I'm wondering just how light the simplest zip hoodless shirt/jacket and pants could be. Any guesses?

I realize a simple Cuben Fiber VBL sack would be far easier to make but I want the ability to wear the VBL under my down jacket and pants while in my sleeping bag.

Just a wild guess, but my VBL suit is 3.2 ounces for the shirt and 3.0 ounces for the pants, so I'd guess about 1 ounce each for cuben fiber.

Not including the zipper, for 1 oz you can use up to 3 yds of 0.33oz/yd cuben, which should be plenty.

Eugene,

What material is your suit made from?

Lynn,

Are you saying the jacket & pants combined would only require a total of 3 yards?

Thanks,
rusty

Mine is silnylon. Since cuben fiber is less than 1/3rd the weight of silnylon, it bears to reason that a cuben fiber suit would be about 1/3rd the weight.

I don't think this isn't too far outside the spirit of this thread...

Have any of you ever tried turning your rain gear inside out to use as a VBL? +0 oz. weight penalty and bonus points for multiple use, but I don't know how well it would work. It probably depends largely on how effective your DWR finish is.

It might work a little bit, but probably not in the way that you think...unless you have nonbreathable raingear.

Bill patterned and sewed some cuben vapor barrier booties some time back.

http://ultraliteskunkworks.blogspot.com/2007/06/cuben-footies-vbls-022oz-pair.html

* edited : I had spelled Bill's name wrong *

Edited by sharalds on 06/16/2010 09:21:05 MDT.

Thanks Sam for posting the link to my Blog.

Here is the BPL thread for the Cuben Footies:


Cuben FootiesCuben Footies Link

I also made a pair of Cuben Rain / VB Pants:


Cuben Rain VB Pants

I made a Vest also out of Cuben but it turned out to tight and I recycled it into something else.

Edited by bfornshell on 06/15/2010 19:00:35 MDT.

For some reason I was incapable of typing "Bill" and typed "Build" in my post - - a freudian slip perhaps?

I didn't have a link to the cuben rain pants, thanks for posting that as that's a far closer response to the O.P.'s request.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. And Bill, those pants look great! Thanks for the link. Question though. With no shoes on, can you get the pants on when the legs are buttoned up? For simplicities sake, and to save weight, I'd prefer to not have a zipper or buttons down there.

Hi Rusty,

With my low hiking shoes I can get the pants on or off with the snaps closed if I take my time. You should make the legs just a bit wider if you don't want snaps or zippers

The snaps are for more then one reason. I can unsnap a few of them to vent my lower legs as well as pull them up and sort of turn them into a pair of long shorts.

If you recall from the "Pants" thread, Jhaura, offered to put snaps on something for me. Then within the last year he offered his snap machine for sale and I bought it. The next time I come across my Pants pattern I am going to make another pair and use those type of snaps. I will make the Pants so I can roll them up above the knee and use them as a pair of shorts.

I have a Silnylon VB suit. I think Silnylon is better suited for the job because it has some stretch, which allows for a bit more freedom of movement. A Cuben VB suit would probably be more awkward to move in.

-Sid