A Legit ‘Expedition’ Hull Material

My Swift P14 is “Expedition Kevlar.” Unfortunately, it’s about 12 lbs heavier than I consider ideal for portaging with a modestly loaded pack. The cracking of the gelt coat can also be problematic.

I was just wondering what lighter-weight hull material folks would consider adequate for off the beaten track tripping? Swift’s Expedition Carbon is certainly light enough, but how tough is it really?

"Tough enough" is a spectrum, in my experience. For some, a 20lb carbon hull is fine; always wet footing, always deep water. For others, tri-link poly is barely adequate. Throwing the hull off the truck, storing out in the sun, dragging across parking lots....

I haven't needed anything tougher than Royalex, and I sure don't like the weight. I have needed tougher than Blue Steel, but that was my own fault. And, it held up better than I deserved.

It seems to me that any full-size, outfitted craft under 35-40lbs is kind of a specialist conveyance, and one that will need a bit of special care throughout its life. That said, I haven't seen any canoes from a reputable manufacturer suddenly and catastrophically fail while in use as designed.

Tryin' makes good points. I think the big question is whether or not you're running whitewater. If not then I think even the very lightweight layups would probably be fine. Maybe even better suited since the light weight will make it more likely that you'll carry it instead of drag it and also less likely that you'll drop it.

"Off the beaten track" is also pretty subjective. To some that could mean a weekend at Quetico and to others it could mean a month in the barrens. I wouldn't feel comfortable in a truly lightweight hull if I was going to be hundreds of miles from the nearest assistance with nearly zero chance of coming across another paddler.

Alan

I don’t run whitewater when I can help it. I line some, when it looks right. I haven’t had any catastrophic failures, but don’t want any either. My experience has been in somewhat tame, well known waters. Sketchy portages around rocky areas gives me pause with a UL boat.

I'll agree w/ Alan that a lighter boat is more likely to be "durable" in a wilderness setting simply because you're more willing to carry it than you might a heavier hull. While the heaviest of boats might withstand impacts / potential wraps better, a featherweight might get you home unscathed because you treated it more tenderly.

If avoiding whitewater and rocky landing / dropping it on a portage are your only concerns, a featherweight should be ideal. Because it has less mass, it's less likely to be damaged from a drop and a deep scratch from a landing can be "repaired" in the field w/ good tape. (@Erica did quite a bit of that on her Cree River expedition)

Black_Fly said:

I don’t run whitewater when I can help it. I line some, when it looks right. I haven’t had any catastrophic failures, but don’t want any either. My experience has been in somewhat tame, well known waters. Sketchy portages around rocky areas gives me pause with a UL boat.

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I don't think you have to worry much about sketchy portages. I've banged on rocks and trees during carries with my kevlar canoes, and never got more than scratches. Yeah, scratches ain't pretty, but they don't really matter unless it's a boat I want to sell.

But I think there can be a legitimate preference. My Millbrook and my Clipper are both kevlar with S glass skin - no gelcoat. I'm not as abusive with the Clipper as I am with my Millbrook Coho, but neither have anything worse than the multitude of surface scratches they show. The Coho is my poling canoe, so it sees a lot of bony rivers and has even crashed into some rocks pretty hard with no significant damage. In fact, when I took delivery of the Coho, the damaged packaging made it obvious that a forklift driver had tried to skewer the boat, but the damage to the hull was so insignificant that I chose to ignore it.

And that is why I am on the lookout for a used Millbrook whitewater solo for sale in my vicinity.....Or even a Clipper Prospector 14.

I talked back and forth with a well-known skin-on-frame builder maybe a decade ago and one of the things he said that stuck with me was - generally speaking, 30-pound boats are all about as tough as one another; same with 40-pound boats, and 50-pound boats. I've thought that way ever since, even though he was speaking strictly in terms of skin-on-frame, and what I know of modern space-age canoes reinforces it. I think Gamma has a good point in that you'll baby a light canoe and in doing so preserve it from the worst of tripping accidents.