I just noticed Zpacks is now selling the fabric used in their Exo backpacks - the 2.92 oz/sqyrd Hybrid Cuben Fiber - Nylon fabric. $39 per linear yard, and available in black or tan.

http://www.zpacks.com/materials.shtml

This stuff is more durable than cuben fiber alone.

I can't think of any advantage that this material would have over the far cheaper xpac laminates from Dimension Polyant.

It is far lighter than anything that DP has. I do like DP products though.

I'm considering getting some of this to modify my existing pack (harness is great, material too heavy). I would be cutting off the back 3/4 of the pack fabric, leaving the panel that is attached to the harness, and attaching this stuff to that. The back panel is 500 denier nylon.

How do I attach this cuben hybrid to 500 denier nylon? Just sew it, then seam seal with silicon afterwards? I'm guessing cuben tape isn't going to work on the 500 denier nylon? I'm assuming though that cuben tape works on the inside of this new fabric? How are people attaching two pieces of this fabric together? How do Zpacks do it? With the nylon face fabric, I guess sewing is much more viable, then you could tape over that on the inside...?

Wouldn't you know this would happen while building a pack, and after ordering some 1.5 oz cuben, researching endlessly about it, and finally deciding on and ordering Xpac instead. But thank you for the heads up. Know that you weren't deliberately trying to torment me.

"I can't think of any advantage that this material would have over the far cheaper xpac laminates from Dimension Polyant."

Have to agree. Given less than one sq. yd. surface area for the pack, then the weight savings is less than the 2 ounce/sq/yd difference between this and the 5 ounce Xpac.

IMO, cost aside, somewhere around an ounce and a half or so of weight savings is not worth shelving the very durable and waterproof 5 ounce Xpac from Rockywoods. Tempting, though. But expensive, too. Is there some point at which embarrassment sets in from what your gear is made of? Depends on the person, I guess.

Edited by scfhome on 10/04/2011 21:15:34 MDT.

Michael, the hybrid cuben is not far lighter than any of the xpac and xply fabrics Dimension Polyant offers:

Hybrid cuben described by OP: 2.9 oz

WX07: 3.6 oz (0.5 mil film, dacron diagonal reinforcement, 70 denier nylon face fabric)

VX04: 3.0 oz (as VX07 but with a 40 denier nylon face fabric)

TX07: 2.8 oz (advertised as 2.6 oz, two layers 0.25 mil film w/ 800 denier dacron fibers between and 70 denier ripstop nylon face fabric)

TX02: 2.4 oz (as TX07 but with a 20 denier nylon face fabric)

PM02: 2.2 oz (Nemo's earliest airbeam fabric, 500 denier dacron scrim + 0.5 mil film)

These are all laminates composed of a woven nylon or polyester face fabric (except PM02), a grid of diagonal reinforcing fibers (Dacron), and PET film. They are exactly the same thing as the hybrid cuben, but with Dacron reinforcement instead of Dyneema. I'll grant that some of these materials aren't easy to find from vendors, and must be obtained directly from DP (and they don't always have affordable roll-ends or short lengths in stock), but the hybrid cuben has no weight advantage over them. Incidentally, none of these DP fabrics cost more than $15/yard.

Edited by ckrusor on 10/04/2011 23:10:11 MDT.

You must have a newer fabric listing than I do. I contacted Hale at DP not long ago to get an updated list, and he said they do not have one. Could you PM that one to me? The lightest I've used from is VX07, which I think is the lightest listed on my product sheet.

I know that some of theTX07 is light, but cuben is more durable than 70D nylon. Having said that, I don't think I could justify that price difference. I have seen the new nylon cuben and I'm not sure how much durability it will actually add.


Edit: I do have TX07 listed on my sheet. But it is listed at 3.2 oz/y^2. Have they changed it?

2nd Edit: Just found a sample of it. I think it is just a trade of off durability and price. Cuben is much, much more tear resistant, but much more price. The dyneema is much more dense than the dacron in DP products. I do like DP a alot though, especially its price.

Edited by mpd1690 on 10/05/2011 10:45:12 MDT.