Bushwalk Australia

Hmmm, just endured in my hammock an early morning storm with gusts to 85km/hr (nearest BOM weather station). I was on a beach front so not protection from the winds.

The cuben tarp I have has a puncture or two, a 50c sized blowout as well as the cuben pulling apart on a couple of the tie out corners (can see the mesh of threads). What is the best for repairing cuben with some strength - e.g. is there a one-sided cuben specific tape? I know duct tape can be used but after something a bit more durable.

BTW - the tarp actually held up really well - i had a terrible pitch (few options on the little island) with the trees way too close and tarp actually hinged over another tree branch. Spent about an hour of the storm with one arm out the hammock holding the tarp down so it didn't bounce off the tree branches I don't think I would have sustained the same damage with a setup in a better location.

You can get a one sided cuben tape, usually not cheap, but in the past I have made my own using double sided tape and .74oz Cuben. I do have some .74oz left and a heap of double sided tape so if you need something made up let me know. I think I would put a patch on both sides of the tear, and be confident it would hold.

I read from one of the early pioneers, some concern over cut edges with anything but heat (so bought a gas knife early). The thought was that moisture would wick into the seam via the open thread ends leading to early laminate failure. Made sense. I have some of the cuben backed tape, hard to tell, i'd imagine it's cut with a hot iron? Maybe of little concern for a patch but could be a bit of a disaster for some tent seam makers, over time.

I've been using this recently to fix holes in the fly of the big tent and while it is only single sided I think it is the same adhesive

http://www.bunnings.com.au/ametalin-50m ... e_p0810227

Quite strong and a very tough grip

Thanks all.

I think I will get some big cuben patches to make triangles to patch and reinforce both sides where the pulls are near the tie-outs and some one-sided tape for the other nicks and holes.

On another note the 50c sized hole resulted in water that accumulated on the tarp periodically pouring straight onto my quilt. Rain was misting from the sides and also running down my arm hanging onto the tarp so got pretty wet. Can say the dri-down works pretty well - at least the first time being wet (not sure if it lasts too well over many soakings?). Whilst it was hot before the storm and temps pretty warm during, being totally saturated (hammock, me and quilt) with no underinsulation and the wind chill combined to make it pretty cold at times. The quilt remained pretty warm and back at home it seems about fully dry after only a few hours stretched out under a ceiling fan.

nq111 wrote:
On another note the 50c sized hole resulted in water that accumulated on the tarp periodically pouring straight onto my quilt. Rain was misting from the sides and also running down my arm hanging onto the tarp so got pretty wet. Can say the dri-down works pretty well - at least the first time being wet (not sure if it lasts too well over many soakings?). Whilst it was hot before the storm and temps pretty warm during, being totally saturated (hammock, me and quilt) with no underinsulation and the wind chill combined to make it pretty cold at times. The quilt remained pretty warm and back at home it seems about fully dry after only a few hours stretched out under a ceiling fan.

That sounds pretty damn miserable. Nice that the quilt held up ok though.

If strength is important in the repair you might want to consider some stitching along with either tape or sealant. Just a thought.

Yeah - the tie outs are already stitched - hoping to sandwich this between two bits of cuben. It seems to me so far though that the bonded joins are rock solid but the stitched prone to tear along the stitches? The mesh of dyneema is all in place in the stretched bits - just the mylar has pulled open.

Ok - about $Au70 worth of one-sided repair tape and various patches from Zpacks and the tarp is as good as new. Actually, I would punt it is stronger than new.

Each tie out corner has been reinforced with a triangle of cuben on both sides (sandwiched the original attachment / stitching) and holes and delaminating bits (where it pulled apart a bit) repaired with tape on both sides. Cleaned each patch with metho first and used a cold iron to smooth out. Seems to be very neat and strong (we'll see in time I guess).

Hard to say without seeing before pictures but looks good. I have always been leery of sewn cuben. Pretty much everyone sews these days but I suspect that's because it's easier. Multiple reinforcing laminated layers ought to be very very strong.

$70. Wow!

GPSGuided wrote:$70. Wow!

I won't attempt to rationalise - but I like cuben!

What weight of cuben is your tarp made out of nq111? I'm guessing 0.51oz... Just curious anyhow as those are some strong gusts you held out in!

It is the 0.75ish weight - still nice and light.

nq111 wrote:It is the 0.75ish weight - still nice and light.

Thanks! Good to know, I recently got a 0.67oz camo cuben tarp for my hammock hence the curiosity