Dyneema/DCF/cuben tents real life experience

[JeffRaines]

So far I’ve only ever used silnylon/silpoly tents both hunting and just hiking. I’ve always drooled over the lightweight offerings that are in the aforementioned material but it’s always been a little out of reach financially until lately. A not-claustrophobic 2p tent for 23-24oz sounds ridiculous… also like something I’d be very interested in!

For those of you with direct experience - was it worth it? Have you had any issues with wear? I’m not overly hard on my tents. I figure if I take care of anything it had best be tents or sleeping bags/pads because those are sort of important!

FWIW I’m either thinking a Durston X-Mid 2 Pro or 2+ pro. Price and weight is very similar between the two.

Thanks for helping me make financially irresponsible decisions.

 

[Beendare]

I asked this awhile back- good reports.

I bought a Tarptent double rainbow earlier in the year and I almost pulled the trigger on the dyneema version. I think the stats were 6 ounces lighter, under 2# but $330 more.

BTW, Best small tent I’ve ever seen at 2.5#

 

[Desk Jockey]

I have mentioned this before. IMO dyneema is half the weight for about 3x price. I own and use a dyneema tent and some tarps and ground clothes. My tents are zpacks and my tarps are a mix. I would say durability is a notch below sylnylon but unlikely to be a problem for most. They seem to cut more easily but resist punctures and tears better. They also,seem to wear with creasing. Patching is easy with tape. I think dyneema is slightly louder in wind. It also pitches tighter with less sag and need for adjustment. I give the nod to silnylon for compactness when packed. Dyneema tents can be a little bulky when crammed into a stuff sack.

If you were a thru hiker logging a few thousand miles and looking for the lightest possible pack weight, they are a no brainer. For someone that will carry one 5-10 days a year, they may not be worth the cost. For most, it is marginal. I wouldn’t say not to buy one, but there are easier and cheaper ways to shed a pound or two from you pack.

Big fan of the durston design. My is nylon. I like the option of being able to run it as a tarp, a bug net or a tent with a mesh liner. If I was doing it again, if would have spring for dyneema.

 

[Marbles]

@Desk Jockey hit all the points.

I own two dyneema tent's and would buy more. I like working with them better than sylnylon over all. Packing them is my least favorite thing about them. Bulky, and need to be folded and rolled.

 

[BBob]

I like my DCF stuff and will buy more. I don't have much to add to what's already been said except I've always folded and rolled my backpacking tents, tarps, bivy's so rolling my DCF is't anything different from what I've been doing for decades.

 

[bigbuckdj]

I’ve had a Xmid 2P in sil poly, a Xmid 1p, and I now have a Xmid 1 pro. The weight savings is cool but I’ve realized I prefer just stuffing the poly in my bag vs rolling and folding of the DCF. Also the sil poly x mids are a a full double wall vs the single wall pro versions. I have my pro for sale at the moment because I am considering going back to a 1p in sil poly. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t on the fence on my preference. I sleep in a backpacking tent less than 20 times per year so it really probably doesn’t matter for my use case.

Desk jockey and marbles have it nailed. Im kind of a gorilla when I pack my things, so it takes a chunk of my already limited brain power to care for the sensitive ultralight things.

 

[lifeisgoodsteve]

Desk jockey nailed it. I did pull the trigger on them a few years ago and have been very happy, with no issues of durability. There is not the flex on setup, so it seems to take a little more adjusting to get a tight pitch.

I'm running the Tarptent Dipole Li 2 which is very spacious and I especially like the taller area at the head and toes.

The double rainbow would also be one I'd look seriously at for the livability value. If you don't care about as much space, and want as light as possible, then the Protrail Li is very tempting as a tarp/bivy replacement for me. It has more space above the head as well which I've found makes a notable difference in my quality of sleep.

 

[JeffRaines]

Thanks for the input guys. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a xmid 2+. Pretty sweet setup, and unpacking it I was amazed at how light it is.

 

[roosiebull]

So far I’ve only ever used silnylon/silpoly tents both hunting and just hiking. I’ve always drooled over the lightweight offerings that are in the aforementioned material but it’s always been a little out of reach financially until lately. A not-claustrophobic 2p tent for 23-24oz sounds ridiculous… also like something I’d be very interested in!

For those of you with direct experience - was it worth it? Have you had any issues with wear? I’m not overly hard on my tents. I figure if I take care of anything it had best be tents or sleeping bags/pads because those are sort of important!

FWIW I’m either thinking a Durston X-Mid 2 Pro or 2+ pro. Price and weight is very similar between the two.

Thanks for helping me make financially irresponsible decisions.

I have only had mine for 3yrs (DCF silex) but it’s been very much worth it to me, just the complete waterproofness and no sag made it a big upgrade for me

My primary shelter will always be DCF

 

[Beendare]

I'm going to add some ramblings here for the data base.

After running tipis for about 15 years....along with a few other tents- I almost made myself a smaller version of my 12" diameter tipi in DCF.

Here's my homemade tipi on a Montana hunt- a cold morning sagging a little.

Tipis work best when they are tight. They shed the wind better than any other shelter- when tight...but when sagging the wind can catch in them and potentially topple the thing.

My old Golite tipi ^ was a sagging monster with those big open panels. Here's a rare pic of it taught. I was constantly adjusting those. Plus, the fabric was crap [I think it was 15 denier] and the way the walls swooped down close to the ground not only cut the space by 1/3rd, but condensation was getting all over everything close to the perimeter. This design would benefit greatly made from DCF.

I was on the Alaska peninsula with a buddy on a drop camp for moose and one night we had verified 60 mph plus winds in my homemade tipi in the first pic. I got up and tightened the lines and it went from flapping to barely moving rock solid. You wouldn't believe the difference- it was like being in a concrete bunker.

It's worth mentioning, my tipi doesn't sag as bad as the same size Kifaru tipi-by design- for 2 reasons. I used more seams- it's 10 panels vs the 8 panels others use- so smaller panels....and I used a slightly heavier 1.6oz sil poly vs the 1.1 oz stuff the commercial ones are made from. Smaller panels gives it less shrink...and more seams adds strength. plus I rolled those seams with one more fold than the commercial ones- super strong but a little heavier.

The big panels on the tipis like that Golite...or something like the SO Cimmaron or the Kifaru Sawtooth will sag a lot...and DCF will be much better in those designs.

That said, my tipi [7 1/2' tall, 12 1/2' in diameter] still sags a little when cold. making it from DCF would have been expensive.


Here the DR is a little bit distorted due to stuff stacked under the vestibule


The design of my Tarptent Double rainbow is pretty ingenious. It's 1.1oz sil nylon. The hoop design with one long pole keeps it taught with almost no sag. There can be a tiny bit of sag on the outward panels of fabric- but it's not much- incredible design that doesn't benefit much by using DCF....where the center pole tipis and tent designs would benefit.

Just some thoughts from using these tents and tipis for 4 decades in a lot of varying conditions...including one trip to Kodiak with 90mph winds one night that broke poles on my Cabelas Alaskan tent.