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).
