MYOG Cuben Fibre Shelter

I've always wanted to longterm test a cuben fibre shelter but never really found anything I wanted to take on a long hike. Cuben fibre was supposed to be a wonder material that would transform lightweight hiking, but after having used it in many roles, ranging from packs to waterproofs, I've been somewhat underwhelmed. Perhaps shelters is where it really shines? My 2 previous cuben tarps didn't fare too well but a shaped tarp SHOULD work better. The difference here is that pegging/guying loads are spread, more evenly, around many more points, which could make a big difference. I already have an MLD Cricket, in cuben, but it's not nearly as flexible as the silnylon version, which I prefer, so I've hardly used it. I looked at a cuben Trailstar but the material has compromised the design so much that I didn't take the plunge. Zpacks make a nice cuben shelter called the Hexamid, and I got to look at many, up close, on the PCT. They looked ideal for that hike but the design puts weight above performance when the weather turns nasty, so again, I kept way. With a hike across New Zealand coming up I wanted a shelter suitable for more extreme conditions and decided I would build my own.

Finished MYOG cuben shelter

MYOG Synthetic Quilt

Awhile ago I built a down quilt with a central zip that allowed the user access to the filling. The idea was that the user could replace the filling quickly and without any sewing. I suggested that a quilt built this way would also allow alternative fillings to be used for each specific trip. Perhaps a down filling for a lightweight summer hike or more water resistant synthetic filling for a kayaking trip. This idea was fine except that for the filling to be quickly swappable it would have to be contained in some kind of additional skin that could be inserted and removed from the shell. This added extra weight that I'm not prepared to carry so I inserted my filling directly into the shell and decided to build a second, fully synthetic, quilt with swappable fillings. As most synthetic fill comes as a continuous sheet then no container would be needed. Imagine, 1 shell with 2 or 3 different fillings that could cover all conditions. Sound useful? I thought so!

Finished quilt with 8oz Apex insulation