Thanks Tom,

I will admit to my misconceptions about aluminum. Thanks for clearing them up. I did not realize it would flex to the curve. The idea for using graphite came from tent poles. At first I was going to try to find poles in the size I needed, then I thought "why not make them?" I searched for "fiberglass tubing" and found the site that sells graphite tubing. "Even better," I thought. I knew fishing poles made of the stuff could flex like crazy, yet in the right thickness were quite strong and resilient.

The one thing I still have a problem with is the corrosion. I hooked an aluminum carabiner to my yak and two days later it had spots all over it. That 'biner had been on my backpack for years all over Europe and throughout the islands, and was still shiny new. A few days in the salt and it was crud. I can't always wash down after using because here we get our water from the roof of our houses and store it in cisterns. I know it sounds odd, but it's really very efficient, and I have never had to buy water, but I do have to be conservative. We filter the water with microfilters and treat it. I could break it down and rinse the parts in the tub, but that would be difficult.

I'm really impressed with your aluminum yaks, especially the baidarka. That was quite an impressive undertaking. Love the ultralight aircraft too. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge. I'm going to try the graphite tubing, and if I fail it will be one more learning experience for all of us. I will post pictures either way!

By the way, the kite website also has these little endcaps that have a hole and a slot in them. I'm wondering if I could use it to snap into a screw. The head of the screw would keep it from popping out sideways, and tension would keep it held in place. Then again, if you hit something just right I could see it pushing it out. I guess a test is in order. Just another thought.

-Malcolm