Do spray skirts stretch out?

I am about to order a NRS spray skirt. My WW kayak is 34 long 19 wide with a 87 circumference. My touring kayak is 36 long 19.5 wide with a 94 circumference. The spray skirt I am getting shows the lowest numbers will fit my WW kayak and my touring kayak is still in the range of the upper numbers. My question is, if I use it on my touring kayak quite a bit will it stretch out and eventually not fit my WW kayak very well? While I do take my touring kayak down creeks and streams I am not usually somewhere that I need to roll. I have a cheap nylon adjustable skirt from walmart that keeps me completely dry but I haven’t tried rolling in it. So if it doesn’t hurt the neoprene skirt any I would like ot use it on both but if it does I do have other options.

neoprene sprayskirts definately stretch
out with use. I haven’t really compared the “shock cord” vs “rand” for stretching. I have a couple of skirts that are the exact same size and make. I use them on different boats because one is stretched out from a larger cockpit and one is used on a boat with a smaller cockpit. I don’t interchange because I know it will loosen up the skirt for the smaller boat and its already a bit large but maybe it doesn’t matter that much to you.

One per boat
I would imagine that swapping the skirt between boats will make it not work well on either. It’s probably a false economy to use just one skirt between the two. I would bite the bullet and buy a second skirt. I have one skirt for every boat, and do no swapping.

on a scale of…


terrible idea.



tie and retieing spray skirt shock cords…



beyond comprehension



you may ‘take up golf’

Again…
I have no idea what datakoll is trying to say — I can’t even tell if agrees or disagrees with what I posted. Datakoll, please try harder to make some sense, I perceive that you have a lot of experience and are often helpful when writing clearly.

Good luck with that.

some stretch

– Last Updated: May-13-15 1:50 PM EST –

There will be some stretch, but possibly not a huge issue and it doesn't happen fast. I use my skirt on multiple boats (though never checked the size differences) and have been doing so for a long time. You could try one at first and see how it works out. If it seems to be an issue, then buy a second.

Edit - this of course assumes that the skirt fits both boats well at first. Not all skirts seem to fit all boats well, even though fit guides say they should.

Dakatoll translated.

– Last Updated: May-13-15 12:33 PM EST –

Bad idea to make one skirt work between two boats, trying to get it to work will drive you crazy enough you may consider dropping kayaking entirely and take up golf.

I think they stretch out a bit but eventually return to close to original size. I have a skirt for a surf boat that is tight as hell, and needs to be wrestled with the beginning of every surf season. Have to soak it and coat it with 303 and let it sit on the coaming for a few days and still tuff to get on, but keeps the boat dry. Sometimes makes me wonder why I didn't take up golf.

Hmmm
Aren’t you a little bit concerned that you were able to translate that so well?..

dew dew…

– Last Updated: May-13-15 6:42 PM EST –

another grammarian.

I have 2 Kokotat Goretex spray skirts adverted to fit on a coaming x MM long.

A terrific spray skirt. A/C

does the skirt fit a Solstice Titan ? I guess..but Ima clod sometimes its loose when it should be tight...sometimes it comes off when we roll.

Unlike Peter California, I recommend spray skirt pessimism in touring sea kayak use. I am reminded that my bicycle wheel building in not up to par either.

In humor if not expertise, the skirt issue develops as a serious effort on your part fashioning one skirt to one coaming.

developing one skirt for 2 coamings seems hopeless tilting at economy.

Or in other parlance, skirts are serious business.

One skirt one boat....skirts adapt to one coaming.

I had posted a quest for a hand sized shock cord come along ratchet. Need a tweak for rough seas ahead ? reach back and lever cord 1 notch tighter.

Great idea ! coaming repair people cheered !

A DIY project as who needs a shock cord ratchet ?

you do !

Your idea is in the group one level to the easement of:

I forgot my paddles
uh, who packed the TP ?
DietCoke you moron....VVVC&33UHTF

Thanks
Thank you for the replies everyone. Datakoll I appreciate that assortment of words and numbers you threw in as well…



I will see how well the skirt fits my WW kayak, it is already on the lowest range. If it works out and I absolutely need to I can toss it on my touring but otherwise I won’t switch between. If it doesn’t fit my WW at all then I will have to step down a size and not even have the option to use between the two.

read on
https://www.google.com/#q=nylon+fabric+stretching



https://www.google.com/#q=dimensional+change+in+waterproof+nylon+fabrics



https://www.google.com/#q=google+scholar:+dimensional+change+in+waterproof+nylon+fabrics





the second skirt is a spare.



remember labeling each is essential



each spray skirt…



try nortriptyline

English major
Worked in tech support for ten years after graduating, spent a lot of time on internet forums, so I’m probably geared for it.

Try reading Finnegans Wake if you really want to fry your brain, not that I’ve read it all the way through.

however…


there is a tossup as Peter suggests in that stretching for one coaming may allow a better fit on the second coaming. The second coaming then allows a better fit on the first.



Only the Koko designer knows for sure. EG, is the pattern cut to coaming shape or has experience taught mods to the coaming shape produce a better match…?



But accepting the counter argument leaves the problem of retying the knot. Here, in one case the knot is loosend then retied for the ‘larger’ coaming.



Is that retying moving toward a better knot adjustment or away from an ideal ?



Or is this an EPITA ?

Shrinkage
Posted a version of this to you on BT as well.



Skirts stretch, but not very much. The real issue, if you aren’t hard on gear and keep stuff for a long time, is shrinkage.



Neoprene shrinks, or at least loses stretch, with age. I’ve had an IR bungee skirt for 12 years - which shows how gentle I am with gear. When new, it was fairly easy to mount on the cockpit dry. Now, it’s so stiff/shrunken that I can only get it on if I soak it first to relax the material.



If both boats are within the recommended size range, and if the fit is functional on both, I wouldn’t bat an eye at using it interchangeably.

ha
that was good.

I agree with you
I’d rather have a dedicated skirt for each size cockpit, no question. As it stands now I have two for my one kayak: a neo and a neo/fabric combo.

Thanks
Yep, saw the reply on there as well.



I appreciate the input, I will keep that in mind. I would like to think I am gentle on gear but I am also pretty lazy, sometimes the two don’t mix. I sure don’t have the money to be extremely rough on stuff though!

for the complete rundown
survey UTUBE on spray skirts.