I've heard a number of stories of polyethelene boats being dropped or fallen
off moving vehicles no worse for wear. From what I've seen gel coated or
fiberglass boats scratch about as easily as poly boats. The main difference
is that a scratch on gelcoat or glass can go through the outer protective
layer whereas it would take quite a hit to damage the integrity on a poly
boat. While a poly boat can crack, it's pretty unusual. If it does it can
be much more difficult to repair than a composite layup.
I understand there would be scratches due to
beaching or rubbing on unseen rocks. But I just wanted to know how
good the construction is.
P & H and Prijon have a very fine plastic. Other manufacturers have
good products too . The thicker tougher plastic adds weight.
Various manufacturers use design tricks to keep the hull rigid (not
oil canning)
Most these boats are great.
Prijon isn't rotomolded polyethelene though. From their web site:
Prijon boats are constructed with high performance thermoplastic, or HTP,
also known as ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. An HTP molecule is
about 10 times longer, with 30% higher E module (longitudinal stiffness),
and 25% higher torsional stiffness than rotationally molded polyethylene.
The plastic P&H boats are a triple layer sandwich so I don't know how they
would contruct them using a rotomolded technique either.
In any case, the plastic from most vendors seems to have improved a lot in
the past five years.
Also, I have read in this group about how the color of a kayak can be
hot to the touch. While I know that darker colors hold heat, does the
make of the kayak have any influence at all? Would a dark color on
rotomolded polyethylene be hot to the touch?
yes. The water temperature will temper the discomfort though.
I'm not sure there would be any noticable difference in a dark poly boat
than a dark composite boat. I am guessing that the color of the boat
influencing the temperature of the boat is so insignicant that it can be
pretty much ignored. However, the color of the boat can much more influence
your overall visibility.
