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Steve E wrote:
Rob how does that expedition kevlar hold up against stuff like dragging over rocks and stuff? In my mind I always think of kevlar as being light but not strong enough for the kind of tripping we do....
The layups have evolved over time. When I bought the Temagami, the Expedition Kevlar was the heavier layup. From normal usage we have managed to get at least 1 star/ray crack in the gel coat from hitting a rock. That is purely a cosmetic thing and you would have to look for it to notice.
The only time I've managed to actually chip the gel coat was when we took it up to Palmer Rapids one weekend with relatively low water and after teaching the kids S-turns and ferries in the safe spots I couldn't resist trying to run the lower section but it was just too low and there we scraped enough to get a chip out of the gel coat.
We've also managed to break a chunk out of one of the skid plates breaking through the spring ice getting out to the island our cottage is on in the spring. I would definitely not count that as normal usage.
After 15 years, the canoe has its share of scratches, and they do show up on the dark green, but nothing into the kevlar layers.
When you're comparing to Novacraft's Tuffstuff, keep in mind that they came up with that composite using basalt cloth when Royalex was disappearing from the market and they needed a replacement material for their whitewater boats. That's a lot different application than if they had been looking to replace a more 'delicate' material. For the weight difference, in a Nova Craft, I would probably look at their Blue Steel layup. That would get you into the same weight range as a Swift in the Expedition Kevlar layup (which is apparently still available on the John Winter's designs like the Kipawa).
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Awesome info Rob, thanks!
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I've had 2 swift expedition kevlar boats. An Algonquin 16 and a Winisk 17'6. Both great boats and very duarable. Both were 55 lbs painted. If you could find a similar layup in clear coat that would shave the weight a bit. My current graphite boat has impressed me with its integrity. We are a little more carefull with it but from time to time it just cant be helped and it has held up fine. For regular tripping i think exped/kev is the way to go. Weight:strength ratio should be adequate for the average paddler. IMO. Good luck.
Kevlar is notoriously good at withstanding dragging, not so good for direct hits. I paddled for some years Kipawa in expedition kevlar, lakes and some light whitewater and I haven't seen any signs of damage, even scratches (it was white though). Today we paddle Keewaydin in Kevlar Fusion, 2' longer and some 15 lbs lighter than Kipawa, no whitewater any more, and I expect it to outlive me.
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Kevlar is notoriously good at withstanding dragging, not so good for direct hits.
With the skin-on-frame boats from Backcountry Customs, repeated abrasion will probably become a problem over time. But, a new coat of whatever sealer Jon recommends will help and if after many years it does stop holding up, the entire skin can be replaced pretty inexpensively. So you can give a major facelift and still be using your old frame. That was a big appeal to us when we bought it. We liked the longevity aspect of being able to re-skin it and get a seemingly whole new boat 5-10 years down the road.
Disclaimer: I know Jon (owner of BCC) because I bought a canoe from him and he lives in my town. He's not paying me to talk up his boats but we just got ours a year and a half ago and I'm still super enamoured with it. 
