Is there a difference in handling or durability between their tuf weave flex core and kevlar flex core? On a 16’ boat the weight difference is only 4 or 5 pounds and the price difference is over $600.
if the boats come out of the same
– Last Updated: Feb-10-12 1:38 PM EST –
mold they have the same hull shape and if the foam is the same and placed the same, yes the handling qualities will be the same.
Some paddlers can swear they can discern between FlashFires. But they have a lot of time in Colden, and Placids and Bells version of the same boat in a carbon fiber layup.
You pay for lightness and it seems every pound lost has an exponential price increase.
The same mold does not guarantee
the same handling properties. But I would assume that Wenonah would see to it that the Kevlar version was not markedly more floppy.
Kevlar is lighter than the mixed polyester/glass fabric used in Tuffweave, and Wenonah may have been able to put an extra layer of Kevlar in, and still beat the Tufweave weight.
The Tuffweave will be more durable in that it will not fuzz as badly, and I suspect it may be a tad more damage resistant.
Don’t Think It Would Be Significant
And, as g2d said, the Tuffweave is more durable. Have owned two Wenonah tuffweave canoes (both Adirondacks) and they held up well in the rocky environs of our Ozark streams and the BWCAW of northern MN. And I babied neither one! WW