When you go to buy that brand new sea kayak first impressions are everything and what are you really looking at?
Are you just looking at that shiny new gel coat or are you looking at the materials that go into making your kayak?
As the materials that make your kayak make a big difference to the life of your new purchase and the strength as well.
It's easy to be sucked into the whirlpool when your looking at a new sea kayak and the marketing strategies are just amazing with name dropping all over the place.
Kevlar,Carbon,Carbon/Kevlar are just some of the names used to describe some of the materials used.
Now what do they all mean ?
Carbon/Kevlar(CK) is one of those materials that is used by manufacturers to upmarket their product and in some ways it does this but only in the weight saving as other than that its probably no stronger than a average Fibreglass layup ,if you think I'm the only manufacturer who thinks this have a look here
But the sea kayaking market has been totally sucked in by this material,WHY?
Every one wants light weight and you sacrifice strength for the low weight
It looks so damm sexy!!
Most manufacturers who vacuum infuse or vacuum bag love to use this product as it lends itself to this form of manufacturer as CK is a light weigh fabric easily bagged and infused.
This creates a stiff light weight boat BUT that is were the advantages finish for us sea kayakers.
Their is also a general rule in composite manufacturer and that is the strength of your material is equal to the thickness IE a thin laminate will be weak compared to a thick laminate ...its a general rule remember!!
Being a woven fabric of two different materials causes a whole different scenario as you get the strength of both ( but remembering its only a light weight cloth approx 180/190 grams per square meter ) but also the weaknesses of both and in such a light weight fabric your asking for trouble.
I regularly make test panels out of the different layups in my kayaks and CK is by far the weakest even compared to a Fiberglass layup .
Surprisingly when cracked with impact the cracking is irregular and tends to crack along the Kevlar in the weave set and unlike all straight fabric options the cracking is usually a long line where the others tend to spread out in a circled crack.
Now after all that it does have its place in Sea kayaking but not in the hull of our boats.Its best used for what it was originally designed for and that is weight saving.Its great in decks for this reason as it just wont cop the punishment that the hull of your boat gets.
If your careful with your kayak and don't plan on playing around rock gardens etc then this might be the fabric of choice for you but be warned it wont stand the punishment other fabrics can stand up too
Now if I was to use CK in the hull of my sea kayaks it would be a layer of straight Kevlar and then another layer of Carbon on top of the Kevlar....a true Carbon/Kevlar layup and doubly strong without the weaknesses of weaving them both together.
Oh by the way I can make you a carbon/kevlar sea kayak if you think your going to be light and easy with it as it can save you lots of weight and with good care will provide you with a suitable kayak
from a manufacturers perspective..... that is
