I"ve used a blow dryer
with a large putty knife to smooth out the hull of my plastic Tempest----works well.
Cost is the best reason
Cost is the best reason to buy plastic over composite sea kayak. Plastic boats cost less, but they are not necessarily a better value. Plastic is a good material for someone who can not afford a composite boat or someone who is just a casual paddler. There are some exceptions like people who plan on bashing into rocks. But if cash is on hand and you are a serious paddler, then composite is a better overall value.
If you have the cash, are a serious paddler and still buy a plastic sea kayak then you may fall into the penny-wise/pound-foolish category. You either did not do your homework and are foolish, or you did do your homework but are simply a cheap bastard.
Oh yeah, there are definitely a lot of sea kayakers who are cheap bastards. I totally expect to get beat up for saying that. If you feel the need to fight me over my comments, at least give a good reason why you were justified choosing plastic over composite. If you simply say “I saved $800.” then you know what you are.
To be clear, I think plastic boats are fine for the casual paddler or the people who really want to get out there but can not afford a composite boat. I think they are still better off buying a used composite boat, but that is not always as easy as it sounds.
My canoeing bias
– Last Updated: Mar-20-08 3:03 PM EST –
As a canoer for many years before a kayaker, I am still conditioned to the drastic weight difference and design differences of the materials. I always splurged on Kevlar tandems in the 40 to 46 pound range, while fiberglass was in the 50 to 55 pound range, Royalex a bit more but various polyethelene canoes weighing up to 100 pounds. I always laughed when I saw the ads of how a canoe thrown off a rooftop survived the fall. Great but who the heck wants to put 80 to 100 pounds on and off the car. Always preferring composite canoes for weight savings and nicer design lines, that preference has stuck with me in the sea kayaking world.
I can’t beleive it
I’m so surprised by this same old argument. Lets face plastic boats take less maintenance(lay them in the sun and they bend back into shape). They paddle much faster (over rocks). They a cost less and last much longer so long at you keep them out of the sun.
If your boat is for paddling get plastic!
If it is for racing or keeping pretty get glass or carbon or wood or kevlar or unobtanium!
Plastic is pretty much throwaway
Every time you hit bottom you scrape more away…
It took but a little time before we found out that yes you can wear out a boat. Some boats have little mini skegs. We had to throw out two kayaks…no matter how we tried professionally to fix poly the patch would not hold. A hole in the stern is hard to fix…
There is a reason they are cheaper…so you buy another.
Then we switched to glass which is so much friendlier as far as field repair and longevity up here in Maine… actually we see far fewer plastic boats for serious paddlers…Rec paddlers on lakes do favor plastic.
and FG and kevlar
do have a certain snob appeal—I’ve never known any body to actually wear out a plastic boat–the old ones used to oil can and warp but the newer ones seem to be much sturdier —the main disadvantage is the bottom tends to be frayed as you drag it over barnicles, rocks and gravel. the solution, up here in Maine, is to take a blow dryer, or better yet a heated paint remover, and heat the bottom just enough to smooth it out with a wide putty knife. That said I’ve paddled the same boat in plastic and fiberglass—fiberglass has much more glide per stroke than RM—I’ve been told thats due to its ability to transfer power from the paddle to the hull of the boat due to its stiffness. Oh and the hull is smoother generally.
Snob appeal
Try telling the guy we met in Alaska that he’s not a “serious paddler” because his kayak was plastic.
He was paddling a plastic sea kayak (bought used) and had started paddling north from Seattle on March 31. We met him first in early- to mid-June on our own trip, and we met him again (by coincidence) in Skagway when we had all finished. He was actually considering paddling BACK to Seattle, too: 6 months of living on the water.
He said he always bought a used plastic sea kayak for his trips and would resell them after two years. He lived to paddle–made enough money to pay for these trips by working about 2 months out of the year. That’s a whole lot more serious paddler than something who buys glass or kevlar that’s mostly a gawky wall hanging.
I know a guy who wore out his plastic
kayak. He wore a hole in the bottom of his three layer Old Town Loon 138 after paddling it several years on bony IL rivers & streams. He replaced it with a new Loon 138. He’s a pretty heavy guy.
My take is…
Paddle what you want, but I like plastic for the following 2 reasons:
1.) I can drop it, smash it, paddle into rocks, up stone covered beaches etc, and not freak out like my companions in their Kevlar.
2.) I LIKE that its a few pounds heavier… in the water it doesn’t matter, and I like the little bit of extra exercise I get lifting the 60 lbs… 
If I were older or weaker, a light boat might be nice.
That said, my next boat might be composite… They look nice.
…athough I do like outpaddling my friends in the $4000 custom Kevlars…
And don’t forget…
…there are some nice polycarbonate boats out there as well. They seem to offer an interesting alternative material.
exactly my point
I see lots of paddlers in my summer job—can’t always tell the serious good ones from the dilletants by the material of their boat.
Speed
Glass/composite may be faster, but I’m not out there to race. I have a Tupperware boat that I bought use (read pre-scratched). It’s in great shape, tough as nails and plenty fast for me.
I’d rather spend my cash on other stuff, like the dry top I just bought, which now allows me to paddle the Chesapeake and its tributaries in toasty comfort…
if he had paddled
an FG or kevlar boat on the same streams I’m sure it would have worn out just as quick.
Not only speed…
to consider but also distance. one of my paddling buds has the same 17 footer in poly as my composite and he stuggles to keep up and needs to rest more on trips in choppy conditions of 5mi. or more and he’s in better shape than me multiply every stroke with the extra weight x distance. on the other hand if most of your landings are rocky go with poly.
racing
it’s not always a race against other kayaks or by choice.
http://www.geocities.com/roym52/storm-1.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/roym52/storm-1-1.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/roym52/storm-building-3.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/roym52/pending-storm.jpg
Best Wishes
Roy
fastest kayaks
– Last Updated: Mar-27-08 1:22 PM EST –
I've seen are not RM, FG, or kevlar---they are wood---lightweight covered with a thin layer of fiberglass and very stiff--they go like blazes but they usually come in a kit with some assembly required---not exactly my cup of tea---if I could only get rid of 8 of my thumbs I would try building one.