: There are some reviews on Paddling.net btw. No direct comparisons
: that I've ever seen anywhere.

: I suspect the reason is that while it's easy to find an example of
: a production boat, it's much more difficult to find a decent
: example of a home built one that the builder would let someone
: else test. That and the numbers of home built kayaks is tiny in
: comparison to production boats sold, so those that test boats
: very likely feel there is not enough demand to make testing them
: worthwhile.

: It would definately be nice if there was some way to offer a
: comparison of home built kayaks to production boats, I just have
: no idea who would have the time or reason to do it.

: Bill H.

Hi Bill.
I have asked the same question re;- comparison of the range of
strip built sea kayaks now available in plans or kits,for self build,
but despite having seen a number of posts with pics showing workshops
garages basements and even living rooms stuffed full of boats, I have
failed to get any of these prolific builders, and I assume therefore, paddlers
to "come out of the woodwork" and pass on their comparative thoughts.

This would be especialy useful to people like myself who build in isolation
are probably only ever going to see strip built boats if we build them ourselves.
No luxury of meet at the beach days and try some generous guy's latest
creation on this side of the pond in my S.E. corner of the UK.

I can however understand some of the reasons for the reluctance.
Firstly many of the designers communicate on this site and it would
be somewhat invidious to be making public comparison/criticism
of their designs here.

Also the range of waters and usage makes the subject huge.
The trouble is, that leaves isolated novice builders like myself
prone to chose a design based on a few figures that we may not
fully understand, or worse still, on a deck design that catches the eye.

I consider myself lucky, in that my first sighting was of Nick's book, and
the design turned out to be every bit as good as the picture on the cover.

Regards.

Les. C.