Re: [Paddlewise] Feberglass VS. Kevlar/Carbon Kayak

From: Michael Daly <mikedaly_at_magma.ca>
Date: Thu, 02 Nov 2006 16:07:40 -0500
avi z wrote:

> Feberglass or Kevlar/Carcon?

Fiberglass: affordable, solid, easy to fix, a bit heavy.

Kevlar: expensive, strong, tough, a bit harder to fix and definitely lighter 
than fiberglass for a given level of strength.

Kevlar/Carbon fiber blend: expensive, light, interwoven K/CF not necessarily the 
best way to use the two materials.

Carbon fiber: Very expensive, possibly fragile, a bit harder to fix, very light.

Personally, I prefer Kevlar only if the price is not objectionable, fiberglass 
otherwise.  Carbon fiber is for racing only.  I don't think the interwoven 
blends are a great idea.

The quality of construction can change all this.  A well-made fiberglass kayak 
can be better than a poorly-made Kevlar kayak.

Mike
***************************************************************************
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 Nov 02 2006 - 13:08:00 PST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:22 PDT