OK, it's Science Fair Project time...........

My son and I are interested in testing some of the common and maybe not so common materials used in kayak construction and comparing them. I would be interested in opinions on how to set up simple, repeatable tests that can be performed at home without expensive testing equipment.

I would suggest two of the primary characteristics we are looking for in kayak construction material are rigidity and collision damage resistance, each in relation to weight. Rigidity is pretty simple. Collision damage is more complex, a function of a number of physicals (tensile strength, compresive, etc.) as well as structure design. I'd like to get past the physicals and onto tests that actually reflect the stresses put on our boats. I mean, when was the last time you pulled your boat apart end from end (i.e. in tension).

I've seen a couple tests one can do at home:

1) Bend strips of materials over an edge with increasing amounts of weight on the unsupported end (cantilevered beam) until breakage. I think the Gougeon Brothers did something like this a while back. Seems like a good test of rigidity and how far a material will bend before it breaks and how it breaks.

2) Support a panel on its edges somehow and drop increasingly sized weights until failure to simulate running into a hard object like a rock.

Any other ideas?