Manufacturers have gotten better with this. At one time some of them would give the weight of a bare hull. No seat, no hatches, no hardware, etc. Given that for many manufacturers there are still a lot of manual steps in manufacturing a kayak, I wouldn’t sweat a pound or so either way.
I worked in manufacturing for 40 years. It can be difficult to hit spec on small objects, let alone large flexible ones. That is why specs have tolerances.
A good manufacturer keeps variables like weight as close to tolerance center as possible. You don’t want to waste $ on excess material nor bad customer results.
Thanks for the feedback. Any further feed back from any P&H owners would be most welcome since I have a Cetus on order.
Jim
I use a digital luggage scale. Just hang the kayak off the scale from the bow or stern lifting toggle while someone else lifts the kayak from the toggle at the other end. Then, swap ends and add the two weights together. For my three bigger kayaks, I got:
1996 Necky Looksha IVs fiberglass with rudder) - 55 lb
Pygmy Coho stitch & glue with bulkheads, hatches and deck compass - 43.5 lb
2002 Seaward Luna Grande fiberglass with rudder - 52 lb
I also looked at an old (1998!) Necky Arluk III 19 foot kevlar boat the other day and weighed it with the seller. It was 49 lb. He had done a beautiful job of refinishing the hull with marine epoxy paint that may have added a couple of pounds to the weight. A little too tippy for my needs, so that one is still for sale on Maine Craig’s List.
I weighed a couple of 40 lb bags of softener salt to check the accuracy of my scale. I don’t remember the result, but it was quite good. Sorry, my fleet is old so I don’t have any newer kayaks to report on.
" Just hang the kayak off the scale from the bow or stern lifting toggle while someone else lifts the kayak from the toggle at the other end. Then, swap ends and add the two weights together."
That is an interesting way to weigh a kayak. I guess it is accurate? Seems easiest way is to use bathroom scale (weight holding kayak and subtract your weight), but harder to take to a location.
Does anyone have a method to weigh a kayak at the point of sale?
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Yes! Take your scale with you! I’ve done that before. Just make sure your scale is accurate. I use dumbbells to test the scale.
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All 6 of my 7 Current Designs that I have weighed are very accurate a pound or less. Last one I am restoring a Titan I haven’t weighed it yet. Wish I did because I had to repair the bottom. I’ll see when it’s done what it weighs.
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Angle you hold it at would affect the weight.
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Yes, with the method of lifting bow and stern separately, you can end up a pound or so too high if not lifting vertically.
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Easiest just to set it on a bathroom scale. Could just add a couple of wood blocks if needed to make the kayak fit and the scale readable. Just subtract the extra weight.
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My custom P&H Cetus arrived about 4 months after my original post. It was close to advertised weight if I subtracted the 3 3/4 pounds of the hatch covers. The build sheet confirmed that there were two separate weights - one with, and the other without hatch covers.
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When I tried to balance a couple of my boats on a bathroom scale, I couldn’t see the readings because the boat’s balance point is also it’s widest point (or nearly so) . Instead, I placed one end on the scale and blocked the other with foam or wood so the keel line was parallel to the (level) ground. I also kept the scale and the block about the same distance from their respective ends. My assumption was that each reading would be half the weight of the boat. Is there any reason this method wouldn’t give a reasonably accurate result?
Not sure. Someone needs to do it.
A more accurate way, if weighing each side separately, is to hang one end by handle (what to hang on is question) and lift other end with luggage scale by handle to same level?
Just did hang-by-handle method and compared to bathroom scale for Prijon Capri.
20.7# bow + 23.1# stern = 43.8# total
43.9# by bathroom scale
That would work too I think.
I can also envision hanging a spring scale from an overhead beam (or similar).
Then attach a line between the boat’s bow and stern grab handles (with a bit of slack) and hang it on the scale. Might take a bit of trial and error to find the balance point, but it seems doable … interesting, but probably more trouble than it’s worth.
That should work reasonably well as long as the contact points for the scale and second support are exchanged exactly (i.e., put a speck of masking tape at the two contact spots, then when you exchange scale and support make sure those contact at the marked spots). No need for the two contacts to be at exactly equal distances from the ends. The drawback is you can get some sideways loading at the contacts, similar to not pulling straight up with the hanging method.
Here’s the hanging method but it’s not very transportable. My barn is messy with ropes in the background, so I circled the hanging rope (white), second hanging rope (red, goes to bow handle but could go anywhere to keep the bow from dropping), electronic luggage scale (silver) and a small chain hoist that I used to conveniently lift the kayak (orange). Using this method, I got about 1/2 lb less than lifting each end separately and adding the two numbers. Some of that is because I didn’t have read the slightly changing reading on the scale while holding up one end of the kayak. Here, I could let it hang and stabilize and read the scale “at my leisure”.
Put a block of something on the scale so you can read it the the hull on top and balance it. Easier if you had 2 more hands when you do it.
Your hanging method is definitely better … I suppose spring scale accuracy & precision is the determining factor. On the other hand, my bathroom scale is probably has a standard error of at least a few ounces, so summing the two results from the mark and block method may be one of those “good enough” solutions for me.
Oy! Take bathroom scale to kayak. Pick up the kayak. Get on the scale. Note weight. Put kayak down. Get on scale. Subtract.
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