Good day Palle,

I used something close to the expedition layup the first time on my expedition kayak, using 6 ounce on the bottom, followed by another football of 6 ounce. Honestly I find it's excessive. I went with one layer of 6 ounce on the bottom, and four ounce for the deck on the recent re-glassing of the boat. The only thing I suggest is at the bow and keel put a strip of cloth on the wear areas- just on the edges where you are more likely to drag it across the sand and/or rocks when beaching and launching. Three layers of 6 ounce? That to me is too much. Nick is, however, the guy that wrote the book, and I am sure that you will get many opinions on this.

Just an example, on wood surfboards I use 4 ounce all over, and on the bottom of boards usually I mostly use balsa which is very soft, and harder woods on the deck. The bottom has a little "give" to it with 4 ounce. If I used balsa on a deck I would go with at least 6 ounce to give it more strength (still talking about a surfboard here). To me it is a great example of the strength of the glass when you see it on a surfboard because the board you are actually standing on it, and riding waves on it. You feel the flex more. Having used it on boards is why I decided to go with less 'glass on my expedition kayak when I stripped it and re-glassed it. What a lot of folks do that you might try is two layers of 3.2 ounce from Raka. Theirs is supposedly a much tighter weave and therefore stronger than 4 ounce. In fact verbally they told me it was more like the strength of a 5 ounce. I will be using two layers of 3.2 on the stand up paddleboard I'm building because it will be getting a lot of use. Two layers laid biaxially is stronger than one layer of the same combined weight. It also typically will use less resin and you get more control by putting down one layer at a time and using only enough resin for each layer. I just got the 3.2 ounce from Raka, but have yet to use it. Others have reported lighter weights and stronger layups doing this than using 6 ounce.

Just some thoughts! You will get a lot of different answers.