Shatterglass Paddlers, When people on this list have been talking about the perfect kayak, I am surprised no one has brought up plastic kayaks. I own plastic and shatterglass kayaks, and when it comes to really using (having fun) with a kayak, it is almost always plastic for me. Sure, shatterglass is prettier, a bit lighter, and holds its shape better. But I'll take a little plastic oil canning so that I can bounce off and slide over rocks without having a second thought about it. At the Channel Islands down here is Southern California, almost every beach is rock strewn, a nightmare for shatterglass paddlers. If you don't paddle across to the islands, then your kayak is thrown and stacked 5 high on a ferry, another nightmare for shatterglass paddlers. Needless to say, you don't see many shatterglass kayaks at the Channel Islands. Most local outfitters won't even let you rent shatterglass boats to take over there. Sure, shatterglass is fine if you want to look pretty and always have a bay or calm sandy beach to launch and land at, but if you want to have fun and really use your kayak, then plastic is the material of choice. Go ahead, drop it off your car, drag it across the rocky beach, get cartwheeled in the surf, slam into rocks, seal launch! Come on, a little oil canning never hurt anyone! By the way, oil canning is almost always caused by improper storage or car topping. If you store and car top your plastic kayak properly, it won't oil can. Duane Strosaker Beating the Crap Out of a Looksha IV and Skerray RM in Southern California *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Heretic! Anonymous Way far from Cuba *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 12/3/99 11:44:11 AM Eastern Standard Time, Strosaker_at_aol.com writes: << By the way, oil canning is almost always caused by improper storage or car topping. If you store and car top your plastic kayak properly, it won't oil can. >> I'm not sure what oil canning means, but I am interested in recommendations regarding best way to maintain, store, and car top plastic kayaks. Thanks Hank Berger *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 12/3/99 8:36:25 AM Pacific Standard Time, Strosaker_at_aol.com writes: << Needless to say, you don't see many shatterglass kayaks at the Channel Islands. >> Its nice you like your Tupperware. A group of us from the Northwest went to Channel Islands and used the shuttle boat. We had Mat Brose to jump on the deck hands to keep them from over loading kayaks. The Ranger on the island was concerned with our group because none of the kayaks had a rubber? It must be all the sit-on-tops he sees. We surfed and bounced around in the caves and landed on beaches. All the kayaks survived. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
At 11:34 AM 12/3/99 EST, Strosaker_at_aol.com wrote: >Shatterglass Paddlers, > >When people on this list have been talking about the perfect kayak, I am >surprised no one has brought up plastic kayaks. I own plastic and >shatterglass kayaks, and when it comes to really using (having fun) with a >kayak, it is almost always plastic for me. Sure, shatterglass is prettier, a >bit lighter, and holds its shape better. But I'll take a little plastic oil >canning so that I can bounce off and slide over rocks without having a second >thought about it. I know of a lot of fiberglass paddlers that cringe at my normal landing technique in my Old Town Heron -- which is to get it going full bore and then ram it up onto the beach -- gravel, rocks, sand, I don't concern myself about it too much. I don't like getting my feet wet, and rarely do with this technique. It was the realization that I'd have to give up this little trick that caused me to put the money I'd saved up for a fiberglass kayak into a fiberglass sailboat. The thread going on about tenting on a kayak is sort of an extension of this idea. I kept thinking it'd be nice to have a two-person kayak that could be sailed, and tented on -- at least for solo, and I was looking at a plastic double with a big cockpit. Then, I realized that it's really not going to be that good a sailor, nor that comfortable, so I started to revise my thinking. The sailboat isn't any longer than a kayak, but it is a little beamier. Quite a little, in fact. -- Wes *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Wes Boyd wrote: > > > I know of a lot of fiberglass paddlers that cringe at my normal landing > technique in my Old Town Heron -- which is to get it going full bore and > then ram it up onto the beach -- gravel, rocks, sand, I don't concern > myself about it too much. I don't like getting my feet wet, and rarely do > with this technique. It was the realization that I'd have to give up this > little trick that caused me to put the money I'd saved up for a fiberglass > kayak into a fiberglass sailboat. > > The thread going on about tenting on a kayak is sort of an extension of > this idea. I kept thinking it'd be nice to have a two-person kayak that > could be sailed, and tented on -- at least for solo, and I was looking at a > plastic double with a big cockpit. Then, I realized that it's really not > going to be that good a sailor, nor that comfortable, so I started to > revise my thinking. The sailboat isn't any longer than a kayak, but it is a > little beamier. Quite a little, in fact. > > -- Wes > > Hi Wes, and all, Good luck with the new sailboat. I sure hope you find more pleasure in it than I did mine. I sold my 22' "mac" this spring. Altho it was a joy to look at sitting out there and I loved to run my hand over her each day, I decided that she was just a broken promise.. My folding kayaks are there, ready to go anywhere in the world at a moments notice. Deep ocean, shallow lake. I could go on and on with my thought process, but the bottom line was that I decided the sailboat only "promised" of adventure, but returned only problems, endless exspences, and even more endless excuses not to go. Best day in a while was the day it was pulled off the land. Maybe it was just me, and feeling that I was cheating on the folbots..., or who I am.? We still take L&A magazine, and dream. Better luck with yours!! James *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
I like my plastic skerray. No worries paddling, heavy rocker. Good for surf, rocks etc the weight gets me down though - and its lack of tracking. I'm looking to get a bigger, lighter , fibreglass trip boat next year. I'll keep the skerray though for short trips, surf, caves etc. Two such boats seem to me the perfect complements. nick *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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? *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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/ ***************************************************************************
At 11:34 AM 12/3/99 EST, Duane wrote to us shatterglass paddlers: >When people on this list have been talking about the perfect kayak, I am >surprised no one has brought up plastic kayaks. I own plastic and >shatterglass kayaks, and when it comes to really using (having fun) with a >kayak, it is almost always plastic for me. Sure, shatterglass is prettier, a >bit lighter, and holds its shape better. But I'll take a little plastic oil >canning so that I can bounce off and slide over rocks without having a second >thought about it. Actually, Mr Spastic Plastic, rotomolded kayaks aren't getting older, their getting better. Let me explain. While it is true that plastic kayaks suffer from an eventual slow demise (see Matt's response), the technology is getting better. Now, I'm not sure how the R&R is doing with other companies, but Current Designs here in Victoria has come out with a newer linear polyethylene material called "super-linear" compounded polyethylene. >From what I've seen of it, the material now used produces a superior kayak that is both more pleasing (bright, vivid colors) and stronger (read stiffer), as well as more abrasion resistant. So, you will not need to recycle your kayak so often. Personally, I'm literally a shatteglasser, and have smashed up my fiberglass Nordkapp more times in the last twenty years than the number of beer bottles you smash up on a weekend :-) I've recently run 18-feet of 3/4-inch by 5/8-inch replaceable plastic strip down the full keel of my kayak's hull - bloody-well the best of both worlds. BC'in Ya Doug Lloyd (who obviously likes doing fiberglass repairs...and beer too, Duane) *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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