I have been seeing this discription when browzing the kayak listings. It is used where they usually mention if the boatis kevlar,carbon,etc. I probably have the spelling wrong so go easy on the English lessons if answering my question. I have asked several boaters in my area and can’t get an answer.
Not a copy.
It just is a fancy way of saying that they do their lay-up of gel-coat, resin amount, fabric mat thickness, type of resin, type of matt, and how the actual process is completed … versus a direct copy of another manufacturers procedure. How it is done may also be a patentable process and if they give no one else rights to the process it is proprietary. Bob
Another Example…
Another example is the Lincoln “Chabeaque” I had. I had an outside layer of Fiberglass cloth, and the inside cloth layer was Kevlar, Along the bottom of the hull, and under the fore and aft deck was a layer of foam board between the layers of cloth. Then they used the vaccum bag method to squeeze vinlyester resin into everything. It made an extremely strong and light weight boat. The boat was 14’6" long, and 24" wide, and it only weighed 33 Lb. I really liked the boat, but my “belly” made it hard to get out of the smaller cockpit opening.
Different companies have their own way of doing the lay-up, or use different materials, so some of them use the fancy word, to let you know they are doing something different from the ordinary.
my view
I interpret it as the combination of material type and material thickness choosen to build the hull.
It’s often the results of experimentation. The results are a compromise of strength, weight, and cost.
Proprietary means they own it
That could mean anything from: “it’s a secret and we will not tell you.”
to: “we invented this and patented it”
to: “we are all hype and we are saying we own this process but it is no different from others”
McDonalds secret sauce
– Last Updated: Sep-10-04 12:33 PM EST –
or mayonnaise, ketchup and a few other interesting additives.
It sounds better than saying "we did it our way"
ok,,a straight answer similar to the rest of the postings. A hull is rarely one thing. If it's skin it also has a frame. If it's plywood it's also glass cloth and epoxy. If it's composite,,then it's a composite of some kind of resin and a whole slew of different kinds of cloths, fabrics, materials, pigments, fillers,etc.
A kayak might be called a fiberglass kayak,,,even though it's got a few different weights and weaves of fiberglass with gel coat. One day someone puts in a layer of polyester cloth or kevlar with the fiberglass and calls it a kevlar kayak,,or a diolene kayak. Then someone makes a kayak with glass,kevlar and carbon cloth and calls it a carbon/kevlar composite. Then one day the marketing dept. says "wow,,you guys spend a lot of time and money on different stuff, is this why we're better than brand X?",,,boom,,now it's proprietary and we can't tell you because too many customers are able to tell the difference between x,y,z. So lets go into a totally different dimension where no one can go.
If you look at any small builder,,like West Side Boat shop or Onno,,it's all proprietary,,er,,special,,,er gooder.
Proprietary
Proprietary = marketing dept spin, looks good in a brochure. I’d say JEM has it right…
Kevlar was a proprietary material
till the patent expired, (Now it is about the same a aramid (unless dupont has better QC).
Coke has a secret proprietary recipe for cola. You have to sign some mighty documents before you become one of the few who is privy to it. If one of the people who knew the formula disclosed it they would be financially ruined. Coke would sue them for breach of contract. That does indeed give Coke some real property rights.
So in the case of Coke the word proprietary does indeed denote real property rights, vigorously maintained and defended. In the case of a lay-up, well I only see one company using nomex, nobody makes boats like west side boat shop, or Surge Marine or … but it is mostly about craftsmanship. Craftsmanship can also give an advantage in material choice.
You cannot buy pride and love!
It also means that the choices offered
to describe a layup by such publications are limited to a couple letters which have to fit in a given spot. We certainly would not have the gall to describe a layup as Proprietary and leave it at that on our website. A little too hauty IMO. Soooo much more than just stating carbon or fiberglass, or kevlar though for us. A little bit of all of these materials go into every boat in varying percentages as intended use dictates.
Would love to be able to list carbon nanotude someday.
You got it…
it’s the makers combination of different materials used and how they are used in the layup of the hull. The term has been used for years to describe boats that are a mix or blend of different fabrics.
from dictionary.com
pro·pri·e·tary
something that is used, produced, or marketed under exclusive legal right of the inventor or maker; specifically : a drug (as a patent medicine) that is protected by secrecy, patent, or copyright against free competition as to name, product, composition, or process of manufacture
…
As used in marketing materials, it has no technical meaning. Basically it just means “we have a combination of materials and/or processes that we use, and we don’t want to tell you exactly what they are.”
dictionary
your dictionary quote is correct, as is peter_k - i spent my life in the steel industry, and if a company had a proprietary product, it was usually patented, and another company had to either be licensed, or produce a SIMILAR product with a definite chemical difference, and use a different name for the product - - i’m not so sure any kayak company is going to bother with the expense of patenting, or prosecuting violators
LOL!
Well said, Peter.