Gilpatrick, who has written one of the oldest and most popular books on strip building, uses stripper canoes as part of a guiding service on the Allagash and claims not to have problems. Of course his boats tend to be a bit heavier than others. I think the application of graphite on the bottom is probably advisable as that is a lot more durable than varnish (unfortunately a lot more ugly). There's quite a few threads on this site by George R. where he discusses the use of Kevlar as internal reinforcement.

Of course no stripper is as flexible as a rotomolded ABS kayak. If you manage to get your boat across a rock or a tree, plastic will bend and the stripper will break. The maintenance will be higher, as you need to keep varnish on a stripper, so you will be revarnishing quite often.

By the way, you can pick up a nice ABS boat for less than you can build a first time stripper, unless you access to real inexpensive materials.

> I am considering building a strip kayak, however I question how durable
> they are for use in streams where faster moving water and rocks are
> prevelant. Could anyone share their experience with me. Thanks...