> epoxy to your boat,not sure if that was hyperbole but after using Dynel in
> wear strips on the bow and stern I could imagine it, the stuff looks a
> little like t-shirt material and swells up with resin big time, if you try
> and squeegee it out , it looks fuzzy and dry, I plastic wrapped it down
> and that worked well.

I installed kevlar felt skid plates on a bunch of rental canoes. The kevlar felt absorbs a load of resin too. Plastic wrap is the key for the "spongy" stuff.

I might have to check into some Dynel for keel strips.

Shawn

>I'm guessing here but after looking at the wear on
> the stern strip of the boat I used the Dynel on and comparing that to
> another boat with a strip of glass tape and 6 oz glass it looks like the
> Dynel hasn't worn much, the glass is about 1/3 worn. In the test panels I
> broke up polyester didn't allow fractures and cracks to propogate half as
> far as they did in 6 oz cloth. One layup made from 4oz s-glass over 5oz
> polyester was so tough that the panel could be bent every which way but
> not come apart, another test panel with 5oz kevlar delaminated at the
> first layer of the plywood. So I'm thinking that the deformable
> characteristics of polyester make for less stress risers at the surface,
> kevlar just doesn't give at all.

> So my take now on these fabrics is they are kind of a poor mans kevlar,
> good for vacuum bagging in all glass layups or for specific situations
> requiring toughness. But still too much of a sponge to replace glass.

> One of the applications for Xynole , if you didn't mind the weight
> penalty, would be for a very big person ,,,but then again careful use of
> extra layer of 4oz s-glass might just be just as good (for twice the
> cost). If you beat the edge of the deck of your kayak with a sharp paddle
> Dynel might be good there, but mostly a 2"x24" strip on the ends
> id where it works for me.

> I din't check your original question ,,,did Thomas Hill talk about this
> fabrics as skins or over wood?

> I'm sure I've forgotten something,,,,,there's got to be big boat builders
> out there that could answer this more concisely than i have.