Reinhold Werner Weber [RWW] writes: << On Wed, 9 Aug 2000, Edwin Johnson wrote: > But reading about the newer Greenland II my appetite is whetted for a new boat. RWW: In contrast to computers and cars, which are in general more powerful and fashionable the following year, the contrary is sometimes true of folding kayaks. [snip] Looking here [in Germany] for a used Pouch RZ85 (folding double) the old boats of the 1950 are often in better shape than those of the 1980ies. Of course after reunification quality at Pouch improved to western standards and they brought out a new model, the RZ96. But the enthusiasts of Pouch boats still swear by the old RZ85, which they term the better boat. It's still produced. RCH: The RZ85 is indeed today produced in much improved quality again: Fittings have been upgraded; certain other aspects of the design and construction of the boats, which had been sacrificed during the prolonged desintegration of communist East Germany in an effort to cut costs, have been "retrograded" to the excellent detail solutions that were found on the traditional boats. RWW: If the skin of an old Pionier, Hart or Kette is beyond repair, a new one can be manufactured. Several companies offer this service over here in Europe. RCH: "Poucher Boote" is one of these companies. In fact, the people at Pouch have the in-house expertise not just to rebuild skins, but to overhaul and rebuild pretty much any wooden framed folding boat you might throw at them. RWW: So if looking for a new boat, you should perhaps think about guarding the old one, depending on its condition. [snip] Reinhold Weber RCH: That is certainly true! I would even take that one step further: Since you can replace or repair any part of a folding boat in isolation from the rest of the boat, you'd be hard pushed to find a boat that does not have something left in it worth salvaging at least. And if you don't want to deal with it, there's sure to be someone who does :-) Best regards, Ralph C. Hoehn (RCH) Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com http://www.PouchBoats.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Aug 10 2000 - 12:35:59 PDT
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