Dynel Skids

[Black_Fly]

I’m getting ready to take the P14 down a river that can be very rocky, unpredictable. It’s been down north Ontario rivers, so some wear is apparent. At some point, skids will likely be necessary, especially when I take it down N Wisconsin streams. I’ve always used Kevlar felt skids but I’m interested in keeping weight to a minimum.

Will Dynel resins adhere well to Kevlar gel coat? Are Dynel skids as durable as Kevlar felt? How much weight is saved? Is a vacuum application necessary?

I’d like to order some precut skids to take north with me to be prepared. I plan on using this boat hard this summer.

 

[Boatman53]

If you want some Dynel fabric to experiment with and or enough for skids let me know and I’ll send you a bunch of fabric. I put a Dynel deck on a big boat years ago and kept the excess and trimming for some reason.
Jim

 

[Alan Gage]

Any epoxy will work, just sand the surface prior to application. It will take multiple coats to fill the weave. Peel ply will speed along this process by leaving a mostly filled weave during the wet out. No vacuum necessary, I've always hand laid mine. Dynel cloth is hideous looking stuff so plan on painting the stems when done.

I'd guess it provides less protection than kevlar felt just by looking at the thickness of the two but it still provides excellent protection.

I have no idea how much kevlar felt plates weigh. I'd guess 4-6 ounces total for the dynel.

This is what my new hull looked like after a rough 6 week trip with lots of rocks:

20161017_002 by Alan, on Flickr

And this is what the bow stem looked like with dynel skid plates:
20161017_001 by Alan, on Flickr

All the paint and epoxy was worn off but it never got through the first layer of dynel.

Alan