Need information on purchase of a tandem canoe. Kevlar compostie vs. Tufweave/other?
Canoe to be used for fishing in marshes in NE Fl;
we carry a dog and some gear; needs to be lightweight.
We like the high-tech Kevlar composites, but not sure if this is the right product for the area (some oyster shell banks).
Any recommendations?
I’m confused by your statement :
“we carry a dog and some gear; needs to be lightweight.” The dog and gear issue doesn’t have to do with the light boat issue, does it? Not unless you put the dog and gear in the boat and then tandem carry it like a huge basket. But you wouldn’t do that.
Whether to spend more for a lighter boat depends on how far you will carry it on your shoulders, and how high you have to lift it to load it on your vehicle. Unless you often do boat carries of a quarter mile or more, I think you might be happy with the TuffWeave.
Respecting Eric’s greater experience, I think the Wenonah Tuffweave layup will be a smidge more resistant to oyster banks and such than the Wenonah Kevlar Flexcore. The vinylester resin takes an unusually tenacious hold on the polyester fibers in Tuffweave, and the glass fibers are hard and wear smooth. Kevlar as an outer layer may fuzz when worn.
skid plates
buy whatever boat fits your weight requirement and put skidplates on it
A minority view on skidplates.
They are heavy, cause resistance to boat motion, and may turn out to be unnecessary. Kevlar felt is an inferior material with regard to sliding easily, and Kevlar fibers do not have the strength-in-compression that is needed for the outside of the hull.
One might as well use the boat without skid plates and see what sort of wear occurs. If there is wear, ordering S-glass and epoxy from a source such as johnrsweet.com will allow one to put on 3 to 4 layer, concentric, bias cut skid plates which have great compression strength and which wear smooth.
The REAL reason Kevlar felt skid plates have been marketed so successfully is that Kevlar felt holds together, so that the skid plate can be wet out and pushed into place in one sloppy step. S-glass patches take longer, but they are light, strong, and add very little drag.
add me to the minority NM