Dyneema Durability Question---Are Big Agnes Tents Too Thin?

I'll look up the stats in a bit, but off the top of my head...I was shocked at how thin my Golite shelter was (paper thin) and it held up to 100+ mph winds and 5 ft. of snow just fine. The only tear it ever got was from my own stupidity from a shovel. I would expect Dyneema to be stronger than silnylon (could be wrong). Either way, I'm curious as to what is discussed here and will be following. I love it when people question materials and such as I always learn so much and usually end up with some new knowledge that wasn't there before.

Here is an old Skurka review of the Tiger Wall Carbon: link. He considers them unacceptibly fragile, and I am pretty sure I have read that sentiment elsewhere. I would not pay that much money for a tent that is not likely to last for more than a few seasons. I mostly use tarps these days, but I do have a Duplex that I've had for 6 years, and is still in perfect shape. I'd personally go for a trekking pole supported single-wall in DCF from one of the established cottage gear companies.  They know what they're doing.  

Thanks for that link, Trinity. Kind of what I feared.

I’ve had a DCF Solomid from Mountain Laurel Designs for about six years. No appreciable wear. It’s used perhaps three weeks total per year. As it’s floorless there’s no potential wear other than when I pack it. I use a 2 oz polycro sheet as a floor.

I’ve not looked at BA for a while, I’m happy with my standard Copper Spur UL1 at the moment.

That’s an odd pairing as one is a side entry and the other front. Many find one or the other a more comfortable design, for me if I can’t walk into the shelter upright I very much prefer a side entry. 


At those weights you’re buying the low weight not durability. A lot of manufacturers make that explicitly clear. Imho less about the generalized durability of DCF, I’ve  seen storm sails that bullets wouldn’t penetrate made with DCF,  but, as you focused on, the weight chosen by the manufacturer. TANSTAAFL

BA offers their tent designs at an insane number of weight points so if durability is a concern perhaps walk up a bit on the chart?

Yah, if Skurka, Mr. “four sheets of tp per day is glamping” judges a shelter under built I’d believe him.

Depending on your circumstances a huge gateway to lower weight per sheltered floor space is floorless. My older DCF Solomid clocks in at 11 oz. it’s at the price of losing the use of my trekking poles while it’s up but for more active routes with little to no base camping that’s a price I’m okay with.



ETA: maybe adding a polycro footprint to the DCF tent mix? Lightweight and cheap but moderately protective so the overall package would still be light.

At these weights even a tyvek footprint would still be competitive.
www.bigagnes.com/Tiger-Wall-2-Carbon

for a semi freestanding floor less solution John Ladd recently posted (FB) some Lyell Canyon campsite photos showing his setup of what looks like a fly creek in the fly plus footprint arrangement. for multiseasion use where bugs are sometimes an issue I could see that being cost effective. Two styles of shelters for the price of a footprint. 

Floorless shelters aren't for everyone, but they're just about all I use anymore (when I'm not hanging). Silnylon Duomid has been my go to for the past couple of years, with a small sheet of polycro to put under my sleeping pad. If I know weather conditions are going to be mild, I sometimes bring a Gatewood Cape instead.


I may wind up with one of these some day, it seems like an ideal shelter, in many ways. 7 ounces lighter than my Duomid, and I prefer DCF to silnylon for the tauter pitch, reduced stretch, and reduced water retention. Not worth the $$ to me right now, but maybe some day.

Dyneema composite fabric (DCF) in it’s earlier version (“cuben fiber”)  was a high tech sailcloth replacement for racing. The fabric can take some serious punishment from most directions, though the thinner forms may not be able to take abrasion (and few materials used in backpacking can take a slipping hiking pole tip or knife blade). Most use the following thicknesses .. 1.0 (floors) and 0.75 (used for MLDs shelters “fly”) will be be a bit more durable than the thinner 0.51, but some say 0.75 may be overkill for fly material.  

OTOH the 0.34 that Big Agnes uses are a little thin for most DCF users (Zpacks used to offer 0.33 designs but no longer - Zpacks has been in the dedicated UL biz for over 10 years fwiw).   Here is a run down by a well known Nat Geo supported hiker-writer.. 

andrewskurka.com/preview-big-agnes-carbon-dyneema-tent-tarp-bivy/

Then there’s bonding the sheets together.  Many DCF shelters are angular due to the limits of putting the fabric together, so people were a little leery of whether BA’s designs would last. 

Then other types … hybrid DCF laminated to polyester and now woven in the new “Ultra” fabric, are too heavy for shelters but have been used in backpacks, accessories, etc..