Hi, Any history on the durability of CD’s Vision 140 composite layup? This ol’ dog needs a durable, light weight, fairly stable yak to grow my skills, lead beginner/intermediate trips and demonstrate basics on coastal/Piedmont rivers and creeks. Favored outfitter does Current Design. Currently run the Wen-Vag noe, in KUL, like a yak with a GP, but windy days getting too challenging. Guess I’ll have to give up the big cooler & pack smarter :-). Tks, R
pick two
– Last Updated: May-04-11 8:48 AM EST –
durable, light, cheap.
It's as durable as your KUL Vagabond but you may find it getting more wear as exiting won't be as quick when the boat's resting on rocky shoreline. If you are lighter than 200lbs you might consider the 130.
The CD Vision isn’t cheap.
Does that mean that it’s light & durable?
neither is a KUL Vagabond
Then your 1st statement makes no sense
and is quite useless to the OP.
durability depends on treatment
I just upgraded from a polyurethane rec boat to a Current Designs Vision 120 in the composite layup. Even with gentle treatment, I’ve already scarred up the Vision with unintended contact with submerged rocks in local rivers and creeks. At a local lake/wildlife sanctuary, some numbnuts sank a car tire rim filled with concrete and with an angle iron post stuck in the concrete, probably to hold a bird nesting box. But the angle iron stopped about 2 inches beneath the lake surface. I paddled over it at a fast clip, and it dug out a long, deep scar, right down to the fabric. The cheap old poly boat would have flexed and bounced off. But hey, at 28 pounds, my Vision 120 is a dream to carry and car-top. And the rigigity of the composite is wonderul. It paddles great. But you have to be careful and prepared to make repairs.
It makes sense to me. Cheap in this
context means cheap to build. The end product being expensive = not cheap does not say anything about it being light and durable.
What the statement means is that if one is building composite boats, they can be cheap and light, or durable and light, or cheap and durable. But not all three. And this remains true for all builders of composite canoes and kayaks.
kayak durability?
– Last Updated: May-07-11 8:21 AM EST –
This entire discussion makes no sense to me. Do you want a durable kayak? If so, buy a poly boat ,they are strong but usually weigh more. This isn't rocket science. VF
There are other materials
For my money thermoformed plastic is more durable than rotomolded. After two years of use my thermoformed kayak looks brand new on the top and has fewer scratchs on the bottom than my previous rotomolded boats. Plus there has been no deformation caused by storage or sun. And it weighs less. Well worth the investment.
thermoformed
The only problem with the high tech materials used now is that they are hard to repair. VF
repairing thermo
I’ve had good luck with fiberglass/epoxy repairs on thermoform boats in structurally rigid areas.