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Re: Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong
By:Kiliii Yuyan
Date: 7/16/2017, 7:09 pm
In Response To: Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong (Brian Nystrom)

Hi Brian!

Not really wanting to get into a tiff over this, which has been hashed over many times, but I do want to be clear that this is an important point as regards safety. Ultimately, of course a kayak's skin durability and strength depends on what you do with it and whether or not it fits the usage and one's expectations. I think polyester sounds like it'd do the OP's intentions just fine, so no problem there.

To be clear, though, nylon on a skinboat very significantly stronger than polyester on a skinboat. I'm putting a link below where with clear testing nylon is 1.4x as strong as polyester in sheet form. Having seen the various damage that all of our student's nylon skins have gotten over the last twenty years (over 600 kayaks of them worldwide), I'd say that even nylon's increased toughness against tear and puncture could be better. When doing R&D on skin fabrics, which we continue to do, I've found that polyester's failures tend to be catastrophic (tears that run and open), while nylon's damage tends to be small and recoverable (small punctures or abrasions) that can be bilged over miles of additional paddling.

Of course that judgement call is our own, for our kayaks and our own margins of safety, but I will generally always recommend nylon over polyester for kayaks that are not specialized. I always try to remember every kayak on the water has someone's life in it, and that that kayak may well be used beyond its original intention, by somebody who may not be the builder, and not versed in the subtleties of skinboats. I'm not saying that we should all be paddling big heavy rotomolded plastic boats. Rather, I am saying that it is always better to have a vessel that is safer than the paddler 'expects'. That way, if someone is pushed beyond their expected boundary, there is still a margin beyond.

Anyway, a good discussion and good to hear everybody's experiences with skin materials.

http://www.orientbag.net/single-post/2016/05/31/The-Fabric-Strength-Challenge-1

Messages In This Thread

Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth on a SOF kayak
Dale Summers -- 7/2/2017, 12:29 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
anewhouse -- 7/2/2017, 5:54 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Dale Summers -- 7/3/2017, 7:07 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
JohnAbercrombie -- 7/3/2017, 10:52 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Dale Summers -- 7/3/2017, 1:58 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Dave Gentry -- 7/3/2017, 9:59 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth *PIC*
Dale Summers -- 7/4/2017, 6:51 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Brian Nystrom -- 7/4/2017, 10:34 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Dale Summers -- 7/4/2017, 11:36 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Bill Hamm -- 7/5/2017, 12:11 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Dale Summers -- 7/5/2017, 6:58 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Marc Upchurch -- 7/6/2017, 5:40 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Dale Summers -- 7/6/2017, 7:09 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Marc Upchurch -- 7/6/2017, 7:22 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Dale Summers -- 7/6/2017, 7:49 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Bill Hamm -- 7/7/2017, 12:10 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth *PIC*
Dale Summers -- 7/11/2017, 8:27 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Dale Summers -- 7/30/2017, 11:49 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Brian Nystrom -- 8/1/2017, 9:03 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Brian Nystrom -- 7/7/2017, 8:22 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Bill Hamm -- 7/8/2017, 12:07 am
Canvas pliers
JayBabina -- 7/6/2017, 6:10 pm
Re: Canvas pliers
Marc Upchurch -- 7/6/2017, 7:24 pm
Re: Canvas pliers
Bill Hamm -- 7/7/2017, 12:14 am
Re: Canvas pliers
JayBabina -- 7/7/2017, 10:16 am
Re: Canvas pliers
scottbaxter -- 7/7/2017, 4:04 pm
Re: Canvas pliers
bsoderholm -- 7/7/2017, 4:51 pm
Re: Canvas pliers
JayBabina -- 7/7/2017, 7:55 pm
Re: Canvas pliers
Bill Hamm -- 7/8/2017, 12:13 am
Re: Canvas pliers
bsoderholm -- 7/8/2017, 4:58 am
Re: Canvas pliers
Bill Hamm -- 7/8/2017, 7:46 pm
Re: Canvas pliers
bsoderholm -- 7/8/2017, 7:58 pm
Re: Canvas pliers
Bill Hamm -- 7/9/2017, 11:04 pm
Re: Canvas pliers
bsoderholm -- 7/10/2017, 8:41 am
Bill- quick question
Curtis Fisher -- 7/10/2017, 7:44 pm
Re: Bill- quick question
Rich D -- 7/10/2017, 10:48 pm
Re: Bill- quick question
Curtis Fisher -- 7/18/2017, 1:22 pm
Re: Bill- quick question
Rich D -- 7/19/2017, 10:28 am
Re: Bill- quick question
Bill Hamm -- 7/18/2017, 4:35 am
Re: Bill- quick question
Bill Hamm -- 7/18/2017, 4:38 am
Re: Bill- quick question
Curtis Fisher -- 7/18/2017, 1:16 pm
Re: Bill- quick question
Bill Hamm -- 7/19/2017, 1:33 am
Re: Canvas pliers
dave koslow -- 7/7/2017, 4:52 pm
Re: Canvas pliers
Bill Hamm -- 7/8/2017, 12:09 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Dale Summers -- 7/8/2017, 8:13 am
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Bill Hamm -- 7/8/2017, 7:49 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Dale Summers -- 7/9/2017, 3:43 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Kiliii Yuyan -- 7/15/2017, 1:25 pm
Re: Skin-on-Frame: how many laters of glass cloth
Dale Summers -- 7/15/2017, 10:42 pm
Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong
Brian Nystrom -- 7/16/2017, 2:54 pm
Re: Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong
Kiliii Yuyan -- 7/16/2017, 7:09 pm
Re: Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong
Brian Nystrom -- 7/18/2017, 1:19 pm
Re: Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong
Robert W -- 7/20/2017, 2:05 pm
Re: Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong
David -- 7/20/2017, 2:52 pm
Re: Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong
Brian Nystrom -- 7/20/2017, 5:40 pm
Re: Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong
bsoderholm -- 7/21/2017, 9:10 am
Re: Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong
JohnAbercrombie -- 7/20/2017, 7:57 pm
Re: Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong
Bill Hamm -- 7/20/2017, 11:57 pm
Re: Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong
scottbaxter -- 7/21/2017, 11:04 am
Huh?
Curtis Fisher -- 7/21/2017, 5:05 pm
Re: Dont' worry, polyester is plenty strong
M A Bielski -- 7/20/2017, 3:41 pm
Sorry, you're all wrong. *PIC*
Dave Gentry -- 7/24/2017, 8:53 am
Re: Sorry, you're all wrong.
bsoderholm -- 7/24/2017, 9:23 am
Re: Sorry, you're all wrong.
Rich D -- 7/24/2017, 10:29 am
Re: Sorry, you're all wrong.
Dave Gentry -- 7/25/2017, 9:43 pm
Re: Sorry, you're all wrong. *PIC*
anewhouse -- 7/25/2017, 12:35 am