Carbon fiber is very strong with static loads but is not very good in impact. While race cars use a lot of carbon fiber they use it differently than you want for a kayak. Race cars are not intended to survive impacts fully intact. Part of what they want is for the construction to fail in such a way that it absorbs a lot of energy before it gets to the driver. If it breaks catastrophically that is OK, so long as by the time the impact gets to the driver most of the energy is absorbed. Carbon fiber is used a lot in race kayaks. A Van Dusen sprint boat built of pre-preg carbon fiber and Nomex core weights about 14 lbs. They are quite strong for the loads they are designed to take, but you could probably put a pencil through them without to much effort. You can build up carbon fiber to be very strong, but enough carbon to give good impact resistance for a boat would be quite pricey. It is better to mix some other materials in to increase the impact resistance. On Wednesday, October 8, 2003, at 07:33 PM, Strosaker wrote: > > The thick full carbon fiber lay-up sounds good, but I am wondering > about > impact resistance in expedition and surf settings. I would like to > hear some > opinions and explanations about which is better, the usual Kelvar > lay-up or > full carbon fiber? > Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 824 Thompson St Glastonbury, CT 06033 USA Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847 http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Oct 09 2003 - 14:06:38 PDT
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