BaysideBob wrote: > I'd also appreciate opinions on this one. My instinct is "more expensive is > better" but I'm not so sure. I have about half the money saved up for the > next (unchosen) boat. I'm getting hammered with overtime at work so the > money difference matters little. The how long will it last does. Light > weight is good. Longer lasting is better (for this boat). I have a kevlar > boat and a carbon/kevlar boat. I'm able to baby them both. The next one I > intend to beat the crap out of and expect it to last a lifetime (I'm > figuring 15-20 years God willing). What should I be looking for regarding > layup? My only comment is that heavy isn't necessarily stronger. If the builder doesn't use vacuum bagging, they may have more epoxy in the boat than they need without a significant increase in strength. Some manufacturers offer expedition versions of their kayaks. Current Designs, as one example, will lay up a kevlar version of a hull that weighs about the same as a fiberglass version. They've added extra kevlar for strength and that's where the weight comes from. Note that the deck isn't made stronger - only the hull. Mike *************************************************************************** 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 Tue Jan 04 2000 - 10:55:07 PST
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:18 PDT