Anyone got any opinions on Diolen polyester cloth?

Do a google search on "John Berry canoest".

You'll find information about a man who was a pioneer in the whitewater canoeing world.

I had the good fortune to know him briefly at the beginning of my canoe/kayak building career.

I was planning on building a WW canoe for myself, and I wanted to pick his brain about how to make a strong lay-up. I visited his shop and talked with him, saw he was building WW canoes with Kevlar, so I figured Kevlar was the stuff to use.

He told me no. Don't use Kevlar.

He said it was over rated, a bitch to work with, and the worst stuff to repair. He said he used it on his boats because everybody had been sold a bill of goods on the miracle fabric "Kelvar" and he had to use it, or no one would buy his canoes.

He told me to use S-glass fiberglass cloth instead. He said it was very strong and easy to work with. He said he wished he could use it instead of Kevlar.

I still wanted to use KEVLAR. It's cool stuff right. We get sold by everybody talking about this new material and how cool it is and it's very hard to ignore the sales pitch we hear everyone repeating.

Like carbon fiber today. Wow, cool stuff.

John bought my first Solo Portage canoe, pictured below. I can see him paddling it now, on the Swift River near his home. Thanks for everything John!

I've learned when you get some advise from somebody with a lot of experience, it's worth listening to. I did. I use S-glass.

Diolen, Kevlar, ..... how about some S-glass.

All the best,
Rob