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Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks *PIC*
By:Bryan Hansel
Date: 4/27/2011, 10:26 pm

I've been paddling composite boats alongside my cedar kayaks for years, and for the most part I've had good composite boats, until my most recent one. Even though it's considered a high-end composite, it flexes when going over waves, the rear deck collapses due to air pressure, the gel coat cracked in what looks like a stress riser damage at all the bulkheads (the front one is vented so it can't be air pressure), the cockpit was put on lopsided, the seat was put in at an angle and in the wrong position, a 3-foot section near the bilge spider cracked in a massive web (I think from just sitting my roof rack -- I don't over-tighten the straps if you're thinking that), the carbonfiber seat cracked in the first couple of months, plus it wasn't wet-out correctly (still dry fabric in places), the skeg box cracked, the fiberglass around the skeg box is chipping away, the layup job on the bulkheads looks like a first grader did it, the seams look slightly dry and not wet-out completely, the fittings let the bungee cords slip out through their sides, the skeg control hits my knee, and I could go on. For a $3,800 boat, you'd think it'd be perfect, but, of course, the manufacturer doesn't want to take any responsibility. They don't believe that they have a persistent problem with quality control.

With a wooden kayak, I know that anything that's wrong with it is my fault, and I can fix it. They're way easier to fix than dealing with gel coat. The hulls are stiff and feel more responsive. They're lighter than a fiberglass boat. With the right layup, they take a beating. Stress riser damage is pretty much non-existent, the decks don't flex with changes in pressure, and since you build the cockpit and seat, you don't put this in like you didn't care. You can make the skeg box out of something that isn't breakable plastic. You can tweak all the fittings to suit your needs. You can build your own design. An expensive strip boat runs only about $1,000, so I can go through four for about the same price. And that's just the start of everything good about strip boats.

It just seems to me that strip kayaks tend to be superior then some brands of composite boats.

Yep, that's why I like cedar-strip kayaks. You?

Messages In This Thread

Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks *PIC*
Bryan Hansel -- 4/27/2011, 10:26 pm
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Glen Smith -- 4/27/2011, 10:59 pm
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Etienne Muller - ireland -- 4/28/2011, 5:10 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Bill Hamm -- 4/28/2011, 7:22 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Bryan Hansel -- 4/28/2011, 10:46 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Clayton Plunkett -- 4/28/2011, 9:31 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Bryan Hansel -- 4/28/2011, 10:48 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
mtkayak (Mike Trutwin) -- 4/28/2011, 9:52 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks *PIC*
Bryan Hansel -- 4/28/2011, 10:42 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Reg Lake -- 4/28/2011, 10:26 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Bryan Hansel -- 4/28/2011, 10:40 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Reg Lake -- 4/28/2011, 11:40 am
Whoops! that reply was intended for Malcolm *NM*
Reg Lake -- 4/28/2011, 11:41 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Malcolm Schweizer -- 4/28/2011, 11:30 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Eric -- 4/28/2011, 12:40 pm
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Bryan Kapteyn -- 4/28/2011, 12:48 pm
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Kurt Maurer -- 4/28/2011, 7:41 pm
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
dave g -- 4/29/2011, 12:39 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Bill Hamm -- 4/29/2011, 7:22 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Bryan Hansel -- 4/29/2011, 9:10 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Bill Hamm -- 4/29/2011, 9:35 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Robert N Pruden -- 4/29/2011, 5:28 pm
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Bill Hamm -- 4/30/2011, 7:17 am
Re: Strip: Why I Like Strip Kayaks
Al Edie -- 4/29/2011, 9:26 pm