Maybe there's something to be said for lighter wood and more glass. I'm building a Merganser 17 using somewhat marginal 1/8" (more like 3mm actually) luan. I used 3" 9oz tape on the seams and then decided that I needed more strength. I glassed the entire inside of the hull and deck with 6oz, and since this is my first kayak I used quite a bit more epoxy than I really needed to. In spite of my errors and obvious overkill, I can still carry the boat with one hand, and I'm a small guy. With the addition of the glass, the questionable luan has become very strong and stiff. I plan to use 6oz glass over the entire outside, and still expect the weight to be reasonable. Based on what I see now, the addition of a layer of 6oz glass will make this thing almost indestructible. If I've misjudged things I'll eat crow, but right now I'm optimistic.

Bill H.