Fitting a Kevlar Skid Plate on a Canoe

Fitting a Kevlar Skid plate for a Canoe. Step by step instructions.
If you found this useful and would like to support the channel: www.buymeacoffee.com/Raygoodwin
This particular kit was from: www.endlessriver.co.uk
The information contained in the video works for both T-Formex and Royalex canoes. With Polyethylene canoes it is necessary to flame treat the area the skid plate is being epoxied to. THIS IS ONLY FOR POLYETHYLENE CANOES. It would easily damage T-Formex/Royalex and is completely unnecessary for those materials. DO NOT USE A FLAME ON T-FORMEX OR ROYALEX. Details on how to flame treat a POLYETHYLENE canoe are contained in my outfitting video: • Outfitting a Canoe: Br... The section on flaming the surface is from 14.40
The Old Town Canoe site for information is: www.oldtowncanoe.com/product_... Information is on both the repair and skid plate pdfs
My website is: www.RayGoodwin.com
My book ‘Canoeing’, is available direct from me or from Amazon.

[@rhestephens]

very good job Lena, lots of helpful info and well directed from behind the camera 😂👍🏻

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

My goodness I am being upstaged by my wife as well as my daughter Maya. 😂😂😂 but it is good to work with both of them ❤️

[@helenward681]

Really useful video as you said the instructions are very good, but it’s great to watch someone do it. Just done the bow and it looks a lot neater than I expected thanks to your video. All ready for canoefest 😀

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Glad it helped! See you at Canoefest.

[@lawrencemartin1113]

Love that you use your house for this and other canoe jobs. I recently took delivery of my new Nova Craft Trapper 12 in Tuff Stuff and wanted to remove all the labels. Pouring with rain outside, so in the sitting room she went and upside down on the table. Hair dryer out and twenty minutes later with some careful warming, peeling and cleaning, job done. I also have a pair of Venture Prospectors which one day will need skid plates fitted so thanks for the excellent instructional video (along with all your other excellent instructional videos). That job may need to be on a nice day in the garden though!

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Yep the garden is my preferred workshop as long as you have a good warm day (and night for the epoxy to cure). And thank you for your kind comments.

[@lawrencemartin1113]

@@RayGoodwinCanoe I think your teaching style is excellent. (Speaking as a teacher myself BTW). I am a river and flat water paddler myself, but have really enjoyed your videos on technique, some of the fast moving water and expedition stuff stuff you have done and as a keen Bushcrafter, have loved the trips on the Spey you have filmed with Pau Kirtly and chums. I have friends up in that part of the world and if we ever get back to a more Covid-controlled and free world, I would love to explore a little more and do a short section of the Spey. Thanks again and stay safe!

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

@@lawrencemartin1113 Thank you for those kind comments, they are very much appreciated. Yep the Spey is awesome. I managed to do it three times this autumn and loved each trip (all between lockdowns). Keep well

[@roocanoe6338]

Ray, this is something I have always wanted to know. Thanks so much.

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

You are most welcome

[@chubbymunster57]

Really clear, sound instruction. Grand job

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jamesshepard9457]

Thank you for sharing this helpful information

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Glad to be of service

[@alantaylor688]

Looks great... now to buy the kit and give it a go myself!

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Hope it goes well. Have fun.

[@jawa134]

Excellent video Ray - thanks for sharing. I'll be doing this repair on my canoe this year and this has really helped.

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Glad to have been of help. Hope the repair goes well.

[@PaddlingTramp]

Good job!

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Thank you

[@martinoutdoors6941]

This is the best video on fitting skid plates I’ve seen. So easy to follow.

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Wow, thanks! Really appreciated.

[@martinoutdoors6941]

@@RayGoodwinCanoe I’d like to share this if I may.?

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

@@martinoutdoors6941 You are most welcome to do that. Any sharing helps the channel numbers so it is good for me. Cheers

[@jonsadler6338]

Good stuff Ray, I'd been meaning to ask for a video on torso rotation and catch

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Glad it was helpful! Been meaning to do this for ages.

[@nigelgregory4777]

I know it's been a bit wet lately, but now Ray is prepping a canoe for Wales rally GB, 😂😂. Good to see you again, stay safe, hopefully we'll all get a good Christmas, 😷🙏🎅🎅🦃🎂🍾🍻. Nige.

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

😁 Roll on Xmas and 2021!

[@welshpaddler]

Being a bit tight we used to use old lorry inner tubes shaped and glued. So easy to damage the the ends on gravel etc.

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

I like that! But it did remind me of Kenya and the sandals made from old tires, the legendary thousand miler footwear.

