If you want to reduce seat weight. Take the entire seat out (as long as the backband isn't attached to it) and replace it with a piece of foam. Carve to perfection.

That was an awesome link, Jed! Thanks!

Indeed they do check this ... I would love to see how it turned out


   

The fiberglass/Kevlar/whatever handmade and etc. sounds good, but I wonder something: plastic has a nice attribute that is quite useful- it slides on rocks, even abrasive ones, better than most other boat materials we've been using. This is especially useful on the bottoms of the hulls, bit side walls and sometimes decks see a little benefit from this, too. My experience with fiberglass is that it sticks, not like glue, but moreso than plastic. Less than aluminum, for sure. So, as a woodworker, we've found ways to bend wood with heat (and moisture, but plastic probably doesn't need that). I think it is really cool that personally scaled boat shapes can/will provide greater personalization, but wonder if it would be worthwhile for those with the ability to exploit softening flat sheets of plastic onto parts of the boat where this property would best be put to use. In playboats, the bottom of the hull, plus areas of the bow and stern could benefit, while other situations may want more or less in other areas as well. Obviously, a pure park and play boat might forego any of that, but one that may see lite booting, rock splats, and the wave wheel in an unintentionally too shallow spot may benefit, yes? Creekers could also have uses for plastic overlays, yes?

I may be overthinking this, but better than not thinking?

Also, while I can understand wanting playboats to be as light as possible, is there merit to a certain level of weight to creekers for the sake of momentum?

Not really. The general idea is that you want as light a boat as possible so long as its strong enough. There are no merits to a heavier boat other than durability. A heavier boat is simply more weight to push around with your paddle.

Great topic though- and I've seen people graft plastic onto boats to alter the design a bit. Its often rather crude though. Some peeps have done a remarkable job welding plastic also. Generally these don't hold up so well over time, but it depends on the craftsmanship.

Fiberglass is the place to start. But not many embark on fiberglass boat building because it requires at least a three boat commitment just to produce something you'll want to paddle. And that's just the construction- then there's the boat design and the knowledge of kayaks and kayaking required to direct one's endeavors.

That said, composite boats are stronger than people think. And two and a half decades of plastic boats have bred lazy paddlers who can't concieve of the idea of avoiding rocks. Most modern paddlers run stuff way low because it requires less skill and plastic boats allow it.

Boating fiberglass forces you to think differently about how you paddle, and generally makes you a more skilled, precise, perceptive paddler simply because you have a vested interest in protecting your boat. Then you can still selectively hammer the sh*t out of it with skill in a way that usually leaves it in tact.

I never ran the N. Frk Payette in anything but plastic, but my brother boated it in his "beater" boat. A fiberglass C-1 he'd bust out for such runs to spare his nicer, newer boat. He also chose to run it when it was higher.

Another thing about glass boats that is really cool is when you boof them they really fly because they are so light. I spent the first 10-12 years of my boating career in fiberglass.

I think a fiberglass playboat would be the bombdiggity.

For custom boat designs, its the only way to go, for better or worse.

I like the account of Bigwater's "Korb sighting"!

Anyway, good topic.

Grinch, another trick I've seen is to take a hair dryer (or heat gun if you're reeel careful) and a small bottle jack and "modify" the boat you have. 10-15 years ago the trend with playboats was to go smaller and I don't blame them, Redlines and Frankensteins were a bitch to throwndown compared to the modern shrinky-dink playboats coming out these days. Times are changin' again and now the trend is bigger. Bigger boats, bigger river levels, bigger drops for that matter. Creek boats are pretty light these days, I wouldn't mind a little more plastic on the bottom of mine (for longevity), but for every other purpose, especially hiking in, I'll take the lightest one I can get away with. As a matter of fact, the stout-masters back in the day used to bring their oldest boats in to the gnarliest multi-day first D's cuz they knew they were gonna spend way more time with the boat on the shoulder than on their butt. That is an extreme view, but I see the application. Overall, light weight and BIG is what I want in a creeker. Really, the same thing is true for my playboats, too. I've been thinking of making a carbon one-off playboat. The complex edges have kept that desire at bay for the time being.