I made a prototype shelter by using 0.6 oz. cuben fiber.

dimension:
8.6' wide x 5' depth x 4.3' tall

shape:
pyramidal shape with catenary cut

it's only 6 oz.(170g) without stakes, extra guy-line and pole.

it's very easy one hiking pole and at least 4 stakes to pitch.

Edited by jotaro on 11/16/2009 04:58:44 MST.

Looks an awful lot like an MLD DuoMid.

Wow, that looks great. I'm curious as to how you have a final weight so much lower then the MLD DuoMid. You both use the same material and have almost the same dimensions (I think yours is a bit shorter)...what are the differences. It looks very well made.

Edited by Steve_Evans on 11/15/2009 07:22:21 MST.

Chris,
Ron uses black reinforcement at the top...
And I don't see door tie-outs.
Otherwise, "Imitation is the best form of flattery".

But, being shorter, I wonder why it isn't seamed like a SpeedMid?

Edited by greg23 on 11/15/2009 07:35:29 MST.

It looks so nice to me since I found my sil MLD duomid a little too long. The workmanship looks excellent. Furthermore, the weight is amazing.

Besides, how did you reinforce at the top?

Edited by syoten on 11/15/2009 09:04:51 MST.

Nice ... VERY nice!

A couple questions:
1) zipper size? (#3, #5, ??)
2) how much catenary deflection when cutting the sloped edges?
3) did you sew, glue or tape the seams? or some combination of those?

Thank you for all comments.^^

As all of you noticed, by natural consequences, it looks like DuoMid. But I don't have the pattern and don't have a Duomid. Furthermore, I've never seen DuoMid itself in real. And It seems to have different cutting and seam line compare to DuoMid. Also upper vent window is different.

As so many dome tents unavoidably oriented same direction of shape and design, it is unavoidable to make mono-pole shelter as most primitive shape and it is a result of most efficiency cutting from this expensive fabric.

I have no idea why mine is lighter than DuoMid. And I don't know how much does the DuoMid weight. I'm using Dyneema x gridstop and heavy PVC coated fabric for reinforcement at peak and every tie outs.

Zipper size is #3. Catenary deflection is about 1.6".
I lightly glued and then sewed all seams.

Wow, very nice and impressive. You should go into business making those... "XUL Cuben pyramid tent"

Impressive! Can I buy one?

Alternatively, this shelter was born to inspire a MYOG article at backpackinglight.com!

Stargazer

Jotaro very nice job! The weight is mind blowing.

This has me thinking I may want to try a catenary cut for a similar design I am planning.

Wow, what beautiful workmanship! And a beautiful taut pitch to it.

What CUBEN FIBER did you use, not the weight but the CUBIC TECH trade name?

I used ct2k.08 (.74oz, MLD's .6) and made a mid a little longer, but shorter and narrower than yours. I used sil for the tie-out reinforcements and 1.9 for the peak and a #zipper. All are as light or lighter than you used but my weight was 8oz, however i did add line-locs to the 6 tie-outs, so subtract 1 ounce, but still heavier.

I am thinking you may have the one step lighter CUBEN fabric.

-Tim

Thank you for all comments.^^
I appreciate for all.

well, if somebody want to get my products, I'm ready to sell.
now I'm preparing web shop to start to sell my products including this cuben shelter.

I choose CT0.6K.08. also i put 6 linelocs.

According to Cubic Tech CT0.6K.08 is .45 oz and not .6 oz. That explains the weight.

I made a mistake. I'm living in metric system.^^

CT0.6K.08 is 15.8g/sqm nearly equal to 0.56oz/sqm.
So I wrote 0.6oz.(/sqm) .
It is about 0.45 oz./sqyd

thanks.

Edited by jotaro on 11/16/2009 04:55:33 MST.

I really want to buy one.
But I still concern about the strength of 0.45 oz./sqyd cuben which I haven't see or touch itself. According to specification of MLD speed tarp, .60 cuben is almost twice as strong as .45 one, and other descriptions sounds it really needs special care. Thus, I'm looking foward to seeing any review of this 6 oz. two persons pyramid.

I can't wait to see your web shop!

that explains the awesomely light weight. Great job by the way. I love gear that is insanely light, its fun.

-Tim

reference data

how do you feel about the durability of the .47oz stuff you used? The heavier .75 i feel will be stronger than silnylon and should last a long time. That said the weight savings that can be achieved with the lighter fabric is fantastic and i hope to hear some reports on long term durability.


the stuff MLD is calling their .45 is actually the .57 stuff and their .6 is the .75. I am not sure what others are using and calling .6, but OWARE recently got some of the .75 on the big order that was made for the brown fabric. There are a few people who have used the .57 stuff for large mid and now you are using even lighter material. I am hoping to hear great things about the durability.

I have been using the .33 (one step down from the .47) for quilts and it is much too fragile for shelter use. I am excited to see if the only slightly heavier .47 is robust enough for this purpose.

Keep us posted on your site, very exciting!

-Tim

Tim,

If people do call the .57 stuff .45 and .75 stuff .60. I'm wondering if it is possible that the situation is similiar to silnylon. For example, the 1.4oz/sq.yd. one is 1.1oz/sq.yd. before silicone impregated.

Anyway, I think calling a .75 stuff .60 is misleading. It makes people feel that the stuff is lighter than it really is, and for me I just believed the assertion that the spectalite.60 is Less than half the weight of Silnylon described in MLD's fabric mojo.

Zpacks also has .60 oz/sq.yd. cuben. Does anyone has idea how much it really weighs?

I'm still not sure the .60 stuff used by MLD is .75 stuff or not. Hope Ron can answer this question.