: My neighbor bought my old Iggy folder. The polyester skin with
: plasti-dip is leaking badly, so she wants to reskin it. She
: found some material like coverlight at Tacoma Tent and Awning.
: The have both the 10 oz and 18 oz. She thinks the 18 oz is very
: heavy. I told her that is what is recomended on Yostwerks, and
: said that the 10 oz may be too light. Am I correct that it is
: too light, or have others used it successfully? It shouldn't see
: too hard of use from her. She would like to keep the kayak as
: light as possible.

My experience with 10oz PVC skins was not a good one. I skinned 2 boats with Coverene 10oz PVC in order to save weight. Both seemed to need patching
every time I paddled them. Nothing like this occured with Coverene 18oz. I don't think that the little weight saved is worth the loss of durability.

Not all PVC is created equal, so whether 10oz is adequate depends on the quality of the vinyl coatings used by the manufacturer of the PVC.

As you know, 10oz PVC is actually lightweight woven polyester pre-coated both sides with vinyl as opposed to say 12oz Polyester or nylon that is uncoated.
When coated with urethane, neoprene, hypalon, etc, these skins gain weight.

Coverene is not my favorite PVC to begin with as it feels quite stiff and has average durability. I used Coverlight 18oz for years, and it was a
superior product, and may have worked fine in 10oz. It's no longer available, so I've switched to RSI 18oz from Rockford Supply. It's better than
Coverene, but seems lighter / thinner than the advertised 18oz weight. It's held up well, and is reasonably priced. Rockford also has the best
price I've seen for HH-66 vinyl cement when purchased by the gallon.

Though it may seem obvious to us, make sure that any PVC purchased is on a roll, and not stuffed in a box for shipment. Buyer beware :)

Tom