Hull Protection

Hi everyone,
I spent about 75 dollars on Jb Weld to do mine and it lasted almost a year..... it is all peeled off now and I am thinking of trying rustoleum truck bed using their activator....saw it some where on youtube..... probably will not hold up well either and may reinstall my kydex for the bow and just fill all the many many scratches with ptex.  At least it is not as pricey as jb and looks to be easier to install.

good thing my kayak is built thick.... Old town sportsman.... but boy is it heavy.

If anyone knows of a better way to protect the hull I would love to hear about it.   But for me the Jb is not the way....too $$$ and too tough to apply.

Troy

I was thinking the wetsuit glue around the kydex to seal the weld around the coners, I wonder about oru kayak makes a leak kit that uses a weld glue, maybe that can be bought on the open market, maybe check the website and see if they say what it is, you could also send them an email. I have used it before to fix a crack on my oru and it has been on for several years now. I will do some checking. I may have a small tube around, Ron.

I was also thinking another quick fix would be the wetsuit sealer put on in a thick coat and then several coats of gorilla tape. I think the tape may have to be replace with several contacts, the wetsuit glue is pretty strong, I have sealed drysuit boots on the bottom of the boots and walking on rocks and sand have not taken it off, R.

I used Kydex myself and it’s doing its job so far. Used the strongest gorilla double sided tape I could find and silicone to outer edges.

Bringing back an old thread.  My keel guards peeled off the other day - the JB Plastic Weld did NOT bond well with the hull, and the silicon caulk was basically what was holding them on. 

This is gonna be controversial, but I'm considering riveting them to the hull.  I have some waterproof rivets - I'm thinking two along the front edge and one at the rear.  Silicon caulk or RVT sealant along the edges and at the rivets.

If I chicken out and don't rivet them in place, I will use the double sided gorilla tape and silicon caulk the edges. 

Wondering why all kayaks don't have built in replaceable skid pads at the corners/edges?  Seems like a no-brainer to me.

 

My only concern about the rivet is if you hit a stump/rock or whatever, and it tears the rivets out, now you have exposed holes below the waterline.

I used Kydex myself and it’s doing its job so far. Used the strongest gorilla double sided tape I could find and silicone to outer edges.

Bringing back an old thread.  My keel guards peeled off the other day - the JB Plastic Weld did NOT bond well with the hull, and the silicon caulk was basically what was holding them on. 

This is gonna be controversial, but I'm considering riveting them to the hull.  I have some waterproof rivets - I'm thinking two along the front edge and one at the rear.  Silicon caulk or RVT sealant along the edges and at the rivets.

If I chicken out and don't rivet them in place, I will use the double sided gorilla tape and silicon caulk the edges. 

Wondering why all kayaks don't have built in replaceable skid pads at the corners/edges?  Seems like a no-brainer to me.

 

My only concern about the rivet is if you hit a stump/rock or whatever, and it tears the rivets out, now you have exposed holes below the waterline.

That is a concern. But, rivets are super tough, especially from the flat side. I think if I hit something hard enough to pull the rivet out, I would have problems with or without rivets.  Will probably reinforce the backside with washers, would make this even less likely.

This is gonna be controversial, but I'm considering riveting them to the hull.  I have some waterproof rivets - I'm thinking two along the front edge and one at the rear.  Silicon caulk or RVT sealant along the edges and at the rivets.

I enjoy drilling holes in my kayaks, but I'd never intentionally make a hole below the waterline. If nothing else, I'd think it would completely destroy any resale value.

Yeah for sure I am also in the camp of not intentionally drilling holes through my kayak that are on the outside of the hull and below the waterline.

Just get some strips of Keel Eazy and replace them every couple of seasons, you don't have to reinvent the wheel for God's sake!

 

TLDR: I'm just gonna use the clear gorilla tape for now. If it comes off again, I'm breaking out the rivets.


Goodness, you guys are making it seem like I am drilling gigantic holes without a plan to plug them.

I am only considering this because the other solutions all fall flat. I am looking for a permanent solution - to last the life of this kayak. I am not interested in replacing this every season. I think for a permanent solution, I need a mechanical fastener, and rivets seme the best choice there, for a host of reasons.

My biggest concern is a pinhole leak, but honestly, I am confident I can get it 100% watertight.  Waterproof rivets with silicon goop around the edge of the plate and the front and back of the rivets.  It would seal up super tight, for sure.

But, I totally understand it might not exactly be prudent to drill holes below the water line.  I think I'm gonna try the 3m double sided glue tape stuff. I've seen it action before - it does create a very tight bond on a lot of surfaces. I just hope it bonds to HDPE the way that it bonds to the walls in my house.  Will run a bead of goop along the outside edge to hopefully keep water out to help the tape hold up. Not holding my breath tho, gotta be honest.

