Cuben Fiber Gear, Is It Worth It?

hey guys it's Darwin so lately in my Instagram and my QA I've been getting a lot of comments and questions about Cuban fibre gear I recently bought a new Cuban fibre tent and I've been getting a ton of questions on how durable is Cuban fiber is it worth the money what cuben fiber do you suggest getting so today I figured I would make a video explaining the pros and the cons of Cuban fiber and is it worth it [Music] okay so between my Instagram account my YouTube account all of my social media a lot of people been leaving comments on some of the photos of the new gear that I've been posting about my Cuban fibre gear asking is it durable enough to last something like a thru-hike where do you get it how expensive is it how long does it last so today I figured I would finally make a video answering some of those pressing questions about Cuban fibre gear as most of you know I'm planning my thru-hike of the PCT for 2018 and my main objective is to get the best gear that I possibly can at the lightest weight possible why number one I kind of want to do that hike a little bit faster and obviously I want to be more comfortable so getting less weight on me is going to make me more comfortable out on the trail another reason is I'm going to be carrying better camera equipment so I can shoot better trip videos for you guys so obviously I'm going to be adding weight to my pack so I want to make sure I get as light as possible so before we talk about the pros let's go ahead and get the cons out of the way so the first con about Cuban fibre gear is it's expensive there's a lot of people's first thought when they start thinking about ultralight cuben fiber gear is yes it is very expensive there's no argument on it there's no way to find it really cheaper unless you make it yourself but why is it so expensive so number one most Cuban fiber is a very expensive material so most of the things they make like a food bag or a stuff sack or something like a tent is made out of a certain grade of Cuban fiber and that stuff runs about 35 dollars a yard so compared to things like ripstop nylon Dyneema it's a very very expensive material so obviously the price of it is going to cost more because the material cost more the second reason Cuban fiber is so expensive is right now currently no one has mass producing cuben fiber gear so companies like Osprey granite gear North Face are not utilizing this material yet so it's not being mass-produced out of the factory to where they can get production cost down so most of the Cuban fibre gear companies are small cottage companies like V packs hyper light Mountain gear so these are small us-based companies with a very small production line so that stuff is being made custom to order and being produced on a very small scale so obviously production cost is going to be higher so those are the main two reasons why cuben fiber gear is so expensive it's not a marketing thing it's not trying to get people to get ultra light and charging them a ton of money it's expensive stuff it's expensive material it's expensive to produce so that's why the price is jacked up on Cuban fibre gear the second con of Cuban fibre gear is it's not easily accessible so you can't just get in your car drive down to your local REI or local outfitter and look at and buy cuben fiber gear again why the big companies aren't currently mass producing it so if you're thinking about buying a Cuban fibre tent or a Cuban fibre pack you can't go down to REI and test it out so that is another kana that you can't really play with it before you buy it I think that's why most hikers that do use cuben fiber try to make as many videos as possible reviewing it talking about the specs of it so it helps you if you're thinking about buying that gear before you pull the trigger on it make sure you do your research because again you can't go down the street and just play with it so aside from those two things that's about the only two cons that I can think of so let's get into the pros of Cuban cyber gear number one and probably the most important reason why people pick it is its lightweight Cuban fiber is a phenomenal material originally designed for sailboat sells it is also called Dyneema composite so if you're searching around on some company's website and on one company's website you might see it called Cuban fiber another website you might see it called Dyneema composite it's the same thing dynamic composite is the industry term for Cuban fiber is kind of the hiker term for it so don't get confused by that but again Cuban fiber or dynamic composite is an insanely lightweight and durable material as far as I know it's currently the lightest and most durable material that is on the market and with it being so lightweight what does that mean you can carry less weight on your back whenever you're backpacking and focus more on bigger miles and being comfortable on the trail so most of the reasons why hikers switch to an ultralight pack is because they want to be able to be more comfortable on the trail and I know there'll be some people that are going to argue that but if you take something and strap it to your back that is 80 pounds right now and go walk up the hill and strap something to your back that is 15 pounds and go walk up the hill can you really argue that you're more comfortable wearing the 80 pounds on your back come on I don't think so so because you can carry less weight in gear that means you can carry more weight in the essential things like water food and maybe extra small gear items like if you're a photographer or a filmmaker you can carry bigger nicer camera equipment so for instance when I hike the PCT next year I'll be having to carry gear that I'm not used to carrying so for certain sections I'll have to carry an ice axe I'll have to carry crampons and I also have to carry a bear canister not to mention all the extra water I'll have to carry for that first seven hundred miles of the PCT because it is all desert and obviously you need to camel up and carry more water so by getting my pack weight down as low as I can get it before I get out there that means that I can be comfortable when I'm adding all of this extra weight to my pack another big thing for me is when I go out and hike the PCT next year I want to shoot better video I want to shoot better photography so I'm going to be upgrading my camera setup which means I'm going to be adding more weight to my pack so any gear that I can get more lightweight like a Cuban Tibor backpack or ten why not so let's take two pieces of gear for example in 2015 and 2016 when snuggles and I hike the 80 the pack that I carried was the Osprey Atmos 65 Pat and the tent that we carried was a two-person Big Agnes copper spur ul2 both incredible pieces of gear super durable and at the time pretty damn lightweight so the total weight for that pack and that tent alone when you put them together was a hundred and fourteen ounces or 7.1 pounds so 7.1 pounds for just those two the gear doesn't sound bad right now with the gear that I've chosen to take on my PCT thru-hike like the V packs arc blast backpack and the Z packs duplex tent which is also a two-person tent just like the copper spur the weight of those two items together is forty three point five ounces or two point seven pounds two point seven pounds for those two pieces of gear which is a difference of four point