What Construction Methods Are Used in Canoe Manufacture?
The most widespread canoe construction materials at the moment are aluminum, fibreglass, Kevlar and polyethylene. Polyethylene is becoming more and more common for the construction of canoes as it is flexible, lightweight and not as costly as some of the others.
Aluminum Canoes
Aluminum has been, until recently, the usual choice of material to use for canoe construction but it has now been supplanted by polyethylene. While aluminum is extremely strong and resilient, and is one of the lighter metals, it is much heavier than polyethylene. It is able to stand up to being dragged on rough river beds and does not degrade when exposed to the sun’s rays as polyethylene can be. Canoes made from aluminum do require chambers for buoyancy and they are often difficult to operate particularly for novice canoeists. Also they can be heavy to portage and buckle if hit with enough force. Repairing holes is also difficult and spoils the look of the canoe.
Suitable Places to Use Your Aluminum Canoe?
For level rivers and lakes and recreational use an aluminum canoe may be perfect, particularly if you don’t need to carry it any distance on your own. If you don’t have room for storage inside, this type of canoe will be a better choice than polyethylene since it will not suffer damage from the sun or deteriorate from the environment.
Where Not to Use your Aluminum Canoe
Aluminum canoes are not suitable for whitewater paddling or for rivers where there are a lot of rocks and are usually too heavy to be used if you will be touring and need to portage your canoe.
Aluminum Alloy Construction
Canoes made of aluminum alloy are lighter in weight and more durable than all aluminum and a number are even lighter than polyethylene. Still, ensure that you find out the actual weight of any canoe marketed as lightweight as they may vary a great deal.
Polyethylene Canoe Construction
Polyethylene is lightweight and supple, is hard-wearing and is one of the most common canoe construction material. It’s quite easy to mend and cheap although it is subject to damage from sharp edges such as branches, rocks etc. However, it’s plasticity does give rise to problems so actions must be used to ensure the canoe is rigid. One method is the use of aluminum to provide a rigid framework and this is the the construction method used in canoes designed by Coleman and trademarked as Ram-X.
Another way to provide rigidity is by means of a substantial layer of polyethylene foam between two layers of material. This is the means of construction employed by Old Town Canoes under the trademark CrossLink 3. The foam core ensures buoyancy and this construction method can stand more damage from abrasion than pure polyethylene.
There are some disadvantages with using polyethylene however. It isn’t very buoyant so most of the canoes manufactured from polyethylene must have buoyancy chambers. This material is also very at risk from abrasion damage and this is the most widespread reason a canoe is irreparably damaged. Polyethylene canoes are generally low priced and you can pay less by buying a model you can assemble yourself.
What are Suitable Places to Use a Polyethylene Canoe?
For calm rivers and water where there are no large, jagged rocks, a polyethylene canoe made with a rigid aluminum frame as in Coleman canoes will probably be the best option. For more extreme conditions a Crosslink 3 construction is recommended as it will be more durable and can survive abrasion damage and sharp edges better.
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This entry was posted on Saturday, July 25th, 2009 at 7:31 pm and is filed under Boating. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.