To be fair, the biggest question really should be why we need to bother with this at all. Why don't more kayaks come with removable and replaceable skid plates?  Do they only expect them to last a few seasons? Also, let me be clear: I'm not exactly hard on my kayak. I don't drag it across the pavement.  The wear on my hull is entirely from loading, unloading, and launching. Kinda ridiculous that kayak makers leave us to find our own solution to something that should have been engineered in.

The Outback has a small replaceable looking part ahead of the rudder but it seems like they need one on the front.
I've was using Gorilla tape in 3 layers and replacing it every few months or so. I finally got some Pereguard that doesn't look great with my install job (but better than tape) but has held up well so far. It comes in white as well as black and the white looks good on the Lynx. It adds minimal weight compared to some other solutions (Car door protector bumper strips). Pereguard for the win.

I've seen lots of hull protection posts and none of the solutions seem permanent.  Some kayaks have that replaceable skeg, that's probably the only solution that I've seen that looks permanent, but still needs to be replaced depending on use. 

That said, I'm also not sure why people feel they need hull protection.  I'm careful with my kayak, not perfectly all the time, it has some scrapes for sure, some gouges.  But I'm not wearing away any spot on my kayak, because I don't drag it except on sand or dirt. 

When I wheel to the water I get the nose as close to the water on my wheels and then lift it off on to the ground.  When I launch, I lift the back end and walk out, not scraping and the nose floats the yak until i'm ready to jump in and go.  If i'm at a launch ramp I do the same, except facing backwards.  I have hullavators, so it comes off the side of my truck, and on to the ground, with the rear of my yak already in the water.  Launching by lifting the front and walking out and then I either launch backwards or turn it.

Hi All,
Yep bonding to PE is a tough one..... Joe thanks for the tip with the peregard..... ordered as it looks like it may be a good as I can do.... I try to be carefull but with may tank of a yak but some of the launches I frequent the hull takes a beating.   My old town fully loaded seems to be in the 150 lb range maybe even more..... while I can lift 150 still (not sure how much longer) when it is shaped in a 12 foot  cigar with poles tackle etc it is a bit much.... glad to see some can keep their hulls in good shape but it is not happening for me.

Last month a car cut into my lane on the highway and I tried to manuever out of their way (nearly hit me) and my 2" harbor freight strap broke.... long story short my tail patch is pretty much gone now and also wore away some of the pe..... still water tight and will be repaired shortly.... was glad I had a very heavy thick yak at that time till I had to unload it at home.  I guess two years is too much to ask of a strap.... will be replaceing more frequently and checking more often.... lesson learned.

thanks again
Troy

A replaceable skeg would be perfect.  But put it on both ends.  I just don't want to mess around with tapes, glues, or epoxies.  Pretty much all of the ones I've seen either don't stick to the kayak well enough and peel off, are super messy, or very finicky to install. 

There are dozens of YouTube videos of people adding various protection to their kayaks, and nearly every single one of them have either follow up videos or comments saying that it didn't hold up, for one reason or another. 

Too bad the Bass Pro Shop kayak doesn't come in a pedal drive, it has replaceable pads on both ends, right at the points that touch ground first when launching and loading. See the picture... That makes a ton of sense to me.  I assume those are probably attached with rivnuts through the hull, but it might be molded in.

Al, I am pretty careful with the kayak. I really don't drag it except over sand. It gets a little contact with the pavement when loading and unloading, and a minimal amount at boat ramps, but it really isn't much. My kayak has three layers of HDPE - a tan outer layer, a black layer, and a grey inner layer.  Total thickness is about 3/16", with the black middle layer being the thickest.  In 2 years, I've rubber through the tan layer in three places - at the front contact point on the bow, and at the end of the two "tunnel" sections at the stern.

Troy - there must have been some serious force involved to break a 2" tie down strap.  Sounds like you were lucky to not crash. Also surprised it didn't do more damage to your kayak.

I could just melt more HDPE plastic into the thin spots. That's what a kayak shop would do if taken in for repair. But, that is a fiddly affair, and would end up being an annual process. 

Here’s my Pereguard job on my Lynx where I couldn’t quite get it to conform and on my OB where the little triangle cuts I made didn’t fit or stick well and are held in with….tape.
The Pereguard on the Lynx side edges has been perfect so far.

Hope I don’’t have to do this too often.  Super paranoid bout crunching sounds.  I think poly is mega durable.   I’m pretty rough on my stuff and sometimes I wish I was more careful.  Any hoo…I tore all my keel eazy off da stealth and hope I don’t have to learn glass repair first hand but I have all the stuff.  You guys are reminding me to take it easy on the off loading and shore landings so I can enjoy my yaks for many years…

I'm reminded in this pic, I got out knee deep in the mud ish and put down a towel to anchor the landing...

Dang no protection at all?

You rebel!

I'm still feeling Kevin should attach his nice keel guards with Shoe Goo or some industrial type silicone.

I like this stuff for sealing everything and embedding my transducer in the hull, it's pretty bomber even when submerged. JB Weld is too brittle you need a flexible bond.