four pounds compared to what I carried last year four point four pounds is massive so to me it's totally worth it to switch to that gear why because again that's four point four pounds that I can worry about carrying a bear canister extra food extra water and better camera equipment that brings us to our pro number two and the question I get a lot is it durable the pro 2 is it's insanely durable stuff so not only is cuben fiber insanely lightweight but it is also very care resistant and crazy durable depending on what grade of cuben fiber you go with so most companies will use a couple of different grades of cuben fiber to make their gear so what do I mean by different grades of cuben fiber well there's different thicknesses of cuben fiber and some are going to be durable than others most cuben fiber gear like stuff sacks or like my food bag here are made out of 8.51 Cuban fiber or 0.74 Cuban fiber so that is what most of the gear is made out of even my tent is made out of I think the point five one which is super durable stuff so for example let's take my food bag now my food bag is made by z packs it's made out of the 0.74 Cuban fiber and this thing has been with me both in 2015 on the Appalachian Trail 2016 on the trail so that's two thousand 189 miles on this guy throwing it up in a tree every single night and putting my food in it every single day it went out with me on the Arizona Trail it goes out with me on weekend trips it went out with me on the CDT section hike that I just got done with and this thing is still holding up great no I do have a couple all patches in this but it's not because it wore out or tour or anything that's actually from a squirrel crawling down my bear line and eating into my bag and stealing some of my food so super super durable stuff again crazy tear resistant and really really strong and you had the thicker grade Cuban fiber stuff like the 2.92 thickness which is what my pack is made out of and what most people make their Cuban Fiber packed up so super super strong insanely tear resistant and really really durable the other great thing about this thicker grade stuff and most Cuban fiber is it's waterproof so that brings us to our third Pro which is Cuban fibers waterproof so most Cuban fiber doesn't have to be seam sealed if you're using a pack you don't have to use a pack cover or a pack liner it's like pretty much having a giant dry bag with a roll top so you just jam all your stuff in it so again it's less weight and less materials that you have to carry to keep your stuff waterproof even my Cuban fibre tent by Z pack that is made out of some of the lighter stuff is also waterproof so I don't have to worry about seam sealing it like a silanol on tent and it's going to keep me dry at night on the trail this stuff sheds water like camp and I love not having to seam seal my stuff or use wdr coating or have to use a pack cover anything so it's less crap I have to worry about with my gear so that brings us to our fourth and final Pro of Cuban fiber and it is supporting small companies so again Cuban fiber right now currently is not being produced by bigger companies like Osprey North Face those bigger big-name outdoor companies so what does that mean small cottage companies that are based right here in the US are the only ones making it so whenever you buy Cuban fiber or gear from these companies you're supporting the same community that you're a part of most of all of these companies are started by hikers so it's gear for hikers by hikers which is pretty damn cool take Z packs for instance Joe over at Z packs the guy who started Z packs is a Triple Crown hiker how did he start the company he was making his own gear for his through hikes took three long distance trails to really test that stuff and know how it works and now he makes gear for us hikers so he is sharing his experience from being out on the trail and making gear that hikers need and want to use so because the people that are designing and making the gear are the same people that are using it on their through hikes and their trails means that they're spending less time with marketing and putting those and whistles that you don't really need and focusing on the things that a long-distance hiker or an ultralight hiker actually needs so they're simplifying gear and really giving you what you need and not giving you what you don't need like a bunch of crazy things lately there has been a lot of crazy things going on with gear I seen a pack that had a solar panel built into it which is kind of cool I guess but it's not something that you need so it's really cool that these companies are hikers designing gear for hikers so just keep in mind whenever you buy that expensive cuben fiber gear you are putting money back into the community that you are a part of and I think that's pretty damn cool it's kind of like shopping local but you're shopping local within your hiking community and there's a ton of these small cottage companies that are making this stuff like my favorite which is deep X you have hyper light Mountain gear mountain laurel designs six moons designs and a new company that just started which is called Appalachian ultralight so tons of these awesome small cottage gear companies making really awesome gear for us I'll leave a link to all these companies websites in the description box below so if you're thinking about getting some awesome cuben fiber gear definitely check those companies out I can't recommend them enough all right guys so hopefully that broke down some of the pros and the cons of cuben fiber gear and then you know pretty much make your own decision is cuben fiber gear worth it for you do you want to get ultra light can you afford it because obviously it is expensive so if you're a hiker on a budget maybe it's not for you everybody has their own gear that they like from my experience of using cuben fiber gear and now almost completely going to nothing but cuben fiber gear I can tell you I love it and I will never go back to the heavier because I love being lightweight I love supporting local companies and I love something that I know is going to be tried-and-true in the field so what do you guys think a Cuban fire gear what gear do you have or what gear would you recommend leave some comments in the comment box below and let me know your thoughts if you haven't got a chance yet go over and check me out on Instagram I'm posting a lot of new photos lately of some of the things that snuggles and I have going on throughout the week plus some pictures of some pass hikes and some of my new awesome cuben fiber gear so go check that out if you haven't already if you found any value in this video go ahead and hit that like button subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and as always guys thanks for watching [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Darwin onthetrail

Views: 276,576

Rating: 4.8325391 out of 5

Keywords: Appalachian Trail, AT, Thru-Hike, AT Thru-Hike, UL Backpacking Gear, Backpacking, Hiking, Adventure, Hiker Trash, PCT, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT Thru-Hike, CDT, AZT, Long Distance Hiking, Cuben Fiber Gear, Dyneema Composite, Zpacks, Hyperlite Mountain Gear, Mountain Laueral Designs, Six Moon Designs, Appalachian Ultralight, Arc Blast, Duplex Tent

Id: 2GG4_SCupkY

Length: 15min 5sec (905 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 15 2017