http://thegoat.backcountry.com/blog/2007/06/28/moldable-fabric-technology-liquid-logic-sojourn-kayak/
Well, there was recently the thread on a ‘bombproof’ roll, how about a ‘bombproof’ (well, maybe only bulletproof) kayak.
The Liquid Logic boat (SOJOURN 14) with this stuff - sounds interesting.
Andy
nice
I like the way this looks. Something of a middle ground between some of the properties of plastic and glass. I don’t think I’d be so afraid of taking this boat down a river with the potential for rock impacts.
Quite pricey for all that, though. Wonder how long it’ll take the price to come down enough to be competitive.
scratches
This is from the company website:
“MFT (Moldable Fabric Technology) is a revolutionary, 100% PP thermoplastic composite with excellent impact resistance and stiffness as well as a lightweight composition. MFT is based on the patent-pending PURE technology, which creates a highly-engineered polypropylene tape yarn with a highly-drawn core for strength properties within a lower melt polymer matrix for composite processing. MFT is fully recyclable and safer to handle than glass-filled composites. Available in fabric or sheet stock, MFT is ideal for panel or molded applications where impact resistance, stiffness and weight are primary concerns.”
Would anyone care to guess how scratch resistant this will be ( think PP bottles ).
Scratch resistance
You’re probably right. To make things worse, being PP based, nothing will likely stick to it very well either.
No free lunch.
Seen them
Liquid Logic broke the mold and had to push back production by over a year. The boat takes impacts well and I would say stood up to abrasion fairly well structurely speaking. Cosmetically, the boat would fuzz. A lighter would melt the weave until the boat was glossy again. I think in the rebuild of the mold they were going to look at redesigning the boat so it didn’t fuzz as much.
Neat stuff, but
We’d love to try wotking with the stuff, but the pressure and heat required pretty much take it out of the realm of possibilities if small builders making esoteric craft for the advanced paddler market.
Hard enough to get a mold that’ll seal for 1 bar of pressure at ambiant temp.
Esquif Zephyr?
Isn’t this similar to Esquif’s molded Twin-Tex Zephyr?
Phreon
like sponsor decals?
Sledge Hammer Test
I saw a LL promo video taken at a boat show where this guy beat the hull of the new milliken boat repreatedly with a sledge hammer…not even a scratch after a dozen smacks. Pretty impressive…