[@grahamrowe6278]

Good video Ray, and important points for those not used to epoxy and plastics. There are very specific reasons why that kit is set up to do exactly that job with those materials. Do not deviate unless you know why. Don't skimp on the method detail either. Also, it MUST always be well above the minimum temperature and below the maximum allowable humidity... though modern epoxy chemistry is a bit less susceptible. So if the environment is not right, don't do it! Wait until etc!

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Really great and useful points Graham. Thank for your input.

[@downeastprimitiveskills7688]

Great info, Ray, seen some folks saying to flame the Royalex boats. I'm fixing an old Old Town Hunter with new "bang plates" I notice the birch bark model on the tie beam, my brother built a baby cradle birch bark canoe it gets shared around the family every once and a while.

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Yep that is also the new advice from the G-flex manufacturor. So next T-Formex/Royalex boat I outfit I am going to 'flame' it. PS I love the idea of the baby cradle birch bark canoe...awesome.

[@downeastprimitiveskills7688]

@@RayGoodwinCanoe I have not fully prepped mine I will get the torch out.

[@bhut1571]

Some good advice here. I put plain fiberglass mesh with epoxy marine resin on the wear ends of me old Scot fiberglass canoe. Twenty years later I'm seeing separation at the edges where the unbinding has occurred. Other patches (some huge) do not have the separation. It's all in the preparation. I note mention of the Nova Canoes here. A friend brought his 17' Nova (Tuff) Prospector on our trip this Sunday. Over the years, he's taken various canoes across the Barrens from Great Slave to Hudson Bay. Of all he likes his Nova the best: light and fast yet strong enough. (Nastawgan Trails)

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Some good information there. It is a long time since I repaired a fibreglass boat, sea kayak or canoe. Yep I think I am going to have to move over to some lighter canoes and tuff weave is good.

[@p.istaker8862]

Thanks for putting up such a descriptive video. Have just picked up on old Explorer 15 rx for next to nothing. Looks like it has suffered from a similar event to this one. I just wish whoever had carried out the repair had watched your video. Looks like they have thrown about two gallons of epoxy all over the bottom of the hull, the putty repair is starting to fail, the thick epoxy is chipping all over the place ( I think due to not keying the surface and being about four millimetres thick). Luckily the piece of stick on roof flash band is keeping it watertight from the inside.

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Good luck with the repair. The Explorer 15 was one of my favourite canoes. A great Jim Henry design.

[@MadSilverMonkey]

Great job, thanks for the video. I've bought a second hand canoe (royalex Wenonah Prospector 16) with skid plates already fitted. Unfortunately the skid plate on one end was damaged and has a hole slightly bigger than a 50p (luckily the boat is fine, the plate did it's job!). I have been I'm wondering what to do... Do I fill the space in putty and leave it? Or should I also put another skid plate on top of the old one?

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

One of my favourite canoes. I would patch rather than another plate. Endless river is considering having a patch kit so it might be worth contacting them.

[@janis_balodis]

There is always isopropyl alcohol that works as a degreaser, and it is less aggressive than acetone. I've been using that instead of acetone to prepare surfaces for gelcoat and fibreglass repairs. The downside is that with the covid situation it has become more expensive.

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

That is an useful bit of information. Thanks

[@my3ika]

Hi Ray, thank you for a great and detailed video. There is one part though that is missing and where I ran into a bit of trouble. It’s been two days now, and I decided to remove the plastic wrap to see what the result looks like. Well, the plastic is welded to into the epoxy, and the extra epoxy did not run back into the felt but instead is hardened around the patch. So what I’m dealing with is sharp bits of epoxy and pieces of plastic wrap sticking out of it. Any advice? I have a picture but don’t think I can post it here

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Opps. I tend to remove the plastic the next morning. I would not be worried about the plastic that was smooth. The rough epoxy and plastic I would use sandpaper on, finishing with a very fine one.

[@Lavite200]

@@RayGoodwinCanoe That was my question as well! Thanks for clarifying. I really appreciate the videos.

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

@@Lavite200 Glad to help.

[@kevinbungles]

I have a red OT discovery and need to do this. Can you colour it later. Also will a fibre glass kit from Halfords do the same job

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

No to the fibre glass kit from Halfords (I did use one of these for a repair on my glass fibre sea kayak). The epoxies seem to be specific to the material you are bonding to. If the Old Town is Polyethylene then the the area needs to flamed. You can follow the following link direct to OT ideas. www.oldtowncanoe.com/product_... I am think, but am not sure that some folk use to use car paint on the skid plates but the was back in the day they were oil based not water based as at present.

