items...for me anyway.

I have made items from silk, silnylon, coated & uncoated nylon and polyester fabrics and
I found the Cuben fabric as easy if not the easiest
to work with.

Paul Kaercher

Which cuben product do you use for what applications (pack, tarp etc)and what are the costs. Nailing this info down on the website seems to hurt my knuckles as I am draggin them around the site. You say its easier to work, with meaning it sews easier than ripstop and sil?

On the cuben fiber website it sounds like i would have to order many yards(can not order just one yard). Is this true or am I just reading the data page wrong? I only want one or two yards of the 0.2oz. cuben for a pack project/stuff sacks/rain gloves. How much does the 0.2oz. material cost(someone wrote that the 0.5oz. cost $13 per. yard). Is the 0.2oz. weight accurate, or not? How waterproof/resistant? What about shipping costs? Etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.......

I don't know about the rest of you, but I think we all need to nail down the specific details on this site/fabric. There is alot of scattered info., but I think we should try and consolidate it into one large forum post. What do the rest of you think? Any info. on anything to do with cuben fabric would be much appreciated.

Also, how much success has anyone had making packs out of this awesome stuff? Has anyone designed one with similar design to gossamer gear packs?

You know, I'm all for directing people to use search fcailities for WHATEVER they happen to be after - asking a question without first searching is the height of laziness, and I detest it.

HOWEVER - this site's sarch functionality is a JOKE. There is no way to get more than 20 hits, so asking
someone to search for info on 'cuben' just ain't gonna fly, and for the kind of info he's after, it's hard to refine that search to actually produce something useful.

On top of the 20-post limit, it returns the 20 most recent, making the whole thing even more useless.

Of course, you can always use the 'site:backpackinglight.com' operator at google.

Jonathan,

Would you mind posting the link where you found the cuben material? I would like to take a look at it and see if I could sort out your questions. Without having seen the site, I will say that fabric manufacturers often have a minimum purchase requirement, making some fabrics very difficult to obtain in small quantities.

Jay
MYOG

I have 2 threads with Cuben in the title located in the "Make Your Own Gear" part of the forum. There are about 6 pages of topics and you might have to look at more than just the first page.

Cuben fiber, how to get it and to to use it has been talked about so much here, but I do agree that you have to look to find it.

I don't type fast and have gotten tired of typing and retyping the same info time after time. I think Paul and I are the only ones here that have done enought with Cuben to talk about it. I don't count Ryan J.

I will start one more thread on the topic and do a cut and paste of as many posts that talk about Cuben as I can find. Then I will answer questions on that thread only as new information is available.

I called Quest Outfitters at
Quest Outfitters

They had said they were going to sell Cuben Fiber.

Yes, they are selling Cuben Fiber but have not added it to their web site yet. It sells for $24.95 a yard. What they have is 54" wide and I think it is the 0.44oz a sq yard Cuben product. You don't have to buy a full yard. They ship almost always the same day you order it.

www.cubenfiber.com

I spoke to Chris, the guy responsible for shipping orders from the Cuben manuf. facility. He stated that they were working on their website and hoped to have something useful for folks like us in the next 2 months or so. If you really want the stuff, I recommend calling them. They might be willing to look around for short lengths, because as everyone knows they are in the business of 100+ yard pieces for the sail makers.

On a personal note, after I decided I did not need the 3 yard piece they offered to send me, he said he would send me a 1 yard piece he had. $14 for the material and $14 for shipping!!! That is a rip-off...no 2 ways about it. He stated that they like to send all pieces rolled in a tube so they have no wrinkles. I told him that if he folded it and put it in an envelope it really would not be that big a deal...but he insisted it was easier to work with unwrinkled. Whatever the case...at $24.95 a yard from another site, or $14 for shipping from Cuben, the stuff seems overpriced for the little guys.