Plastic is generally more resistant to abrasion and very large impacts. Fiberglass, carbon, kevlar, Spectra and wood/composite boats are generally lighter and stiffer. For example, a design that might weight 70 lbs. in plastic would weigh 50-55 lbs. in glass, 45-50 lbs. in wood, and 40-45 lbs. in Kevlar. Composite layups can vary according to how heavily they are designed--there are super-light boats that are easy to carry, but very fragile, and heavyweight glass boats that are probably tougher than most plastic boats. Colored gelcoats in composite boats are much more vibrant and glossy than typical rotomolded or blowmolded PE boats. Wood boats are downright gorgeous-- admittedly, though, I'm highly biased in that direction. Some plastic boats are designed somewhat around ease of molding. This is not always the case, but you'll probably notice a few more little intricacies of design in composite boats. Coleman canoes are an extreme example of boats designed for ease of manufacture and shipping, at the expense of performance. Composite boats are easier to modify and repair. Nothing really sticks to polyethylene. Wood kayaks, built well by someone else, are very, very expensive. Wood boats built by the owner are dirt cheap, but take a considerable labor/time investment, and some modest woodworking tools are required. Email me if you have any particular questions about wood kayaks. Happy deciding! Shawn >As a longtime owner of plastic and hopeful upgrader to something else, I would be >interested in further comments along this thread on the relative merits >(durability, speed, whatever) of kevlar, carbon composites, and wood. Any >first-hand experience out there across those lines? -- ____©/______ ~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^\ ,/ /~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^ "Everything can be found at sea according to the spirit of your quest" -Joseph Conrad *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Dec 05 1999 - 10:26:15 PST
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