Anybody have any experience with KeelEazy? It's a PVC type tape that's peel and stick to the bottom of the boat with assist from a heat gun. Looks easy but not sure how much protection you get for the price. Is it worth the cost? www.keeleasy.com will get you there. Thanks,
This is going to sound snarky
but as there has been more than one KeelEazy discussion in the last year I suggest you enter the appropriate phrase in the little white box at the top of the page.
Or you can wait for people to recycle their discussions which will take longer.
KE should protect against frictional
wear. But it won’t strengthen the hull significantly against hard blows. Neither will Kevlar felt skid plates.
I think KE should be worthwhile if you anticipate a lot of frictional wear. Personally, though, I prefer S-glass, which is the hardest thing you can add to a hull, actually adds resistance to blows, wears smooth, repairs easily, and resists wear almost as effectively as Dynel.
I’ve had an S-glass patch right under the hull, under my kneeling pedestal, where my avoirdupois had worn through the Royalex vinyl and a bit into the ABS. After several years, the S-glass shows no significant wear. No cracking. No deep scratches.
Because KE is relatively narrow, it could not have worked for the wear area I patched with S-glass. But it should be great for kayak keels and oyster beds.
snarky
New to site, forgot about box up top but will use box in future. Checked it and learned quite a bit. I see they have put out a new and improved product since then. I have a personal email out to a member who had some bad luck with the old product but now has had approx. 6 months with the new. I'm not taking it as snarky. Thanks.
avoirdupois
Good info. Had to look up avoirdupois. Didn’t know what it meant but gave me a chuckle. Thanks again.
Great White Snark.
If you can wait another week
The Port Angeles kayak and film festival next weekend lists a class on how to repair your kayak, including keel strip installation. I remember someone said she had put on her own keel strip under the direction of the instructor. She did a great job.
The fee to attend this short class is almost nothing, so your greatest expense would be the cost of getting there. The worst thing is that the class is in the middle of the day…means choosing between paddling or attending.
PA
Good info. I just mentioned to my wife about heading up to PA this weekend to check it out. Weather is suppose to be very nice. Thanks.
No size limit
The website says that class has no limit to the number of registrants, so I’ll probably wing it and go without pre-registering. If the demo boats look interesting, I’ll add that on, too. Somehow I think that one has no limit to the number of sign-ups.
Keel easy strips are relatively easy
to apply, and durable. I know several people who use them and are satisfied, incl. moi.
There are two circumstances where I
would not even consider them. One is when the shape of the boat ends are so sharp that heat preforming and adhesion are a very doubtful enterprise. Another is when the area that must be protected goes beyond what one strip of KeelEasy can cover. No splicing or butt joints for me. And as I mentioned elsewhere, KE isn’t going to add the sort of strength to the hull that I can achieve with some layers of S-glass.
But when I wear the ends of my touring kayak enough, it being poly, KE would look real, real good.