Re: Rhino Liner

Posted by LeeG on Jul 30, 2007

seems to me this is mostly a cosmetics issue and not a durability issue. The Rhino liner or graphite coats do not protect the underlying plywood from compression or wood from cracking. Such as what happens when you hit a 6" round rock with 300lbs of force on 4mm okoume.

The applications for Rhino liner are going on metal or solid fiberglass where thin paint won't hold up or gel coat becomes a cosmetic maintenance issue.

If I had a truck bed made of 4mm Okoume where heavy objects are tossed in,,like the forces involved when a 200lpaddler and 50lb kayak gently bump up against a rocky shore, I'd want that 4mm thick Okoume truck bed to have a HARD surface before it got any low maintenance coating.

When folks talk about "rough shores here" I imagine protecting the hull from scraping IMPACTS with a loaded kayak as much as visible scratches from dragging an empty kayak.

You can put on thick ablative materials, materials that don't show their scratches but the forces that compress the plywood, like tossing a 15lb log into a truck bed will only be addressed by more glass or stronger glass, on the outside and inside.

If anyone is applying extra materials to the outside of a s&g kayak "for rough shores" make sure there's glass on the inside,,not just the cockkpit as the portion of the aft compartment just behind the bulkhead gets loaded well while getting in/out. For example if you've got a Ch18 with glass only in the cockpit but not in the aft compartment and you launch from rocky shores it won't matter if you have graphite or a Rhino liner when 300lbs (paddler,kayak,movement) is resting on a portion of the hull where there's no glass on the inside,,it'll making cracking sounds.

In Response to: Rhino Liner by Scott on Jan 9, 2007

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