2.0oz Cuben Fiber Rain Pants

[Adam Alphabet]

A pair of cuben fiber rain pants I made. The seat area is 1.43oz cuben with the legs for the rear and the entire front being 0.74oz cuben. I bonded and sewed all the seams for durability and increased water proofing. They are not breathable, the point was two fold; warm while riding and to be used as part of a minimalist (no sleeping bag) sleep system as a vapour barrier for my legs.

The construction came pretty easy once I figured things out. As this was only my second ever clothing project the most time consuming and hardest parts were the creation of the pattern, which I made myself based off a couple other pairs of pants I've used in the past and wrapping my head around the shape of the crotch as I'm not a tailor by any means. I made a quick prototype out of some tyvek house wrap and they fit well. One adjustment to the original pattern I'd made gave me the confidence to go ahead and start cutting up the cuben, which is really easy to work with, my favourite.

The fit came out great and the weight pretty much spot on to my estimates.... 58g or 2.0oz.
I'm happy with how they turned out.

[shanecycles]

Like it

[Rabid Hillbilly]

Nice and dry, but do you get hot (breathable or sweat do to restricted airflow?)

[Rabid Hillbilly]

Nice and dry, but do you get hot (breathable or sweat do to restricted airflow?)


[/quotes oops ,  .   
I Misread it ..not breathable

[AZTtripper]

Not sure how a non breathable system will work, anytime I've tried similar ideas the sweat always builds up and I end up cold.

The other night I was able to tell the difference in the breathable vs non breathable sections of my bivy. First time I've used it without putting the pad inside so when I rolled to my side the bottom would come up and my own condensation would build up only the non breathing side that was up to a line right up to the breathable side the back to dry. It wasn't really that cold so it never became an issue but it was amazing the strait line of damp to dry on the bag. 32 deg bag it wasn't that cold I didn't really close the face up until the very last couple of hours. I should have just slept without it but we had heavy dew the night before. Either that or next time I have to put the pad in to keep the breathable side up.

Andy what's the rest of the system? Curious if you can overcome the sleeping in a sweat bath then freezing scenario.

Tim 

[Adam Alphabet]

Not sure how a non breathable system will work, anytime I've tried similar ideas the sweat always builds up and I end up cold.

The other night I was able to tell the difference in the breathable vs non breathable sections of my bivy. First time I've used it without putting the pad inside so when I rolled to my side the bottom would come up and my own condensation would build up only the non breathing side that was up to a line right up to the breathable side the back to dry. It wasn't really that cold so it never became an issue but it was amazing the strait line of damp to dry on the bag. 32 deg bag it wasn't that cold I didn't really close the face up until the very last couple of hours. I should have just slept without it but we had heavy dew the night before. Either that or next time I have to put the pad in to keep the breathable side up.

Andy what's the rest of the system? Curious if you can overcome the sleeping in a sweat bath then freezing scenario.

Tim 

Hi Tim,

The pants were built as a multi use item in an RDO (race day only) capacity. I've read too many accounts of people freezing going up Lemmon and across Oracle in the snow and rain to not bring a rain layer of some sort. I'm going to be going light for the AZT but not neglectful. If there's no rain/snow in the forecast great, I'll carry the 2oz as comfort and incorporate as a layer for sleep.

For sleeping I'll be using a cuben/pertex bivy of my own creation as the main shelter, riding layers on the upper body with an insulative layer of some sort, yet to be decided/created and a down hood. The legs will simply be my riding layers and these pants over top. The sweating is to be expected and to a point almost encouraged as it'll trap a layer of warmth for the couple hours I'll be bedded down. It should be clarified that this will be used as a 'napping' system more so than a sleeping system. Two or so hours of sweaty, clamminess is tolerable, anything much longer than that and I wouldn't go this route. I'd be looking at insulating the legs vs. vapour barrier, or so the theory goes. Get to test it all out in less than a month, Can't Wait!!

[AZTtripper]

Sounds like you have a plan. Won't be that long now.

