Keel Eazy Final Report.......

This is a follow up to my previous post about problems I had with Keel Eazy. After only two uses in the surf zone the Keel Eazy strip was peeling off in various places.



The lateral and torsional pressure on the tape was causing it to peel up on the edges. I reported my problems to the company twice and got no response from them, but the store I bought it from replaced it for me immediately (The Kayak Academy).



In my previous post the owner of the company commented that I must have installed the strip improperly and that there was no issue with the tape peeling up the way I had mentioned, despite several other posters claiming to have had similar problems, and despite a design change on the tape that extended the adhesive closer to the edges of the tape.



When I received the new tape in the mail it was the newer design the adhesive all the way to the edge, which I was happy about.



I also ordered a NEW heat gun so that I could have one that was capable of operating at the exact temperature specified by the manufacturer (500 degrees). I precisely followed the installation procedure that the manufacturer demonstrated on Youtube, and cleaned the hull of the boat extremely thoroughly prior to installing.



I was pretty optimistic that my results would be good this time.



After only my second use the tape is once again peeling up from the edges–although not as badly as the previous installation that did not have the adhesive all the way to the edges.



I can definitely say that this product is not suitable for use in the surf zone, unless you are just launching and landing for an extended day paddle, then maybe. But for surfing–absolutely not. Launching the in surf involves having to rotate your boat on the sand and sometimes getting side surfed up to the beach. This product cannot stand up to this sort of use.



This is not to say that the product is not suitable for other applications. I believe that as long as the friction on the boat is always parallel to the keel then the product will probably hold up quite well, but any lateral friction put on it will cause it to peel up.



I will be removing it from my boat since it is not suitable for my application (an application where a keel strip might actually be useful).



Matt

Thanks
Thank you for taking the time to report this experience.



I have not used the product but based on what I heard from those who had I have concluded that it works OK for flat water boats that are subject to occasional stem abrasion, but not adequate for white water use.



The problem is that in white water, or boats used in surf zone, the abrasion plates are subjected to considerable sheer stress, and not always aligned with the long axis of the plate, as you noted. This is particularly the case when the stern of a white water boat goes over a rocky ledge. I think for that type of use, any product bonded with what is basically a contact cement will not hold up adequately.

Tends to support my suspicion that
sometimes the older version of the product was not heated enough, or didn’t cool evenly, or both, so that internal forces sometimes left the edges willing to lift.



The narrow width of Keel Easy might contribute to this. When we used to heat a sheet of Kydex and mold it over the blunt bow of an OCA, the Kydex sheet was quite wide. When it was epoxied on the boat, the width made it harder for internal or external forces to break the epoxy line.

Keel Eazy experience

– Last Updated: Sep-25-13 5:51 PM EST –

I to applied this product to my brand new NDK kayak (myself) with a light duty heatgun: and was a little worried about the product holding up. I primarily have my boat in the rocks and surf areas and on very rocky gravelly rivers, all the worst case scenario for your hull. I was told because it was a NDK that i didn't need to baby my boat. But I did for about a month and then i started to just drag it up the beach, rocks and gravel....so many scrapes and digs and dings now. I have had fun in my boat. okay, so back to my story. the Keel Eazy strip has far outlasted my expectations, there are digs in it, but it is on there just as well as it was 1 yr. when i applied it. So i have had a great experience using this product.

Oh heck
Why not just wear the ends down into the laminate then build it up again with something tougher than gel coat or keel easy?

I do
I do wear down the gel coat and then rebuild with tinted epoxy over glass tape; works a lot better than the kayak I did with Keel-Ezy.

But, as the name implies (EZY) some paddlers want to have a stick-on product that has none of the mess that fibreglassing usually has.

So for me is: fast and not-so-good, or messy and durable.