I did the very thing to an old Klepper (I mean 50 plus years old!) frame I acquired. I made a decision to just use heavy, marine vinyl in lieu of hypalon. The cost was about 1/3 the price of hypalon, the weight at least 50% or more lighter, and the material much easier to work with. I think this material is just fine for everything short of open water crossings. Think about it, the old vinyl Folbot skins lasted 20 plus years, right?! I set the skin up with a spray on, adhesive glue, then I hand sewed everything with a very heavy upholstery thread. Then I sealed the seams with marine goop. Never a drop of water! Yes, my sewing is ugly, but it works! I had an old frame that preceded sponsons. Nevertheless, I ordered a pair from the Klepper repair shop (somewhere in the midwest, I forget where!), and attached them without incident! BTW, the ends of the skin really are the hardest part. I need to re-open them and try to make them fit more snugly. Good luck, it CAN be done. Scott *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Scott Ives wrote: > > I did the very thing to an old Klepper (I mean 50 plus years old!) frame I > acquired. I made a decision to just use heavy, marine vinyl in lieu of > hypalon. The cost was about 1/3 the price of hypalon, the weight at least > 50% or more lighter, and the material much easier to work with. I think > this material is just fine for everything short of open water crossings. > Think about it, the old vinyl Folbot skins lasted 20 plus years, right?! I saw Scott's work last September and it was extremely well done. Maybe I am look at things a bit simply but I wonder why people who are attempting to make a replacement skin follow the format that the boats originally have, i.e. a separate deck and hull with a seam all the way around connecting the two. Why not just make the replacement skin of one material and wrap it up over the top of the boat? This would eliminate the need for working with a seam at a spot where it could take on water. What I envision is wrapping the material around with perhaps a seam at the very top part of the deck, or better yet, slightly offset to one side of the top bar to reduce stress. A lot of people probably don't remember but the Sponson Man, Tim Ingram, emerged in the kayak world as a maker of folding kayaks. His frames were fairly simple and his hulls were wrap arounds held together with velcro. I am fuzzy on its name but I remember it as SeaLight. He had as many models as customers, i.e. you asked for a specific length and he would cut a frame that size, wrap around a vecroed vinyl skin and call it something. He had models like Manhattan and many other names. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:01 PDT