Hey everyone, i know there are a couple of people out there with spinnaker cloth flooring on thier bivies. how are they holding up durability wise? i just got a few yards from Mike Maurer (im really impressed on how light it is) the question is, is it TO light? think it would last 4 months of nightly use?
thanks!
mike!

Spin is not nearly as abrasion resistant ... you'd have to carry a groundcloth as well to make it 4 months ... Silnylon would last a lot better.

Another way to look at the light bivy bottoms longevity, either silnylon or the silicon spinnnakers, is that they are easy to user patch for a pretty long service life. If you get a small abrasion area or puncture/rip, justs cut an oversize patch or any sil material with rounded edges and use McNett Silnet to stick it on. This is also a good way to build up reinforcement areas in the light spinnakers.

If you can spend the extra money I would look at cubin fiber. There are a few places selling it now and from what I've read you can also buy it direct but I think you need to buy a larger amount.

The thing I've found with Cubin is the two places I've gotten it from Quest fittters sells a VERY light weight version that is strong but really thin. I would not want to use this. Dave at OWARE however sells a slightly heavier weight that he uses for Bivy sacks that I've used and hold up well. It's worth taking a look at his bivy on the site. It's a nice design and I think he makes some of the stuff for these guys a BPL.

I find working with it that due to it's slight stiffness and weight needle holes are an issue somewhat like dealing with sil nyl. I find it you can roll the edge once where you think it will stress you'll do better.

Also sealing it Dave told me to use Aquaseal rather then sil net as it sticks better.

Both of the places I list sell it for around 23.00 a yard. Dave sells some scraps that are worth buying to test sew with.

Good Luck

MYOG Pertex Quantum - Cuben Fiber Bivy

Joe, sorry for my ignorance but what is OWARE? I'd love to find places to buy these fabrics online - both cubin fiber and pertex actually. Any links or google-able business names greatly appreciated!

http://www.owareusa.com/

Jane,

You might want to read this comment about pertex vs a more readily available alternative

Edited by jcolten on 01/28/2007 10:40:10 MST.