[@kevinbungles]

@@RayGoodwinCanoe many thanks Ray. Great advice, I will get some Endless river ordered. Picked up a bad scratch on GGCT in September

[@thedavsneddo1]

Any tips on how to know what material my boat is made from? Its a 2nd hand mad river and with its age it could be either royalex or a plastic

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Can you send me a model and or maker? Or some photos to [e-mail]

[@kevinbungles]

Nice job, does is it the same principle on a Nova Craft Tuffstuff material

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Overall it is the same principle but I did a quick check and Novacraft say that you need a slightly different kit for Tuffstuff and other composite materials. I have attached a link to their blog/information page which gives some detail on this. www.novacraft.com/blog/install-skid-plates/

[@kevinbungles]

@@RayGoodwinCanoe thanks Ray ( not bought it yet)

[@TOOZECRUISE]

G'day Ray. Hope you and your family are keeping well. Ontario, Canada boy here. Experienced on flatwater but only now getting into white water. I've got the boat (Esquif Prospecteur Sport 16) and I'm doing my research on outfitting it with d-rings, bow and stern grab ropes, painters, airbags, and maybe down the road a spray deck. be using the boat in a tandem capacity for river expedition trips. Don't think I'll be running anything over CII for a while. Middle of boat will carry gear (no room for center airbag). Now the question is do I put a small airbag in the bow allowing for leg room? And whatever size I can fit behind the stern seat? Would that small amount of flotation be worth the cost, rigging, and performance I would get out of it? Thanking you in advance. Fellow paddler, Brad Tooze a.k.a. TOOZECRUISE

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Hi Brad. I would go for airbags bow and stern as you suggest. Yep the leg room is key in the bow for expeditioning. I think all of us like to stretch out our legs there. I am used to hiring boats out in Canada generally for 14 day expeditions and we normally end up having gear where the airbags would go so don't use them in that context. The way I outfit my own boats back in the UK I can relatively quickly take out airbags when I want to. I like airbags because they float the boat higher in a ww capsize so less chance of damaging. On a lake it gives me more self rescue possibilities. Hope that helps Ray

[@TOOZECRUISE]

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Great advice. I believe I have made my decision. Never thought of rigging the front bag for easy removal or for just shortening it up. Thank you for that.

[@TOOZECRUISE]

Awaiting delivery of my boat and all the goodies to outfit it for white water. Ended up going with 36" airbags bow and stern. Thanks and for all the great content. I'll be rewatching now that I'm a river rat!

[@pereriksson2085]

Old Town uses a two component polyurethane resin in their skid plate kits to go with the Discovery polyethylene boats for better bonding. I guess that is what Northwest Canoe uses in their kits too in their "universal" skid plate kits. Does anyone know where to find a resin like that In Europe? It is easy to find the kevlar/aramid felt and it makes a big difference in price compared to the kits sold by the canoe manufacturers.

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

West Systems: G-Flex would be my suggestion and recommendation. If you check my outfitting video there are details of its use there

[@EKEACRES]

Wouldn't it be brilliant if Canoe makers built canoes with heavy duty skid plates, when they know damage to the hull is a problem?. Also, here in the States, people are now using plastic PVC pipe, cutting a length in half, heating it, forming it, and bonding it to the Canoe. It works better than any other method out there. Check it out on KZbin. There are many videos on it.

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Thanks for that. I will certainly have a look at the PVC pipe solution.

[@andrewdowns4803]

Does the plastic wrap stick to the epoxy?

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Generally most peals off really easily but occasionally some sticks.

[@andrewpearce6082]

Very helpful video, thank you. I will now buy the kit from Endless River to repair my elderly Pyranha which is made from Royalex. The only thing I don't understand is why you worked so hard with brush and fingers to get the resin into the fabric, rather than using a stippling roller (e.g. www.amazon.co.uk/Fiberglass-Roller-Aluminum-Bubble-Laminating/dp/B07T5DHBN3 ): was this because you are working with kevlar rather than fibreglass, so a roller cannot be used?

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

Very good question. I have used a roller in the past but it is not part of the Endless River kit and we didn't have one to hand. yep use a roller when you apply yours.

[@andrewpearce6082]

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Great, I will do. Thank you. Thanks for your other very informative videos too.

[@grontek]

Lots of mess without the tape and plastic.

[@RayGoodwinCanoe]

For most people which is why I included the comments on doing that in video. But with Lina doing it there is no real mess at all as she is very particular. Me? I would tape around the area. Thanks for commenting.