Your last line says it all. The commercial roto-molded jobs are so heavy that the manufacturers make a big deal about the fact that theirs weigh less than someone else's. So consumers are sort of trained to ask about weight. It's like horsepower for cars

I get exactly the same thing with my kayaks. They don't want to believe that a home-built "wooden" boat is lighter than a commercially made plastic one. Everyone "knows" that wood is heavy, especially plywood. Many times the only way to convince them is by letting them lift it.

I think it's because they're thinking 3/4" planks or construction grade fir plywood or maybe hollowed out logs.

They also don't want to believe that it's covered in fiberglass.

Welcome to the wooden boat effect. Also be ready for, "Did you build that yourself?", "Is it from a kit?", "You ought to go into business building those", "How fast is it?", "How long did it take to build?", "How much to build me one?" and so on.

Enjoy,

Laszlo

   Thanks for that insight Laszlo

That's funny! I have heard all of those questions/comments as well.

   yes I get that too.

I tell them the design weight and that it weighs a whole lot more with me inside.  Then I tell them it seems to weight a lot more after a paddle when I'm loading it on top of the truck than before the paddle. They then go off shaking  their heads with rumpled brow and confused smirk  for some reason.

I like that answer Grumpy,

Thanks