Re: Building light

Posted by Mike on Jan 27, 2006

There are some good reasons for building light. TB wants to build a light kayak for his wife. I would assume this is more so that she will have an easier time lifting the kayak. A lot of people don't have the strength to lift a heavier kayak. Dropping 5 or 10 pounds off of the kayak weight, does a lot for being able to lift it.

I personally built light because I have a herniated disc in my back. I also wanted the kayak to be very strong to withstand some serious abuse. To build it as strong as I wanted using traditional materials and techniques would have produced a 45-50 pound kayak. I was able to build it as strong as I wanted and keep the weight down to 36 pounds mainly by using thinner but stronger glass, and eliminating resin weight and heavy hardware. Was it more difficult to build this way? Yes, but it accomplished what I was looking for, at a minor increase in work. I researched where to buy the materials, and only bought a partial kit, so the final cost ended up less than a full kit.

Building light is not for everyone, but there are many who could benefit from it. Lightweight kayaks do perform differently in the water, but the big benefit for me is in gettting them to and form the water.

Mike

In Response to: Re: Building light by Laszlo on Jan 26, 2006

Replies:

• Re: Building light by Dave Houser on Jan 27, 2006
  • Re: lightweight safety by Mike on Jan 27, 2006
    • Agreed by Laszlo on Jan 29, 2006