The two skin versions of Putz's Walrus that I have made weighed in at 33 and 27 pounds. I used Western Red Cedar for most of the pieces, and some mahogany on the 33 pounder. The 33 pounder was 14 oz canvas with Elast-O-Seal primer, Snow Roof finish coat, and latex color coat over all of that on the deck. The 27 pounder was 10 oz polyester with water-based Varathane. The hull is a good shape, but Putz messed up and lowered the bow 4" compared to Skene's original Walrus.

The big problems that I see with the kayak are the truss construction (stiff and brittle compared to traditional) and the raised floor. I lowered the floor on both of mine, with some success. The floor became a weak point in the design. As far as my comments on the brittle construction, my first one had one break before I sold it. The second has had at least 18 breaks in the frame, but no failures in the skin. I have repaired the frame, but the problem is the design is not meant to flex, but the light members do, and when they do, breakage occurs, usually at the trusses, or scarf joints, or chine to floor joints.

Where I could I have repaired joints with lashing, I don't plan on this method of construction again. I do plan on building more skin boats, but with a more traditional, stronger and more flexible construction. Lash it!!!

I do like the plywood on frame versions of the Walrus a lot. It is truely a wonderful shape, especially if you go back to the original Greenland kayak drawn by Howard Chapelle and shown in figure 207 of Adney and Chapelle's "The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America" My 27 pounder (The Skinny Walrus) is close to the dimensions of the original. The 33 pounder closely followed Putz's plans.

Mike

: This has been pondered before. We're not sure where Putz gets 70 lbs for a
: SOF. I do know that canvas with latex paint will be heavy especially with
: a sno-seal type undercoat. However, with a polyester or nylon material
: coated with polyurethane, you should not exceed 40 lbs. In fact it should
: be much lighter, although you'd be pressed with any technique to hit
: Sing's 25 lb (good job Sing!!)! The main concern for choosing the designs
: is wheather to use non-traditional Putz/Skene techniques or not. Sing is
: correct in that the traditional boat will be designed around you. The
: lashed joints of the traditional are also more flexable in heavier seas
: (said to be an advantage). However, wood for forms isn't necessarily more
: wasteful than other methods such as strip or S&G. Even Starr uses forms
: for his SOF designs. The basic Putz boat as originally drawn by Skene is a
: quite usable boat. Mike Hanks has a nice poly covered version (Skinny
: Walrus) that he's enjoyed far too much :-)

: Bill