> "Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts about making a skin on frame with
> hemp canvas, I figured it would work well, the old dutch boats had to have
> been made out of hemp, canvas is the old duch word for cannabis.

When I was looking for different fabrics to make some transportation bags, I
looked into linen and
hemp. Compared to canvas, hemp is more abrasion resistant and it withstands
saltwater better. It is
definitively more rot resistant than cotton. I believe hemp takes on more water
than cotton (30%)
but doesn't change shape that much when wet (it will probably shorten a bit as
most natural fibers
will do). You can dye hemp very easily both with synthetic and natural colors.
The old folding boat makers used a mix of cotton, hemp and linen until growing
hemp was forbidden
and synthetical fibers could be produced cheaper.

Hemp can be and is grown without using pesticides et al., thus making it the
choice for people who
look at lowest-impact-possible-materials. Nowadays it can be purchased in
qualities comparable to
woven cotton canvas. When I was in Nepal in 1996, one could purchase all kinds
of qualities for a
very cheap price (since I was backpacking then, I didn't like the idea of
transporting some 20 kg's
in addition to my luggage ...). I am sure you'll get locally woven fabrics in
the U.S.

> What weight fabric would work best though?

I'd go for some 500g/m² just to be on the safe side.

> I know Klepper uses "a proprietary weave of Egyptian cotton and hemp" for
> the deck, but have they ever used it for skin material?

Until Klepper changed to Hypalon in the 70's, they used natural rubber with
cotton as core material.
They never used cotton or hemp as material for skins, AFAIK.

I am not even sure whether they use hemp as part of their deck material. I'll
ask at Pouch (they use
the same material as Klepper).

Marian Gunkel
Rostock, Germany
http://www.mariangunkel.de