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I been using the last two years my gatewood cape, and while first i have serious doubts about his limitations, nowadays  has become my main (and favorite shelter  (except  for alpine use)   I´m REALLY immpresed with.. :-)

 Im sure that i read this idea before (may be en Bpl ) but ....  may be a short batch of cuben fiber capes could be a good idea  ¿?
 

Pit,

Thanks for the feedback on the Gatewood Cape. We are looking at a variety of Cuben Fiber products in the future. Depending upon how successful the new Refuge X Cuben Fiber tent performs. The use of this material is both exciting and scary as a designer. The Gatewood Cape was designed to take advantage of some of the characteristics of 1.1 ounce silnylon. Cuben Fiber has different characteristics which makes it more difficult to adapt to the Gatewood Cape.

Also there's the issue of how many people would be interested in a $300 Cape.

Ron

"""""Also there's the issue of how many people would be interested in a $300 Cape. """           ¡¡¡¡ OUCH !!!!   ,,,,,, ok ok ..... i start saving ......:-(

Hi Ron,

Could you tell us a bit more about characteristic diffferences between silnylon and Cuben fiber ? It would be nice to know what your concerns are about this new fabric.

Michel

Montreal, QC 

Michel,

As I mentioned in a previous post, clearly the price differential between Cuben Fiber and Silnylon is a big factor. Cuben Fiber is more than 3X the price of SilNylon per yard and because it's almost 20" narrower (48" Cuben vs. 65" Silnylon) it takes an additional %30 more yards of fabric.

For me the narrow width of the fabric is a major obstacle. I design pattern pieces to maximize the with of the fabric. So parts that designed to cut well on 65" width fabrics won't work. The product needs to be redesigned or the pattern pieces need to be cut up in a jigsaw of smaller pieces and additional seams. The extra seams means more labor for production and more potential problems in the field.

The third issue for Cuben Fiber is it's abrasion resistance. Used as a tarp or shelter it's strong and water tight, more so than with Silnylon. Used in conditions where abrasion is a factor, (packs, clothes, ground cloths, etc.) it does not perform very well.

Our first product to be offered in Cuben is the Refuge X. Simply because that shelter was designed with cuben in mind at the outset. As we get more comfortable in both the design and manufacture, we'll look at offering either cuben version of other products or new products all together.

Ron

 I realize that not many would pay $300 for a cuben fiber gatewood cape but I would.  A gatewood cape is a very specialized piece of equipment to begin with and a cuben fiber equivalent likely would appeal to most who actively use the gatewood. 

john the xcar