Hi Jay,

I think Kevlar is a very valuable product when used in a specific lamination schedule designed to take advantage of the properties and reduce its problems.

For a kayak or canoe hull surface I don't think this application is appropriate to prevent impact damage. Take a look at this link.

http://www.netcomposites.com/education.asp?sequence=32

In fact, read through this entire web site if you have the time to get a more thorough understanding of the relative merits of the various materials used in composite technology.

I think you'll find that S-Glass has most of the property values of Kevlar/Aramid with none of the attendant problems of handling. IT COSTS LESS, is easier to fabricate parts from, is easily repairable and has nearly identical flexural and tensile strength to Kevlar.

Kevlar is lighter and has higher resistance to thermal expansion for critical aerospace applications that have a very high cycle rate from cold to very hot within their design parameters.

I have not used the harder epoxy yet for boat building applications. I have used it once to build a high temperature autoclave mold that was being used for repetitive production cycles. That epoxy was blue in color.

I would assume that the hard stuff could be tinted with enough graphite powder that you could get it to a very dark blue or black.

It's a room temperature cure product and mixes at a ten to one ratio.