[rick miller]

cuben/pertex bivy of my own creation

I'm curious about your bivy.  I've been thinking about making one, but it would only be worth my while if I could use it in persistent wet conditions as my only shelter (I'm currently using a diy silnylon bivy and tarp), and if it is durable enough to justify the cost.  Would you be confident taking it as your only shelter on say the CT or the TD?  (Jefe wrote that his cuban bivy was comfortable on the TD last year, but I'd like a human opinion  )

Your rain pants are an interesting idea and I'd love to have them for the AZT750, hopefully overkill for the 300.

[Adam Alphabet]

I'm curious about your bivy.  I've been thinking about making one, but it would only be worth my while if I could use it in persistent wet conditions as my only shelter (I'm currently using a diy silnylon bivy and tarp), and if it is durable enough to justify the cost.  Would you be confident taking it as your only shelter on say the CT or the TD?  (Jefe wrote that his cuban bivy was comfortable on the TD last year, but I'd like a human opinion  )

Your rain pants are an interesting idea and I'd love to have them for the AZT750, hopefully overkill for the 300.

Hello Rick,

The cuben I used for the bottom of the bivy is 0.74oz and is surprisingly durable as a bottom. I've been using this bivy as the main part of my shelter system on every trip since 2012 and it has held up very well.

The top pertex is a lightweight breathable ripstop nylon, think like the shell on a down jacket. While most nights I only use the bivy as my main shelter, it is NOT waterproof by any means and does soak through. In conjunction with the bivy I bring a myog cuben tarp, and only set it up if it looks like rain is in the cards. I've been caught a few times not setting up the tarp and have been awaken to rain on the bivy, frantically getting up to set up the tarp to protect my insulative layer. I've also slept through the night, (exhausted+earplugs) and woke up to a wet bivy and sleeping bag having to take time to dry out in the sun.

For TD, unless you know the course and could set up under good natural coverage I would not bring a pertex topped bivy as my sole shelter. Then again I believe Craig Stappler did on one of his runs, but again, he knows the course well and is in the 'super human' category.

I toured the CT route in 2012 and most nights slept bivy only, but did set up the tarp a couple nights as it was raining or looked like it was going to overnight, which it did and I was thankful to be under my little 97g, 8'6"x 4'4" 0.51oz tarp.

If I were to race either of these routes I wouldn't use a tarp though...too slow.

Jefe used the waterproof breathable cuben as the top of his shelter system. While I have not made anything with this as it is really expensive, it is marketed as waterproof. Zpacks, where I get my materials from makes rain jackets and pants from the stuff. I trust their word, they're the best. http://www.zpacks.com/materials.shtml

A couple pictures from my New Zealand North Island tour November/December 2014
*inside a camp ground changing/bathroom facility, I was the only camping so this worked out perfect as it rained that night.
*I was lazy and tired and just set up under the table, to be awaken at 5:00am to rain on my bivy. Quickly drape it over top, worked well enough for another hour or two of sleep.

Hope that helps.

Adam.

[rick miller]

Helps a lot, I'm encouraged to give it try.  My bivy and tarp comes in about 22 oz., so I could drop quite a bit going just cuben bivy.  Nice looking bivy, similar design to mine with the bug screen.  Hope you don't mind we got off topic.

[Adam Alphabet]

Helps a lot, I'm encouraged to give it try.  My bivy and tarp comes in about 22 oz., so I could drop quite a bit going just cuben bivy.  Nice looking bivy, similar design to mine with the bug screen.  Hope you don't mind we got off topic.

Thanks, and not at all. my totals come in at...
tarp (lines attached): 97g
bivy: 151g
stakes: 36g
total 284g or 10oz.

Once you pony up for the materials and build it you'll be happy when you get out on that first trip, you'll notice the saved weight and not the money  

Nice tarp design btw, cool shape.

[roadpacker]

How do you feel about these pants after a bit of use? Considering making shorts in a similar way.

[Adam Alphabet]

How do you feel about these pants after a bit of use? Considering making shorts in a similar way.

Honestly, I've used them once. I've brought them on a couple occasions as an incase item but if real rain was in the forecast I wore real wpb rain pants or knickers.

[jeremy11]

Check out the Liberty Ridge pants and jacket pattern over at www.thru-hiker.com
I made a couple pairs of each of these almost a decade ago and they're still working great and getting plenty of use.