The perfect skid plate? To good to be true? Hmm...

[phreon]

Someone on P-Net posted a link to the phpaddlers.com blog that describes the use of spray on bed liner as a superior replacement for skid plates.

http://tinyurl.com/2to8re

Sounds like a damned fine idea to me. Could be a great lo-buck way to protect the hull wear repair I just finished on my old Challenger. I might experiment with a can or two of the brush on stuff one can get at the autoparts store. Maybe I'll do the edge of my cheap ol' wooden rock grunging paddle first as an experiment. What do you think?

{Edit} Found the following while doing a little research: http://www.grizzlygrip.com/boats.asp

Phreon

[yarnellboat]

As a skid plate, I'll bet it will want to stick to every rock you touch. I'm not sure I'd like that.

PY.

[sbroam]

I wonder how much their "restored" canoe weighed afterwards... I do remember a local kayaker who came across this idea as an answer to nose cones, but, I remember it really taking off. Let us know how it goes if you try it.

[ezwater]

A skid plate made of concentric layers of S-glass, perhaps with a layer of two of Kevlar underneath, is thinner, cleaner, stronger, and lighter than commercially available Kevlar felt skid plates.

I have to put skid plates on a Mad River Guide, and will take digital photos of how it is done, to publish where others can see it.

Kevlar skid plates are NOT the best solution to the skid plate problem. However, it turns out to be easier to apply a Kevlar felt skid plate than it is to apply any known alternative.

Anyone remember when we would order some Kydex, a vinyl, heat it in the oven, mold it to the shape of the end of the boat, and then epoxy the Kydex plate onto the boat? Done properly, these could last a number of years.

[sbroam]

I'm fixing up a flotilla of old Mohawk Interpids that were all outfitted with the standard issue kevlar felt grunch pads installed when new. Most have divots, some are busted up significantly, while the hulls show no damage beneath. I guess that means they worked?

In renovating the boats, I'm chipping off the badly damaged ones and am rather amazed at how cleanly they come off (for the most part.) I do not plan to replace them with kevlar. What I have done to one is make some ABS paste as previously described here (but with white ABS) and applying several layers (1/8" thick?) in more or less the same pattern. Where there are only chips out of the kevlar, I'm just patching with the paste (bonds to the plastic, but not so well to kevlar/resin). I don't have any long term experience yet, but this feels solid.

Where the boats have the most damage is just *beyond* the grunch pads (toward the middle, not the deck). The ABS is worn paper thin and/or split - delaminated in a couple instances. This is where the leading edge slid over rocks or - more pronounced - the trailing edge. Here I plan to cement ABS sheet to the hull (and drill/inject urethane glue?) I've thought ABS sheet could make good grunch pads, too.

Kydex sounds very interesting - I've seen that used in holsters and sheaths - very tough stuff.