: Whenever you use something in a method it's

: I find this an interesting statement (no offense). The nylon we use is not
: intended for boats, and the Zar or any other brand of poly we use is not
: intended for boats either.
: I've used dental floss a couple times. Its cheap, readily available and it
: works. Even if poly does not bind to wax, its coats is so much that its a
: non-issue. It will break at some point in time in your sewing process,
: which isn't a tragedy. Once you coat your skin, the seam is welded
: together and it will not separate, so strength is not important.
: Don't over think it,
: Scott

I spent time working as a professional cabinetmaker, where failed products end up costing money because you're on the hook for having to do the work over whether it fails before or after it leaves the shop. So that's my background.

I'm not really an expert on fabrics, but fabrics have been used in boatbuilding for a very very long time. There are several companies that do specify their fabrics for marine use (for example: http://kavonfilter.com/ ), and if you were to look up "ballistic nylon" on a site like Wikipedia it lists skin-on-frame kayaks as one of the typical modern uses of the fabric.

There are also coatings that are designed for marine use as fabric coatings, such as Coelan, Hypalon, and Corey's Goop, but even these perform differently from eachother. If you're interested in Zar, it was tested in the latest issue of Fine Woodworking, so you can see how it stacks up.

Even though I'm not building boats professionally, I still have some pretty serious time constraints, and I've made the decision that I don't have the time to reskin because I used improper materials or to experiment with things that aren't proven. That's partly my training, and partly my preference. Everyone has different goals for their boatbuilding, and cost and availability are definitely more important to a lot of people. Coelan's expensive and hard to find, but it's worth it to me. Everyone who builds a boat has to make decisions about materials, and this is definitely the toughest one for SOF builders.

m