: I have been wondering how strong SOF really are.
: The video in post below is impressive but wouldn't a S&G or stripper boat be
: able to endure similar treatment, only with more scratches?
: Last year I was at Wooden Kayak Rendezvous at Port Townsend. One of the
: attendees was touting the strength of SOF kayaks. As a 'proof' he
: performed a SOF abuse demonstration where in fact he "abused"
: the SOF with kid gloves. The impression I got was the opposite of what was
: intended: SOF fabric is not as strong as composite skin of S&G or
: stripper.
: How about this general theory?: -SOFs are more likely to survive a sudden,
: catastrophic impact of great force, ex kayak falling off the roof racks at
: freeway speeds.
: -Glass boats are stronger when it comes to less severe but more frequent
: abuse, ex running over sharp rocks on the sea floor.
: The first case will save your SOF but is much less likely to happen compared
: to second.
: Last but not least, skin on SOF needs replacement once in a while while
: properly maintained glass boat will last nearly forever.

I only build SOF's covered my way (at least so far) which is a dual covering of 3 ounce aircraft dacron followed by 4 ounce fiberglass/epoxy. When people ask how strong it is I routinely punch the deck as hard as I can, it has no effect at all. I'm sure my stripper would take that cept it would hurt my hand , and the glass boat would spiderweb something terrible and perhaps fracture the laminate locally. Still I grossly abuse my old NDK and it keeps going. How strong does it really need to be?

I've been building boats now for something like 50 years and did it professionally for about 15. I know a little about boat construction I think.

Bill H.