TexasKayakFisherman.com

Being the most common question being "oyster rash" when buying a kayak. Would Ya'll think applying stone guard or any of the rock chip protector films be helpful? We see them regularly applied to vehicles,and to a certain point they are self healing. Being available in up to 12 mil. I think running over some oyster beds and or rocks damaging effects could be mitigated.
Any thoughts pro or con other than "quit running over oysters" ?

Seems to me that would add quite a bit of weight to the kayak. Also, the impact of a rock hitting a car traveling down the road is different than a kayak running over some oyster (which act more like razor blades). I would also thin you'd have a tough time keeping the material stuck to the kayak since I'm sure the adhesive used isn't designed for constant submersion in water.

The adhesive is not water soluble, an the film weighs - 20oz

first of all if anyone asks you if there's scratches on a used kayak they are a complete noob. ALL used kayaks have scratches, but a more relevant question would be does it leak? if someone is concerned enough about a little bit of scarring then let them go by a brand new one and see how fast it gets scratched up.....

I never assumed the adhesive was water soluble, but I still think as soon as you start scratching the material it's going to start peeling away. Rocks hitting a car and deflecting off is not the same as paddling 300 lbs (give or take) at 4mph over razor sharp oyster; you're going to slice through that material an into the kayak irregardless. But if you want to guinea pig this idea go for it as long as you have a brand new kayak with no scratches in the bottom.

Have you looked at keeleasy tape? It's designed for use in water but won't cover your whole hull but is good to protect specific areas of the bottom or where ever you need

Mrlantra wrote:Have you looked at keeleasy tape? It's designed for use in water but won't cover your whole hull but is good to protect specific areas of the bottom or where ever you need

I use Keeleasy on my Hobie Outback, have it run in the entire keel plus some bits around the nose
Ive had it on now for 1.5 years and it's still going strong

I think it's a fantastic product

Cheers

OzFnD

Keeleasy? Will do a websearch thank you.

the good PE films ("helicopter tape") are crazy expensive and their long-term stick to a PE boat is unlikely

Do you have any pics of it on your kayak OzFnD?