At 07:14 AM 3/22/99 EST, KiAyker_at_aol.com wrote: > It has been suggested to me that one can save weight in a Kevlar boat by >foregoing the pigment in the hull. Is this true? Just how much weight does the >pigment add? Are there any other pros and cons to ordering a Kevlar boat I >should know about? I guess I really don't know that much about Kevlar. The folks at Wenonah tell me that their gel-coat process adds about 6lb to the weight of a 16.5ft canoe. This is not the same thing as adding pigment to the otherwise relatively clear epoxy, which I wouldn't expect to add noticeably to the overall weight. There is some argument regarding kevlar deterioration with exposure to UV, which the gel-coat should largely prevent. I prefer not to carry the extra weight, and so store my boat in the garage. For comparison, my Wenonah C1W solo boat with an ultra-light core layup, aluminum trim, and no gel-coat weighs 32.5lb according to my NIST traceable bathroom scale ;-). M'ladys Wenonah Prism has the flex-core kevlar layup with a white gel-coat but is otherwise very similar. It weighs 43lb on the same irrefutably accurate scale. I feel that there are two advantages to kevlar. One, for the same weight fabric, kevlar is probably 50% stronger than fiberglass. This means that a kevlar boat can have less fabric and hence less weight. Some manufacturers will offer boats with an "expedition" kevlar layup. These boats have more or heavier fabric layers in them and so weigh about the same as a fiberglass layup, but are substantially stronger. Two, if you do stress the kevlar lay-up enough to buckle it, the epoxy will crack, but the fabric generally stays intact and temporary repairs are easily made with duct tape. Often when fiberglass lay-ups buckle the fibers part and you are left with a hole. Also, for the same reason, kevlar layups are somewhat more resistant to puncture wounds. IMHO, unless you are greatly deterred by the 30-40% cost differential, by all means get a kevlar boat. My $.02, but hope it helps a bit. ByeBye! S. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Mar 22 1999 - 09:54:05 PST
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