: Hello all,

: I know “plastic” is a bad word in this forum,
: but hey ! he got epoxy and FG and more stuff.

: well, I visited this place:
: www.plasticworld.ca

: I saw there (among other things) 3 types of materials, I talked
: with the person,
: and following is the information I got from him:

: FG – irrelevant for this discussion

: Kevlar – light brown color cloth with the same complexion as FG .
: He claims it is heavy and expensive, and more abrasion resistant,

: Carbon fiber – black cloth with the same complexion as FG .
: He claims it is light and expensive and stronger than the FG.

: He also said something about one material being more abrasion
: resistant
: than the other, and about the “other” that will no break when
: folded, unlike the “one”,
: but I don’t remember which is which.

: To this very day I had the belief “Kevlar” is just a brand name
: for
: carbon fiber. The person there seemed impatient so I did not
: started this discussion with him, and the truth is I trust the
: people here
: more than I trust people that are not…. well….. “here” .

: so:

: 1.
: What is that light brown material called “Kevlar” ?

: 2.
: What is the difference between that “Kevlar” and the black
: “Carbon fiber” cloth ?

: 3.
: What are the pros and cons for our cause (which is kayak building)
: ?

: Any help appreciated,

: Erez

Hi Erez,
Plastic isn't a bad word, we build wood-cored fibre reinforced plastic kayaks. :D

Carbon fibre and kevlar are completely different things. Carbon fibre is basically strands of carbon linked at the molecular level, kevlar is an aramid polymer.
Carbon fibre is extremely strong but will 'shatter' once it's breaking point is reached, kevlar doesn't shatter. Though the forces needed are usually much higher than anything we'd encounter.
A carbon fibre hull can be broken in pieces, a kevlar hull would fold up with the same forces but stay together as the resin matrix breaks.

Carbon takes less resin to wet out properly, kevlar takes much more resin.

For hulls and decks, a hybrid carbon/kevlar cloth works better than solo carbon or kevlar. Very strong though very expensive.
Straight carbon fibre looks sweet on coaming rings or hatch rings. :)

Mike Savage
South West Cork